We ate a Bourbon Red hen last year, I thought it had a lot of flavor, more dark meat than light, and had a bit more fat on her than I was expecting.
OH, and REALLY long legs!
OH, and REALLY long legs!
Do 'wild' turkeys tast better than heritage?
- Thread starter Cuttlefishherder
- Start date
- Jun 9, 2010
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Quote:
Did you feed alot of corn? I think corn makes a fatty turkey.
Some people like there turkeys young. I like a older bird. More flavor to me.
Did you feed alot of corn? I think corn makes a fatty turkey.
Some people like there turkeys young. I like a older bird. More flavor to me.
Quote:
You definitely should cook one up. I just raise MW's because their small size works for me and my wife but, they are delicious. I have five Toms right now that will be ready to butcher in about 6 more weeks. Check out brining also. I always brine my turkeys and chickens because it seems to make them moister and adds an interesting flavor. I use salt, molasass, brown sugar, rosemary, juniper berries, whole pepper corns and bay leaves. Yummy. If only my turkeys knew what I was thinking.
You definitely should cook one up. I just raise MW's because their small size works for me and my wife but, they are delicious. I have five Toms right now that will be ready to butcher in about 6 more weeks. Check out brining also. I always brine my turkeys and chickens because it seems to make them moister and adds an interesting flavor. I use salt, molasass, brown sugar, rosemary, juniper berries, whole pepper corns and bay leaves. Yummy. If only my turkeys knew what I was thinking.
- Jun 9, 2010
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Like I said before I like a brined turkey too. On another taste test they said heritage turkeys should not be brined. But if you read from the organic farm that did the taste test where the MW won, they do recomend that you brine the turkeys.
From http://www.slate.com/id/2091593
From http://www.slate.com/id/2091593
[The heritage turkey was not available in time for the group testing, so I picked up my heritage turkey, distributed by Slow Food Puget Sound, on Monday morning. (In general, fresh turkeys of any kind are very hard to get until the week of Thanksgiving because of the short shelf-life of the unfrozen meat.) It was the old Bronze breed, with a narrow breast that dropped off sharply after the equator of the torso. I roasted it in the same manner as the other birds, but because the accompanying literature said this breed was easily overcooked, I pulled it at 162 degrees, 3 degrees shy of the other birds. I had three friends come over to taste: two who, like me, had already tasted all four birds, and one excited neophyte.
Tasting notes: Both veteran tasters liked the bird, especially the delicious, well-rounded flavor of the breast meat, which was moist, and "full of the essence of turkey." "It rates right up there" when compared to the Butterball and kosher turkeys, all veterans agreed. "This is like brisket!" exclaimed our new taster, and indeed, much of the turkey's dark meat seemed pleasantly beefy, even if the stringy leg muscle was "pretty tough" and laced with prominent tendons. The rarer meat closest to the bone had some of the metallic twang of blood, and yet to cook the breast anymore would have meant overdoing it. Nibbling on a "lucky carrot" that had soaked up the roasting juices, we deemed the gravy-making potential of the bird promising. Still, the engineering issues of this pricey bird aren't easy to overcome without cutting it apart. I'd be a little hesitant to brine these turkeysheritage bird veterans don't recommend itbecause it might neutralize the distinct qualities of the meat. Ideally, I think two smaller Bronzes might do the trick, cooking more quickly and evenly, while providing the same big flavor. Grade: B+
This is the taste test that I think Steve talked about. It is long so this is just about cooking the heritage turkey. From http://www.ediblechesapeake.com/magazine/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=104&Itemid=54
Tasting notes: Both veteran tasters liked the bird, especially the delicious, well-rounded flavor of the breast meat, which was moist, and "full of the essence of turkey." "It rates right up there" when compared to the Butterball and kosher turkeys, all veterans agreed. "This is like brisket!" exclaimed our new taster, and indeed, much of the turkey's dark meat seemed pleasantly beefy, even if the stringy leg muscle was "pretty tough" and laced with prominent tendons. The rarer meat closest to the bone had some of the metallic twang of blood, and yet to cook the breast anymore would have meant overdoing it. Nibbling on a "lucky carrot" that had soaked up the roasting juices, we deemed the gravy-making potential of the bird promising. Still, the engineering issues of this pricey bird aren't easy to overcome without cutting it apart. I'd be a little hesitant to brine these turkeysheritage bird veterans don't recommend itbecause it might neutralize the distinct qualities of the meat. Ideally, I think two smaller Bronzes might do the trick, cooking more quickly and evenly, while providing the same big flavor. Grade: B+
This is the taste test that I think Steve talked about. It is long so this is just about cooking the heritage turkey. From http://www.ediblechesapeake.com/magazine/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=104&Itemid=54
Testing the Taste of Heritage Turkeys
Edible Chesapeake, Fall 2008
By Renee Brooks Catacalos
There may be many reasons why the turkey became the first poster child for the culinary merits of heritage breed animals. Its a bird native to the Americas, having been edged out in the voting for national bird by the bald eagle (okay, maybe it wasnt that close a race). And turkeys are beautiful animals and are inextricably tied to the holiday that celebrates our early melting pot history.
