# Favorite Turkey Brand



## BreezyCooking

With the holidays upon us, I was wondering what brands of turkeys other  folks have found to be their favorites.

I grew up in a "Butterball" house. Thanksgiving wasn't Thanksgiving without a huge Butterball turkey as a centerpiece. In fact, my grandmother, who always had stronger than strong brand preferences for everything & anything (bless her heart), claimed that she could tell a Butterball apart from all other brands (ahem. . . yeah. . . lol!!). So when I was out on my own, obviously Butterball was what I too bought, but after awhile I found Butterballs both temperamental to cook & too salty to the taste (probably because of all that internal basting stuff they inject them with). Other brands - "Shady Brook", "Honeysuckle", etc., also seemed to be hit or miss as to quality.

So now I positively swear by *Whole Food's fresh organic/free-range turkeys*. Ever since we tried one a number of years ago, we haven't gone back to any other brand for our Thanksgiving bird since. We now order a bird from Whole Foods every year & have never been disappointed. You order the bird ahead of time (in fact, we'll be doing that within the next 2 weeks), & then pick it up a day or two before the Big Day. Always fresh - not chilled to the semi-frozen state & then thawed.

And I definitely do NOT mean the above in a snobby way at all. Believe me, I know all too many people who love to spout off about all the organic/free-range stuff they buy at uber prices, yet really don't give a hoot about the difference, if any. These birds clearly are better - at least in our opinion. Tremendously better in both taste & texture. And for that one day a year when husband & I enjoy a large whole bird (not to mention all those tasty leftovers), we feel the added expense is definitely most worthwhile.

Absolutely no brining necessary with these beauties (thank God - I don't need another extraneous holiday task - lol!). As far as seasoning, I normally make my stuffing/dressing separate from the bird, but do normally place some onions, garlic, & celery in the cavity. Other than that, I baste once in a while with plain melted butter & that's it. The bird - both white meat & dark meat - comes out tender & juicy, & what's almost even better, that tenderness & juiciness continues through any & all leftovers. The leftovers from that first initial Whole Foods turkey had us looking at each other in amazement. They were so moist without any prompting with broth, gravy, etc. Cold turkey sandwiches were ethereal - lol!!

They truly are supreme birds, & I highly recommend them.

I also have to mention that Whole Food's customer service is also above reproach. One year I unwrapped our turkey to find one whole wing/shoulder limb missing. Now since it's just husband & I, it wasn't any big deal, but since the turkey's are pricey, the next time my husband was shopping there, he did mention it, & they gave us a credit for the bird with a smile!! Now that's great customer service.

And just so you don't think I'm just "taken" with the idea of "organic/free range", after that first Whole Food's turkey epiphany, we decided to spring for a Whole Foods organic/free range goose for Xmas, & both of us agreed that we frankly didn't taste any difference between it & any other Xmas goose we'd purchased.

So nix the goose, but go for the turkey.


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## Robo410

we've done fresh turkeys for years and have always had great ones.  This year I am in the country and have ordered one from an organic farm.  I've tried their fresh chickens...omg WONDERFUL!, so I have high hopes for their heirloom turkeys.

In the summer time for bbq or grilling, I'll get a sale item store brand...but that may change if I can get an end of season frozen bird from this farm.


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## BreezyCooking

Yes, we have an organic meat farm (bison, turkey, chicken, goat, pork) right around the corner from us, & we've often debated getting a bird from them.  It's just that those Whole Foods' birds are so darn good & haven't disappointed in, like, 10 years now.

Decisions, decisions. . . .


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## jennyema

I personally like fresh Bell and Evans  but strangely enough, the people I cook for on Thanksgiving (loads of family) prefer _Fresh_ Butterballs.


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## Barb L.

Sorry, to me a turkey is a turkey - names don't count- they are all good to me ~!


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## Katie H

We  live in a very rural area....let me elaborate - VERY rural area, so not much in the way of organic, etc., so I just purchase the least expensive bird that doesn't have any extra "butter" basting, etc.  So far, in 14 years we haven't been disappointed once.

