How many of you have tried fresh turkey instead of just settling for that Les Nussman frozen turkey? There is a significant improvement in flavor, and they are not "enhanced". Try a fresh one and see for yourself.

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Originally posted by Bob H.:
How many of you have tried fresh turkey instead of just settling for that Les Nussman frozen turkey? There is a significant improvement in flavor, and they are not "enhanced". Try a fresh one and see for yourself.

I used to beat that drum until Konrad Haskins got me straightened out. Not sure how they are graded there, here they are Canada Grade A or Utility grade (probably others but those are the two I normally see).

In my case buying fresh free range turkeys coincided with learning better cooking techniques and checking for finish temps (don't want to screw up that expensive bird right?), but I attributed the massive improvement on the wrong thing, I should have attributed it to the improved cooking techniques.

I went back to the utilities after Konrad gave his advice on the matter in a thread and was amazed how good the utilities were when I cooked them the same as the fancy birds.

Admittedly Grade A are cosmetically nicer, the utilities are often amputees or have torn or missing skin ... but diving through the freezer bin I almost always find an intact bird

If you paid money for it nearly all 'Fresh' turkeys have been previously frozen, if only for a short time, it's just how they process them.

Can't agree with you on this one Bob, for my money it's $0.99/lb non-pumped frozen utilities all the way. I couldn't notice a difference from fresh free range once they were treated equally.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Shawn W,

Just be careful with the allure of "free range" poultry. I don't know what constitutes a free range turkey, but for chicken it means that each bird has just one square yard of space average. They still live in a cramped massive pen stuffed with thousands.

Free range is a missleading marketing term and rarely do the birds have a real range at all. The "pet" chickens that roam around someones yard have much, much more space that "free range" commercial birds.

Pay more if you like, but I'm not sure it's really a better bird.

The fresh turkey that I buy is not expensive and is not marked free range. Our local market always has fresh turkey breasts, legs and wings at very inexpensive prices. To me the difference is comparable to grinding fresh sirloin yourself the same day that you use it verses a frozen Bubba burger. I am not a "pay more" kind of guy.

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Free range is a missleading marketing term and rarely do the birds have a real range at all.

correct. from what I've read, the law only states that they should have access to the outside.

back to the topic, we had a turkey that was raised locally by a small farmer. I assume it was a broad breasted white. I recall it being no better or worse than any other turkey I've eaten. Despite it being the far more humane option, we didn't see any other upside.

The good news is that this farmer is now raising heritage breeds in addition to the broad breasted whites. I'm hoping they come through with some improved flavor.

I prefer to buy a frozen turkey. USDA rules say that turkey that has not been kept at 26 deg or less can be sold as "fresh" so it is possible that packing houses can keep them at that temperature for weeks or months. Frozen turkeys are frozen and kept at zero deg, within hours of processing and therefore could be of better quality.

In this POST I did a "cheap" frozen bird and an expensive fresh bird side by side and could tell little to no difference.

I plan on turkey hunting this weekend. Do you think if I can find one that it can stay in the fridge till thanksgiving or will it need to be frozen since thanksgiving is still a ways off?

Yeah the only difference I've noticed in turkeys is between farm turkeys and wild turkeys. Nothing beats a wild turkey. But I don't notice any difference between fresh and frozen farm turkeys.