Personally, I think the real reason turkeys were the first to parade down the heritage marketing path is that turkey as we know it today leaves much to be desired. With the prevalence of flavorless and texture-free birds, its no wonder that the possibility of something better is irresistibly intriguing. People are constantly looking for a better tasting turkey. Folks in Louisiana have been the most creative in addressing this problem, bringing us Cajun-spice-injected fried turkeys, as well as that incredible bird-within-a-bird-within-a-bird, the turducken. Heritage turkeys give us a somewhat less gaudy way to find flavor in our noble Thanksgiving bird.
In a unique step toward promoting the flavor and value of heritage breed turkeys, the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy (ALBC) teamed up with Slow Foods USA and Humane Farm Animal Care to present a side-by-side blind tasting of heritage breed turkeys at Ayrshire Farm in Upperville, Virginia, earlier this year. It was the first of several heritage meat tastings the ALBC and Ayrshire Farm are hosting this year.
Sandy Lerner, owner of Ayrshire Farm, said part of the reason she is so committed to the conservation and promotion of heritage breeds is that weve forgotten what food is supposed to taste like. Indeed, whenever anyone asks me about why I think local food in general is better than what we buy in the grocery store, I tell them to try tasting both side-by-side. Nothing reveals the difference more clearly.
Among the meats I have put to the test, turkey has the disadvantage of being the most bland to begin with. The same low-fat virtues the turkey industry extols can also take a toll on the taste of turkey in general. The meat presented in bite-sized pieces at the tasting was not seasoned in any way. One of my fellow tasters, Jeremiah Cohen, general manager of DCs Tabard Inn and a fan of heritage turkeys, pointed out that salt and fat are important if you want your turkey to be more than just bland cardboard. Although he understood that the lack of seasoning was probably a tasting strategy that would allow us to focus on the pure taste of the turkey, Cohen lamented that It was pretty painful to eat all that unseasoned turkey meat.
But eat it we all did, making notes on flavor, texture and appearance for each of the numbered samples we tasted. All of the birds had been raised on organic feed and processed humanely at Ayrshire Farm, except the Bronze and the Butterball thrown in to keep us honest. While several of the samples seemed to bunch up in the okay, tastes like turkey category for me, there were a few that really did taste different. My notes on one of my least favorite samples indicated the white meat was kind of mealy and the dark meat was sinewy. This turned out to be the Black, one of the oldest breeds in the tasting and one that was once bred in large numbers in Maryland and Virginia. I also found I didnt much like the strong flavor of the Bronze, which I found to be almost gamey.
I did, however, enjoy the intense, but not gamey, flavor of both the white and dark meat of the Bourbon Red. It didnt taste bland at all, it tasted like what I think I always hoped turkey would taste like but never really did. In the end, I voted with the majority for the favorite, the Midget White, which I thought tasted great and had a very nice texture in both white and dark meat.
