Thanksgiving: How to Pick the Right Turkey

Thanksgiving Dinner:  Turkey Buying Tips

 

Welcome to November and the start of the holiday feasts!  

 I am beginning a series of blogs about 

how to make your holiday season better! 

Enjoy! 

Some terminology to help you pick the best turkey for you and your family:

Basted or Self-basting:  These turkeys are injected with what the USDA states the ingredients are, “Butter or other edible fat, broth, stock or water; plus spices, flavor enhancer and other approved substances.”

 

Kosher:  Jewish dietary laws can be very strict and to entitle ‘kosher’ to be printed on the label is to warrant how the bird was killed.  It is claimed that these turkeys are well known for their richer flavor.

Free Range/Free Roaming/Cage Free:  These turkeys are like grandma had on the farm.  They are free to move around which will increase their muscle development creating some say a more flavorful meat.  This term does not mean the turkeys are ‘organic’ or ‘naturally processed’. 

Natural: Simply means no artificial preservatives, colors, flavoring, ingredients or any kind of synthetic ingredients were used to process this meat.  This does not mean it is ‘organic’.

Organic: This turkey first comes from a farm that does not use any roughage fillers, chemicals or antibiotics when raising them.  They are allowed direct sunlight/be outside, but they are not ‘free range’ and allowed to eat what they find outside. Secondly, the turkeys feed must be organically raised without chemical fertilizers or pesticides.  It is said that these turkeys make the best tasting turkey of them all.

Next blog in this series will be:  How To Thaw Your Turkey!