When Buck and I lived in the Washington, D.C. area, we were very near a turkey farm.  NOW...those were awesome turkeys.  We would call and tell them the size turkey we needed and be able to pick it up 24 hours before we needed it.  Fresh, fresh, fresh.

Those were the best turkeys we ever had.  The last, and largest one, was 33 pounds before it was stuffed.  It was so bit it needed its own zip code.  I thought it would last for days.  Wrong.  By Saturday, the old boy was gone, gone, gone.  Of course, that's when all 4 boys and our daughter were living at home.

The ones I cook for the two of us are pitifully small compared to the behemoth we had from the farm.  I kinda  miss that.


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## keltin

Katie E said:


> The last, and largest one, was 33 pounds before it was stuffed. It was so bit it needed its own zip code.


 
Katie, I'm pretty sure they lied to you....that wasn't a Turkey, it was an Ostrich! 

I've never, ever seen one that big! How long did it take to cook?


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## Katie H

It's been at least 15 years, keltin, but I think it took nearly 6 hours.  It was stuffed, too.  Even though it was quite  large, it was tender and juicy.  The children still talk about that one.  I was soooo in hopes of leftovers with one that size.  I love turkey.


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## college_cook

I buy whatever's cheap, and usually frozen.  I do whatever I need to to make that turkey good.


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## CharlieD

Turkey is justa turkey for me too. However I just read the results of some kind of finding, were the penal of specialist desided wich brend is the best. The one they thiught was number one was kosher turkey, Rubashkin Brend. Go figure...


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## bigjimbray

That little 33 lbs of turkey is a peewee compared to the "Loveless" turkey that I used to
get back in the 60`s we had a hen that weighted over 50lbs. and the young toms would
get up to 98 lbs. these were the "loveless Broadbreasted turkey`s from Dinuba Ca." the
only place in the world that had these and like she said about thw 33 pounder these came out so nice and tender and juicy. I think maybe the go under the Norbest Brand now. I am not sure because it been such along time ago.


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## Uncle Bob

A turkey is a turkey to me! I fry some, and BBQ roast others...I can't really tell a difference. I did find this site interesting reading!

Norbest: Turkey Facts - Quick Facts


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## Fisher's Mom

bigjimbray said:


> That little 33 lbs of turkey is a peewee compared to the "Loveless" turkey that I used to
> get back in the 60`s we had a hen that weighted over 50lbs. and the young toms would
> get up to 98 lbs. these were the "loveless Broadbreasted turkey`s from Dinuba Ca." the
> only place in the world that had these and like she said about thw 33 pounder these came out so nice and tender and juicy. I think maybe the go under the Norbest Brand now. I am not sure because it been such along time ago.


For real? A 50 - 100 lb. turkey? How the heck did you fit it in the oven? Still, I'd love to get my hands on one of those because I'll bet it makes the most dramatic Thanksgiving spread _ever_!!!


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## bigjimbray

the first and probably the best turkey I ever had was a 32 lb hen. from loveless farms in
Dinuba, Ca. that is where at the time Loveless processed there turkey`s and i had just
started working there right out of high school, still 17 yrs old. they would sell those turkey eggs 105.00 a piece. then I think they moved to selma, ca to Norbest processing.
I have`nt had a loveless turkey in yrs. a 50lb tom will fit in your oven but nothing else.
with all the racks removed.


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## Constance

We just buy what's on sale. The store brands really are as good as the Butterballs. 
I've never met a turkey I didn't like.


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## Dave Hutchins

When I was a kid we raised turkeys. Dad wanted to butcher before they got to big the smallest was 27 pounds and the largest was around 35 pounds and ever since I have considered them MOST FOWL I will not eat one,  I eat long island duck 2 if we have company Thank you very much


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## auntdot

Have not tried the Whole Foods turkey, usually just buy a bird.

For a number of years we lived near a turkey farm (called green acres, really) and would often purchase one from them.  They even smoked them for you if desired, which we often did, but not for T-day.