The final tally had the Midget White in first place and the Bourbon Red second, by pretty comfortable margins. All the turkeys tasted received some votes, but every heritage varietyRoyal Palm, Chocolate, Slate, Narragansett, Bronze, and Black in addition to the top two vote-getterscame out ahead of the Butterball.
Interestingly, the Midget White is the most modern of the heritage breeds. According to the ALBC breed information, it was developed in the 1960s in anticipation of consumer desire for a smaller bird with many of the characteristics of the broad-breasted white. It never caught on as predicted, however, and was on its way to extinction when some of the last birds of the breed were sent to the USDA poultry facility in Beltsville, Maryland in the 1990s. The Beltsville flock was dispersed to poultry enthusiasts on the East Coast in 2005 and the ALBC reports the breeds survival is completely in the hands of private farmers now. The Midget White is categorized as critical on the ALBCs Conservation Priority List, meaning there are fewer than 500 breeding birds in the country.
Choosing and cooking a heritage turkey
So most of us can probably cross the Midget White off our Thanksgiving shopping lists, although a handful of local farms such as Day Spring Farm in Middleburg, Virginia, and Ayrshire Farm do have a few available. The majority of our birds are Bourbon Reds and we have a small quantity of Midget Whites, says Susie Haas, wholesale manager for Ayrshire Farm. They all have proven to be very simple when cooking, she adds. They do not require a lot of fuss.
One of the distinctions of a heritage turkey, and to a lesser extent, of free-ranging locally raised hybrid turkeys, is the more mature flavor and texture, developed as a result of an active lifestyle and a diet that includes outdoor forage. Home cooks should be advised, however, that a little extra care may be necessary to avoid overcooking or undercooking the bird. This is one of the most often-heard comments from folks who try a heritage turkey with disappointing results. If anyone is slightly interested in a heritage bird, says Katherine Ecker of Legacy Manor Farm in Boonsboro, Maryland, I ask them if they are willing to change their cooking style for this bird, as it needs a different method than the traditional Butterball one finds in the grocery with the pop up timer. Heritage birds also tend to be smaller and leaner than commercial turkeys, and they have not been injected with a brine solution, as is common with much commercially marketed meat today.
Efforts to get the preparations just right seem well worth the time. Customer comments posted under the title Rave Reviews on the website of Whitmore Farm another western Maryland farm that raises organic Bronze turkeys, echo the same positive sentiments: I just wanted to write you a quick note to let you know that the heritage turkey was fantastic! We brined it like you recommended and it was possibly the juiciest, most flavorful turkey that we have ever eaten! Another comment reads: We were sort of afraid that there wouldn't be enough white meat, so Carol made a turkey breast. Your turkey was WAY tastier than the turkey breast.
I do recommend the brining of turkeys before cooking, says Whitmore Farm co-owner Will Morrow, both for moisture and for flavor enhancement. I favor a sweet brine, combining maple syrup and kosher salt along with whole peppercorns for heat, and thyme to round out the flavor. But he encourages experimentation. There are so many different brine recipes out there, Morrow says. You can substitute sugar, honey or even molasses for the sweetness, or add lemons or oranges for a clean, citrus finish.
Andrew Zajac of Silver Spring, Maryland, has become a fan of Legacy Manors heritage turkeys over the past few years. I just wanted to try it because . . . Im not a great fan of white meat and thats what the hybrid turkeys seem to have a preponderance of, Zajac says. He found, to his surprise, that even the white meat on the heritage birds was very good. It was the most delicious turkey Id ever cooked, he says. I expected the meat to be a little bit tougher, but it really was quite tender and the texture of the meat was very agreeable, he says. He did watch the roasting time carefully to be sure it wasnt overcooked or dried out.
