Comments on: Getting A Farm-Fresh Thanksgiving Turkey

By: moralsiz

moralsiz — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 14:24:17 +0000

Maggie Henry is offering conventional and limited heritage birds in Lawrence County on 100% certified organic local grain, free-ranged on organic pasture. A $10 deposit holds your bird for fresh delivery at Farmer @ Firehouse Market the Saturday before Thanksgiving. Email Maggie for details . . .

By: Jennifer Szweda Jordan

Jennifer Szweda Jordan — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 19:07:29 +0000

p.s. if you really want a free-range turkey, there’s always hunting.

By: Jennifer Szweda Jordan

Jennifer Szweda Jordan — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 19:02:44 +0000

A word of caution about fresh poultry. I recently got food poisoning that I believe was from a fresh chicken. I got campylobacteriosis, which comes from a bacteria usually killed by freezing. It lasted 11 days — 3 in the hospital. I also blame myself for cavalierly tasting while cooking. But I was surprised, when I talked to the farmer who raised the bird, he’d never heard of this common bacteria, and was asking me for advice on whether he should freeze all his poultry. Anyway, be extra careful with fresh birds. Make sure your thermometer is accurate, and use it. I say a little more on my own blog at http://www.alleghenyfront.org/earthsbounty.
Jesse, thanks for such a visually appealing and interesting blog.

By: Fillippelli the (wannabe) Cook

Fillippelli the (wannabe) Cook — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 13:45:38 +0000

Sigh. We usually do Thanksgiving at my wife’s aunt’s house, and it’s generally a lot of superfattening casseroles and, the last two years, a turkey that was cooked and carved the night before. There are like 30 people there or something. I inquired too late last year about a local, fresh turkey, so thanks Jesse and Troy for the lead on the turkeys. I’m going to inquire now and, heck, even volunteer to cook the freakin’ thing at our place and transport it to our dining destination.

A number of years ago, doing a solo Thanksgiving dinner at our house in D.C. (because my wife was WAY pregnant) and could not travel, we did this maple glazed turkey that was roasted with bacon slices on top, and a sage stuffing. Best turkey I’ve ever had and I’ve dreamed of making it since. Perhaps I’ll try to fulfill that dream this year.

So, thanks again for the early reminder.

By: jwsharrard

jwsharrard — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 13:34:42 +0000

Thanks, Troy! Great information…wish I knew about that a few days ago.

Julia–
I’d start by asking how they raise their birds. Just because it comes from a local farm doesn’t mean it wasn’t raised in a very small cage. Farmers tend to be very open about how they operate their businesses, and tend to have explanations for why they do things the way they do. If you’re not comfortable with what you hear, call someone else and ask some more questions.

Know in advance what you’ll settle for. If you want organic, pasture-raised and nothing less, it will likely take you quite a bit more research to find than it would for you to find organic, cage-free but raised in a coop. To find conventional, cage-free will be even easier.

From what I understand, it is illegal to treat poultry with hormones, so all turkeys should be steroid-free and hormone-free; antibiotic-free is another story… I’d advocate at minimum making certain that your bird isn’t treated with antibiotics, even if a free-range bird is something that you have a hard time tracking down.

Whatever you find is bound to be fresher than what you’ll get from the supermarket, and you’ll be supporting a local farmer, too.

By: Julia

Julia — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 22:57:21 +0000

Jesse,
For those of us who aren’t in Pittsburgh and are looking to get a farm-fresh turkey this year, can you enlighten us about what questions to ask of local farmers to determine which farm will have the best quality turkeys?

Julia

By: Farmer Troy

Farmer Troy — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 22:32:47 +0000