Pay Per Bird (Turkey)

[TammyP]

Quote:
Hi. I processed my first BBB this year for the table.... how would you suggest I cook it so it would be perfect?? If this bird doesn't excel the butterball I usually buy at the store every year, I don't think my family would like homegrown and that's not good since I've embarked on the turkey farmer thing.

Temp/time??? Any special pointers? I also have bourbons that I will be culling out come Thanksgiving (too many Toms in the bunch) and would your suggestions apply to that breed as well?

Thanks soooooo much!

(she dressed out at 16.5#)

~Tammy

 

[Yay Chicks!]

Last year someone we know raised heritage turkeys for the first time and had people pre-order them. They are a lot more expensive, and goodness knows, we don't have a lot of extra money. I'm also a vegetarian, so I don't eat turkey, however, my partner does. So, I put the pressure on to order one of the smaller ones because 1) We know that turkey is going to have a great life while it lives and 2) We would be supporting someone local. We even went out and "met" the turkeys. Last Thanksgiving it was pronounced the best tasting turkey ever. So, there are just good reasons to pay extra. Good luck and I hope you do well.

 

[Renee']

Quote:
This was my exact same story last year. My turkey was so yummy, I never want to eat another grocery store bird. I also don't want to spend big bucks raising birds for other folks, just to break even (I lost $ last year). This year I raised two, one for Thanksgiving and one for Christmas. These two birds were hatched from eggs from last years birds (friend's incubator). I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I will be able to find two poults on Craig's list in the spring because I won't get any eggs this year.

 

[jimmythechicken]

Quote:
Hi. I processed my first BBB this year for the table.... how would you suggest I cook it so it would be perfect?? If this bird doesn't excel the butterball I usually buy at the store every year, I don't think my family would like homegrown and that's not good since I've embarked on the turkey farmer thing.

Temp/time??? Any special pointers? I also have bourbons that I will be culling out come Thanksgiving (too many Toms in the bunch) and would your suggestions apply to that breed as well?

Thanks soooooo much!

(she dressed out at 16.5#)

~Tammy

here is a good link on cooking them everone does it diff.
http://www.localharvest.org/features/cooking-turkeys.jsp

 

[BigSkyChickens]

anthonyjames,

Thanks for the cost breakdown. This helps me appreciate the price I will pay for the heritage turkey I have reserved for November.

I just emailed the farmer today to confirm and ask if he want's payment ahead of time, and was thinking to myself: "OMG, can I really afford this turkey?" The answer is YES.