While many cooks do have completely positive experiences with heritage turkeys, Ecker of Legacy Manor Farm says she prefers to have customers try one of her pastured hybrid birds first if they have any trepidation about cooking a heritage bird. When they are ready to the next step, she says she might recommend the Beltsville White out of her heritage flock, which also includes Narragansett and Bronze. (The Beltsville White is a hybrid developed at the USDA poultry facility in Beltsville, Maryland in the 1930s, and is unrelated to the Midget White.) I would guess they would be a better bird to start on, as far as cooking, she says. Although they are a heritage bird, they also are a hybrid developed for more meat on a smaller frame.
Edible Chesapeake, Fall 2008
By Renee Brooks Catacalos
There may be many reasons why the turkey became the first poster child for the culinary merits of heritage breed animals. Its a bird native to the Americas, having been edged out in the voting for national bird by the bald eagle (okay, maybe it wasnt that close a race). And turkeys are beautiful animals and are inextricably tied to the holiday that celebrates our early melting pot history.
Personally, I think the real reason turkeys were the first to parade down the heritage marketing path is that turkey as we know it today leaves much to be desired. With the prevalence of flavorless and texture-free birds, its no wonder that the possibility of something better is irresistibly intriguing. People are constantly looking for a better tasting turkey. Folks in Louisiana have been the most creative in addressing this problem, bringing us Cajun-spice-injected fried turkeys, as well as that incredible bird-within-a-bird-within-a-bird, the turducken. Heritage turkeys give us a somewhat less gaudy way to find flavor in our noble Thanksgiving bird.
In a unique step toward promoting the flavor and value of heritage breed turkeys, the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy (ALBC) teamed up with Slow Foods USA and Humane Farm Animal Care to present a side-by-side blind tasting of heritage breed turkeys at Ayrshire Farm in Upperville, Virginia, earlier this year. It was the first of several heritage meat tastings the ALBC and Ayrshire Farm are hosting this year.
Sandy Lerner, owner of Ayrshire Farm, said part of the reason she is so committed to the conservation and promotion of heritage breeds is that weve forgotten what food is supposed to taste like. Indeed, whenever anyone asks me about why I think local food in general is better than what we buy in the grocery store, I tell them to try tasting both side-by-side. Nothing reveals the difference more clearly.
Among the meats I have put to the test, turkey has the disadvantage of being the most bland to begin with. The same low-fat virtues the turkey industry extols can also take a toll on the taste of turkey in general. The meat presented in bite-sized pieces at the tasting was not seasoned in any way. One of my fellow tasters, Jeremiah Cohen, general manager of DCs Tabard Inn and a fan of heritage turkeys, pointed out that salt and fat are important if you want your turkey to be more than just bland cardboard. Although he understood that the lack of seasoning was probably a tasting strategy that would allow us to focus on the pure taste of the turkey, Cohen lamented that It was pretty painful to eat all that unseasoned turkey meat.
But eat it we all did, making notes on flavor, texture and appearance for each of the numbered samples we tasted. All of the birds had been raised on organic feed and processed humanely at Ayrshire Farm, except the Bronze and the Butterball thrown in to keep us honest. While several of the samples seemed to bunch up in the okay, tastes like turkey category for me, there were a few that really did taste different. My notes on one of my least favorite samples indicated the white meat was kind of mealy and the dark meat was sinewy. This turned out to be the Black, one of the oldest breeds in the tasting and one that was once bred in large numbers in Maryland and Virginia. I also found I didnt much like the strong flavor of the Bronze, which I found to be almost gamey.
I did, however, enjoy the intense, but not gamey, flavor of both the white and dark meat of the Bourbon Red. It didnt taste bland at all, it tasted like what I think I always hoped turkey would taste like but never really did. In the end, I voted with the majority for the favorite, the Midget White, which I thought tasted great and had a very nice texture in both white and dark meat.
The final tally had the Midget White in first place and the Bourbon Red second, by pretty comfortable margins. All the turkeys tasted received some votes, but every heritage varietyRoyal Palm, Chocolate, Slate, Narragansett, Bronze, and Black in addition to the top two vote-getterscame out ahead of the Butterball.