They were not organic, but they sure were tasty.  We truly thought they were better than most of the birds we find in the markets. Whether that opinion would have stood the challange of a blind testing, have no idea. 

We are about 30 miles from a Whole Foods, maybe we'll order one.


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## morerecipes

I've never tried a smoked turkey or deep fried. Seems people are trying new things to the birds to stray away from the oridinary traditional recipes. This is our 1st year to break tradition with trying the 2-hour recipe. I have heard good things about it, so I don't see bad results. Our boss is trying it for the second year, so it can't be bad, right?


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## bigjimbray

I deep fry my turkeys, I have alwys baked them before and I got a deep fryer and I would
buy a couple of 12 lb hens, it took 35 minutes for each one. and everybody loved it. I
still like to bake them, but this year I am going to do both. deep fry one and bake one.
I have to have enough leftovers for frozen dinners and sandwiches. happy holliday`s.


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## Michael in FtW

morerecipes said:
			
		

> I've never tried a smoked turkey or deep fried. Seems people are trying new things to the birds to stray away from the oridinary traditional recipes. This is our 1st year to break tradition with trying the 2-hour recipe ....


 
LOL - if my memory of American history serves me right .... the original T-day (1621AD) birds were roasted over wood fires .... so perhaps smoked turkey is actually going back to a more original flavor than what you get straying away from the ordinary traditional recipes by roasting in a new fangled gas or electric oven, or one of those electric roasters?

Now, back to BreezyCooking's original question ... my favorite brand is the one that I get free for spending $50 - or did until a couple of years ago when it seems everyone around here quit doing that.  Before that, we aways got a free turkey at work ... and I wasn't going to turn it down because it wasn't a certain brand.

The best turkeys I've ever had were the fresh free-range birds my uncle raised on his turkey and egg farm. Of course, back then, free-range is how they were all raised ...


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## JohnL

I never really look for a brand name bird, but I do buy the so called "fresh" turkeys (you know the semi froze ones). I buy those because I'm too disorganized to remember to thaw out the truely frozen birds in time to cook them for T-day dinner. That being said, I don't ever remember being dissatisfied with any of the brands that I bought. We usually do 4 turkeys in the 12lb to 14lb range. One "traditional" roast, two deep fried and one smoked. All have turned out well.


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## morerecipes

Brand probably doesn't matter as much as the method you choose to cook your bird. You are going to get different tastes on all tech different types of methods. I agree that Smoking is probably the most traditional recipe according to history since ovens weren't always around..., but I meant traditional as in what your family practiced growing up. 

Was that the traditional recipe your family practiced...smoking the turkey as you were growing up? 

Has anyone ever tasted a turkey using the high heat recipe?


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## HTT

I talked to a guy reasently that told me he does it the real traditional way (native american way) which is to hunt the turkey, clean the turkey out, Then without plucking it he wraps it with clay and makes a clay ball out of it. Then wses a stick to make vent holes for steem releas and puts the whole thing into a fire. After the vent holes steem for a while he then removes the bird from the fire and takes the clay off thus the fethers stick to the clay removing the fethers from the body. Sounds like alot of work to me!


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## BreezyCooking

Unfortunately, not only the feathers would come off with the clay - most likely all the skin would too.  And for me all that buttery crispy skin is one of the very best parts of the bird!!!

A former "mountain man" neighbor of mine claimed he used to bake woodchucks using a method like that, & the whole point was that when cracked out of the clay, all the skin & fatty deposits would be left behind.


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## mitmondol

Used to buy whatever was cheap at the the time. Until I tasted one I got from my friend who raises them !
Oh boy!
Not only free range, she puts them on a special diet for a few weeks, corn, chestnuts (if I remember correctly) and some protein rich something that I do not remember.
Well! These are just unbelievably delicious!
She promised me one for this year too.
(I don't know, tomorrow I'm going to her place, she has 7 wild bores she raised  to butcher and one of them is mine.Maybe no turkey after that?)

