Choose your turkey wisely

November 8th, 2007

By Deven Black, Jill Rovitzky Black and Judith Hausman
Gannett News Service

Shopping for a Thanksgiving turkey can be daunting. Sometimes the labels can be as confusing as an income tax return. To set you straight, we’re providing a glossary, so you’ll have the skinny on your turkey, no matter how plump a bird you buy.

Heritage

Heritage turkeys are the feathered equivalents of heirloom vegetables. To turkey breeders they’re “standard breeds” — old-school turkeys that look, live and, most important, taste the way turkeys used to. To buy one of these tasty throwbacks, try www. localharvest.org/store, a cooperative venture of farm markets. Enter “heritage turkey” in the search box and a variety of producers will come up. Some offer only on-site pickup but others ship either frozen or seriously chilled birds. Prices can run as high as $10 a pound. heritage turkeys are also available at www.igourmet.com

Pasture-raised

The name says it all: Pasture-raised turkeys roam around outside and eat primarily grass, so their food and activity level — both of which affect flavor — differ from those of their grain-fed cousins raised in confinement. Pasture-raised turkeys are also likely to be heritage breeds; the factory farm birds are so heavy of breast and short of leg that they can’t thrive out in the open. According to traditional-cooking authority William Rubel, heritage turkeys “have more intrinsic flavor, and if they have been raised on pasture, then their flesh will be as fully flavored as it can be OrganicAccording to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, to be called organic, a turkey has to be raised on organic feed: grain- or grass-fed without the use of genetic engineering methods, ionizing radiation or sewage sludge for fertilization. And the birds cannot be given hormones or antibiotics. Many breeders who produce pasture-raised, heritage breeds do so organically. The growing popularity of organic foods means that you’ll also find organic birds at Whole Foods Markets and other high-end, health-food-oriented retailers or similar specialty stores. www.igourmet.com KosherTo qualify as a kosher turkey, the bird must be healthy at the time of slaughter and must be killed in a specific manner intended to minimize pain, under supervision of a rabbi trained in ancient Jewish dietary laws. All the blood has to be removed from the slaughtered bird, first by draining, then by a process of soaking and salting. The net effect of all that salt and water is equivalent to brining the bird, an effective although sometimes unwieldy way to enhance the flavor and juiciness of a turkey. That’s why in the supermarket arena, kosher poultry often trumps standard brands in taste tests, and why many non-Jews and non-observant Jews will buy kosher turkeys and chickens. Frozen kosher turkeys are available in most major supermarkets. Fresh birds can be ordered from kosher butchers or specialty kosher markets.Free-range

Free-range refers only to turkeys given free access to the outdoors. They may still be penned, unlike pastured turkeys, which actually wander around grass. Crowded conditions apparently have more impact on turkey health and taste than does access to the outdoors.

Fresh

According to Agriculture Department definitions revamped in 1997, “fresh” simply means the turkey has never been stored below 26 degrees. The term describes a “pliable surface.” The bird may still have been stored for several weeks. For the holiday season, most grocery chains carry fresh turkey. They still generally taste better than “deep frozen” birds and can be perked up further with brining. You may prefer to look for “fresh-killed,” meaning recently butchered and delivered, usually coming from farms closer by.

Frozen

Poultry taken below 26 degrees and held at zero degrees or below must be labeled “frozen.” If the turkey is defrosted, it should say “previously frozen” on the packaging. “Rock” frozen and requiring longer defrosting time (www.butterball.com answers all defrosting, temperature and recipe questions.), these turkeys may have been held a long time after processing. Widely available, conventional brands such as Butterball may also be “self-basting,” that is, injected with a solution of fat, broth, salt and water. This is meant to counteract the drying tendency of the quick-freezing, industrial cold-air process. In addition, factory-raised birds grow so quickly that their meat doesn’t have a chance to develop rich flavor and dense texture.

Natural

Fresh turkeys may also calls themselves “natural,” which has no official definition. It is a broad marketing adjective that officially indicates nothing about how the bird was raised, fed, killed or held. Sometimes packaging will further explain that “natural” indicates that the turkey contains no artificial ingredients. Premium brands, such as Murray’s, Bell & Evans and Maple Lawn Farms are fresh and natural, too.

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