Interestingly, the Midget White is the most modern of the heritage breeds. According to the ALBC breed information, it was developed in the 1960s in anticipation of consumer desire for a smaller bird with many of the characteristics of the broad-breasted white. It never caught on as predicted, however, and was on its way to extinction when some of the last birds of the breed were sent to the USDA poultry facility in Beltsville, Maryland in the 1990s. The Beltsville flock was dispersed to poultry enthusiasts on the East Coast in 2005 and the ALBC reports the breeds survival is completely in the hands of private farmers now. The Midget White is categorized as critical on the ALBCs Conservation Priority List, meaning there are fewer than 500 breeding birds in the country.
Choosing and cooking a heritage turkey
So most of us can probably cross the Midget White off our Thanksgiving shopping lists, although a handful of local farms such as Day Spring Farm in Middleburg, Virginia, and Ayrshire Farm do have a few available. The majority of our birds are Bourbon Reds and we have a small quantity of Midget Whites, says Susie Haas, wholesale manager for Ayrshire Farm. They all have proven to be very simple when cooking, she adds. They do not require a lot of fuss.
One of the distinctions of a heritage turkey, and to a lesser extent, of free-ranging locally raised hybrid turkeys, is the more mature flavor and texture, developed as a result of an active lifestyle and a diet that includes outdoor forage. Home cooks should be advised, however, that a little extra care may be necessary to avoid overcooking or undercooking the bird. This is one of the most often-heard comments from folks who try a heritage turkey with disappointing results. If anyone is slightly interested in a heritage bird, says Katherine Ecker of Legacy Manor Farm in Boonsboro, Maryland, I ask them if they are willing to change their cooking style for this bird, as it needs a different method than the traditional Butterball one finds in the grocery with the pop up timer. Heritage birds also tend to be smaller and leaner than commercial turkeys, and they have not been injected with a brine solution, as is common with much commercially marketed meat today.
Efforts to get the preparations just right seem well worth the time. Customer comments posted under the title Rave Reviews on the website of Whitmore Farm another western Maryland farm that raises organic Bronze turkeys, echo the same positive sentiments: I just wanted to write you a quick note to let you know that the heritage turkey was fantastic! We brined it like you recommended and it was possibly the juiciest, most flavorful turkey that we have ever eaten! Another comment reads: We were sort of afraid that there wouldn't be enough white meat, so Carol made a turkey breast. Your turkey was WAY tastier than the turkey breast.
I do recommend the brining of turkeys before cooking, says Whitmore Farm co-owner Will Morrow, both for moisture and for flavor enhancement. I favor a sweet brine, combining maple syrup and kosher salt along with whole peppercorns for heat, and thyme to round out the flavor. But he encourages experimentation. There are so many different brine recipes out there, Morrow says. You can substitute sugar, honey or even molasses for the sweetness, or add lemons or oranges for a clean, citrus finish.
Andrew Zajac of Silver Spring, Maryland, has become a fan of Legacy Manors heritage turkeys over the past few years. I just wanted to try it because . . . Im not a great fan of white meat and thats what the hybrid turkeys seem to have a preponderance of, Zajac says. He found, to his surprise, that even the white meat on the heritage birds was very good. It was the most delicious turkey Id ever cooked, he says. I expected the meat to be a little bit tougher, but it really was quite tender and the texture of the meat was very agreeable, he says. He did watch the roasting time carefully to be sure it wasnt overcooked or dried out.
While many cooks do have completely positive experiences with heritage turkeys, Ecker of Legacy Manor Farm says she prefers to have customers try one of her pastured hybrid birds first if they have any trepidation about cooking a heritage bird. When they are ready to the next step, she says she might recommend the Beltsville White out of her heritage flock, which also includes Narragansett and Bronze. (The Beltsville White is a hybrid developed at the USDA poultry facility in Beltsville, Maryland in the 1930s, and is unrelated to the Midget White.) I would guess they would be a better bird to start on, as far as cooking, she says. Although they are a heritage bird, they also are a hybrid developed for more meat on a smaller frame.