She has a tom about 5 years old, beautiful creature!
His feathers are  mostly sky blue color!


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## Caine

Normally, I just get whatever the supermarket is giving away free with a mimimum purchase, but last year I had a special guest for Thanksgiving dinner, so I bought a fresh Honeysuckle White from *Smart & Final* and stuck the free turkery from the supermarket in the deep freeze and cooked it up for "Thanksgivng in July."


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## buckytom

caine, i do the same thing with the free turkeys. i have yet to be disappointed with one. we actually like them better than butterballs, and are far better than the empire brand kosher turkey that we've had before. the boids we've bought that were freshly killed and cleaned at a farm market were only slightly better.

a few years ago before we were married, my wife and i qualified for 3 free turkeys in 2 supermarkets. 1 was cooked for thanksgibbing, the others went into freezers for february and may dinners. i guess they were a valentine's day turkey and mother's day turkey. 

i just picked up our free turkey for this year; a 19 lb sucker, store brand (shop right). it was supposed to go into a freezer but now our plans to go to my parents' are off , so it's in the fridge to defrost for thursday. 
i guess the silver lining is that there'll be leftovers.

how long would a frozen solid 19lb. turkey take to defrost in a fridge? i hope it's not too early.


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## jpmcgrew

Caine said:


> Normally, I just get whatever the supermarket is giving away free with a mimimum purchase, but last year I had a special guest for Thanksgiving dinner, so I bought a fresh Honeysuckle White from *Smart & Final* and stuck the free turkery from the supermarket in the deep freeze and cooked it up for "Thanksgivng in July."


Whats the word on the Honeysuckle brand?That what I bought it came at $7.99 for up to a 16 lbs bird I also got a Safeway brand called Manor House for $4.99 up to 16 lbs


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## Poppinfresh

My favorite "brand" of turkey is Diestel (Diestel Family Turkey Ranch).

Though it's not really a brand.  It's fresh turkeys.  You place an order @ 3 bucks a pound, they kill/pluck/gut the bird and hand it over to you.  Yeah, OK...it's 60 bucks for a 20 pound bird as opposed to the 17 I could buy one at the store for, but the taste is noticeably better.


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## Caine

jpmcgrew said:


> Whats the word on the Honeysuckle brand?That what I bought it came at $7.99 for up to a 16 lbs bird I also got a Safeway brand called Manor House for $4.99 up to 16 lbs


 
The fresh Honeysuckle White was an excellent bird, but this year I'll probably go with Manor House or Butterball at 48¢ a pound from Von's because my boss gave me a $25.00 Safeway gift card. In fact, seeing there is nobody special this year, I was thinking I just might buy their prepared Thanksgiving dinner, which includes a fully cooked 12 lb Butterball turkey, and then pick up a minimum purchase frozen turkey for use sometime next year.


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## morerecipes

That $25 Safeway gift card will come in handy to buying all the supplies needed for that cookingThanksgiving dinner, unless you decide to skip cooking..... I've never tried a pre-made turkey. Have you heard news that they are good at all?


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## Caine

The precooked turkeys are pretty good. They're Butterballs, and they come from the factory fully cooked and frozen, so even Safeway can't screw them up. But I decided to get their Spiral sliced ham this year instead. I've never NOT had turkey for Thanksgiving in my entire life, so this will be something completely different. When I was in the Army, they always made sure we got a turkey dinner, even in a combat zone, and when I was living all by myself in a studio apartment in Phoenix, I still managed to cook up a turkey leg, Betty Crocker mashed potatoes, Franco-American gravy, and some kind of vegetable.

What I ended up getting with the $25.00 gift card was:

Two frozen pizzas (Safeway brand, $3.99 each)
8 bottles of Propel (Buy 3, get 1 free)
4 sweet potatoes (2 pounds for a dollar)
4 cans of Progresso soup (4 for $5.00)
4 12-packs of Coke Zero (Buy 2, get 2 free)


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## justplainbill

The fresh Round Hill brand from Pilgrim's Pride that we had this year was one of the tastiest I've  eaten in the past 20 years.


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## In the Kitchen

*Believe This?*

Last night, very late, I heard on radio news that a brother and sister each year have bet as to who can prepare the largest bird.  This year the brother won.  He had 72 lb. turkey!  The sister said she could never have gotten that big of bird in her oven.  Wonder how he did!  Hear the crazy stories around holidays.  Hope your Thanksgiving was good.  We sure can be thankful we have something to eat.


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## morerecipes

Thanksgiving was great! The 2-hour turkey worked out nicely. Believe it or not, we went thru 2 turkeys and 2 hams with very little left overs! So I feel you on the desire for ham! We actually had to hide some turkey so we could have left overs for ourselves!

Hope everyone's T-day was great as well.


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## LMJ

Whatever's on sale at Save-A-Lot or K-Mart. I've yet to get burned by the bird.

My own mistakes while cooking it, OTOH... 

I tried smoking a 14-pound Honeysuckle White this year... Ended up with a big cold spot in the middle. So while the ladies feasted on dark meat, my father risked salmonella on a partly-cooked breast, and after carving off all I could, I shoved the bare carcass into a hot oven and spent the evening picking meat off the bones.

Please note that this account of turkey day 2007 completely glosses over the triple homocide I was nearly driven to in the process. 

Slicing the partially-raw breasts into "turkey steaks" and grilling them on Saturday left them a bit dry, but OMG, the flavor! Smoky, spicy, bacony, savory, a little bit sweet...

Next time, I'm quartering the bird first!


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## LMJ

In the Kitchen said:


> The sister said she could never have gotten that big of bird in her oven.



Well, you don't NEED an oven, if you've got a shovel...


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## bigjimbray

I am curious to find out what brand of turkey that was he cooked that was 72 lbs. I use
to work for loveless ranches years ago and they had toms that would be close to 100lbs.
and I did`nt know anyone else had birds that big. because there`s were a special breed.


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## LMJ

bigjimbray said:


> I am curious to find out what brand of turkey that was he cooked that was 72 lbs. I use
> to work for loveless ranches years ago and they had toms that would be close to 100lbs.
> and I did`nt know anyone else had birds that big. because there`s were a special breed.



I would think you'd have to go to the rancher or shoot a wild tom yourself to get one that big... What store would take a bird that size? 

Unless perhaps there's some distribution network for giant turkeys to be served for sheer impressiveness at celebratory/corporate/diplomatic functions. Hmm...


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## Mrs. Cuillo

I keep my turkey very plain...a little butter and some poultry seasoning...so I can taste the difference between brands.  The past several I have cooked have been Honeysuckle but this year for Thanksgiving I tried Butterball and was very disappointed.  There was almost no turkey flavor, though it did stay very moist and only took an hour and a half to cook a 10lb bird.  I would like to find an organic farm and see how those taste...maybe next time!


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## suziquzie

My favorite is the brand on sale, Jennio last week at 35 cents a pound, and whatever was buy one get one free a few weeks ago. I am now the proud owner of 3 turkeys and 1 breast. Good thing I didn't get enough turkey at Thanksgiving.


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## In the Kitchen

bigjimbray said:


> I am curious to find out what brand of turkey that was he cooked that was 72 lbs. I use
> to work for loveless ranches years ago and they had toms that would be close to 100lbs.
> and I did`nt know anyone else had birds that big. because there`s were a special breed.



Did you get to taste one of the birds  that were so huge?  Just curious if any flavor?  Would many people buy this bird that was almost 100 lbs.?  Learn something new everyday.


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## Poppinfresh

Well I'm officially even more in love with Diestel Farms.  We ordered one called a "wide breasted" turkey for Thanksgiving this year.  Apparently they've bred a certain line of turkeys to have more white meat than normal.

Man, they weren't kidding!  The breasts on it were HUGE and it had about twice as much white meat as a comparably sized normal turkey.


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