Interesting thread. I am thinking of adding a few turkeys next year, now I will have to consider carefully flavor as well as color and temperment.
- Jun 9, 2010
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I can even say I don't notice a difference in temperment. Mine are way to friendly. Its how they where raised.
- Jun 9, 2010
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I read a blog today from someone that was real excited to eat a Midget White.
Heritage turkey results
After making a fuss for heritage turkeys, I have to confess my Midget White from Townline Farm was good but not great.
The most distinctive thing about our turkey compared to a freakish grocery store turkey was that the dark meat was dense and really, really dark. Much more like a game bird. The drumsticks tasted great but were very chewy. That may be our cooking fault.. The breast meat came out juicy and very flavourful, much better than the usual supermarket mediocrity. There was also a surprising number of tendons in the meat, not to mention a lot of fat in the skin. Good gravy! I'll probably try a heritage turkey again, but it needs some practice. See also Slate on various turkeys.
Anyway, Thanksgiving dinner is more about side dishes and wine than turkey. The corn pudding with chanterelles and cranberry jalapeño relish were great, and the 1978 Santenay was elegant if a bit light to stand up to dinner.
From http://www.somebits.com/weblog/2003/11/
After making a fuss for heritage turkeys, I have to confess my Midget White from Townline Farm was good but not great.
The most distinctive thing about our turkey compared to a freakish grocery store turkey was that the dark meat was dense and really, really dark. Much more like a game bird. The drumsticks tasted great but were very chewy. That may be our cooking fault.. The breast meat came out juicy and very flavourful, much better than the usual supermarket mediocrity. There was also a surprising number of tendons in the meat, not to mention a lot of fat in the skin. Good gravy! I'll probably try a heritage turkey again, but it needs some practice. See also Slate on various turkeys.
Anyway, Thanksgiving dinner is more about side dishes and wine than turkey. The corn pudding with chanterelles and cranberry jalapeño relish were great, and the 1978 Santenay was elegant if a bit light to stand up to dinner.
From http://www.somebits.com/weblog/2003/11/
Brining is particularly useful for older birds or if you are smoking a turkey of any age.
IMHO adequately aging the bird is more important than brining. Even young heritage turkeys benefit from aging in the fridge for 5 to 7 days. The older the turkey the more it improves with aging. Aging much beyond a week is probably not advisable for obvious reasons.
IMHO adequately aging the bird is more important than brining. Even young heritage turkeys benefit from aging in the fridge for 5 to 7 days. The older the turkey the more it improves with aging. Aging much beyond a week is probably not advisable for obvious reasons.
Quote:
I agree aging is more important than brinig. Brining is a personal choice like cooking with certain spices.
No one is going to agree 100% on any taste test either. The first time I ate one of my own chickens I did not care for them. Now they are one of my favorite meats. First time I ate sashimi I almost barfed. Now I eat it every chance I get. Some foods are a developed taste. If a person is used to bland foods, then being exposed to something with flavor all of the sudden may not sit well at first.
The one fact that everyone agrees on is that heritage turkeys taste better than the mass produced varieties.
I agree aging is more important than brinig. Brining is a personal choice like cooking with certain spices.
No one is going to agree 100% on any taste test either. The first time I ate one of my own chickens I did not care for them. Now they are one of my favorite meats. First time I ate sashimi I almost barfed. Now I eat it every chance I get. Some foods are a developed taste. If a person is used to bland foods, then being exposed to something with flavor all of the sudden may not sit well at first.
The one fact that everyone agrees on is that heritage turkeys taste better than the mass produced varieties.
- Jun 9, 2010
- 254
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The one fact that everyone agrees on is that heritage turkeys taste better than the mass produced varieties.
I still have family memeber that like there mushy meat butterballs best. There is no changing them. I do admit they are picky.
I still have family memeber that like there mushy meat butterballs best. There is no changing them. I do admit they are picky.
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