Taste test to find out which breeds of heritage turkeys taste best!

[Celie]

I have mine outside in my garage which faces the east, with a 150 watt light on them at all times. I live further south then you, I have a friend who will not put her chickens or turkeys outside til they are 6 months old. The live in her bathroom, I would not do that they can be a little messy.

A friend asked me yesterday if I would want wild turkey eggs. I asked him if he bought them? He said no, they are pn his property in North Louisiana and he would bring me back some if I wanted. I told him yes

!!!!!! The only thing I'm wondering is if they will be fertile???? Guess I will just have to incubate them and wait and find out.

I don't see why they would not be fertile! Domestic turkey hens start presenting themselves to the toms a few days before she starts to lay, and the toms usually have their pecking order worked out by then. I didn't think all of mine would be fertile as my toms were not finished deciding who was ALPHA, but every one except for the very first one I picked up was. Weather they are viable is another question, with all the crazy rain we have been having in Louisiana lately. In Northern LA there have been icy flurries mixed in, but if they have not been exposed to the weather too long, they should do fine. What do you have to loose? I say, GO FOR IT! Please let us know how it turns out?

 

[Celie]

Sounds like fun. Too bad I live in Minnesota because 1) I wouldn't have any eggs to swap until almost April, and 2) Minnesota frowns on turkey imports because the commercial industry is so large.

My suspicion is they all taste the same, but it would be interesting to see the results of a good blind taste test. Of course, a double blind test would be even better. Only one person from the slaughtering team know which turkey is which breed. Neither the cooks nor the consumers know which breed is which. This prevents the cooks from unwittingly being extra careful with the breeds they think should taste the best.

I agree, a double blind taste test is what I had in mind. We have a very big family dinner at my brother's house, every Thanksgiving. Counting the 8 of us siblings, our children, grandchildren and a few friends, there are usually over 50 of us each year that attend. I plan to ask my daughter, who spends Thanksgiving with her in-laws and Christmas with us, to come tag the turkeys, when they are being cleaned, and write that number on a sheet of paper with the breed of turkey and put it into a sealed envelope. We will be cooking the turkeys all the same way, distributed to the cooks at random, and all they will have is the corresponding tag, but not the breed name. They will be asked to use the same seasoning, and all the birds will be brined together in the same way. Also, they guests will be asked to fill out a card on all the turkeys as to weather the feel the taste, texture, etc. is best. If anyone can think of any other things that should be considered, please do not hesitate to offer suggestions! If anyone raising turkeys want to swap eggs and do your own similar taste test, now is a good time to chime in so we can get the swapping details ironed out, before all the turkeys start laying and eggs start being swapped! I think this is going to be an interesting project!

 

[Celie]

If anyone else want to get in on doing a taste test or want to swap eggs, just chime in and I am sure someone will hollar back!

 

[Narragansett]

I'm surprised that no one has mentioned this already. The ALBC did do a double blind taste test about 10 years ago, with numbers greater than are being discussed here, but still not enough to really be statistically significant. Professional chefs were used to cook and judge the birds. The winner at that time for best tasting breed was the Bourbon Red.
ALBC puts out a lot of false or misleading information that people then swear by, but when they do something like this that has at least some demonstrable results, it gets ignored. Crazy world.

 

[Celie]

This is the answer, I gave to someone, who asked for advise, as to what breed to buy to have for this Thanksgiving:
The way I see it there are several different types of turkeys, for different purposes. First of all you have the Royal Palms, which I have only second hand information on and that is that they are not as good for eating as other heritage breeds, but are very nice "eye candy", and the wild turkey breeds are tough stringy meat and full of tendons. The very large breeds, such the Standard Bronze and Holland whites get quite large and are the largest heritage breeds. We processed a couple last Thanksgiving that were right around 18 months and weighed out at 34 and 35 pounds. Then on the opposite end of the scale are Midget whites, which are the size of a large chicken and are often confused with the beltsville whites, that weigh only a few pounds more and did not get very popular due to it's size. Both are white feathered, and along with the Holland whites were used in breeding the Hybrid commercial turkeys sold in stores today, since white feathers do not leave dark pin feathers, they are easier to process. Then there are the medium size heritage turkeys that are colorful and make nice size birds to process for the table, such as Narragansett, Bourbon red Spanish black and blue slates that all have good camouflage, so will take a little longer to process. Their weight should mature at 18 months to 33 pounds for a tom and 20 to 25 for a hen, take 20% off standing weight and that brings you to a table weight of 16 to 27 pounds. You can process then earlier at lower weights, but I think you will get more leg meat and less breast meat by doing so. Then there is the commercial BBW and BBB, that are hybrids and develop to process at 4 to 6 months of age with very large breast and very tender meat. These breeds do not reproduce naturally and need their feed consumption watched so they do not grow too fast for their frames, or they most likely develop leg and heart problems, but do get really large, fast on less feed. Because of their fast growth, I don't feel they have time to develop the richer taste of heritage breeds, but grown at home with more grains and free range feeding, will taste a lot better than store bought. Now, this is my opinion and others may not agree and there are a lot of cross breeds out there too numerous to mention. This being said, you at this point should be able to determine which breed is best for your needs, or be totally confused!!!

I know a small taste test that I as an individual can to will not be all inclusive, but we are asked this question so often and as a person who sells poults and eggs, I am faced with this question often, so to be more informed and able to give a reasonable opinion, I, like a lot of people, need more input from other people?
Narragansett, what breed do you prefer and why?

 

[Celie]

Arlene, This is the thread I was refering to.

 

[Celie]

I'm surprised that no one has mentioned this already. The ALBC did do a double blind taste test about 10 years ago, with numbers greater than are being discussed here, but still not enough to really be statistically significant. Professional chefs were used to cook and judge the birds. The winner at that time for best tasting breed was the Bourbon Red.
ALBC puts out a lot of false or misleading information that people then swear by, but when they do something like this that has at least some demonstrable results, it gets ignored. Crazy world.

Narragansett,
What breeds do you raise? Don't make me guess ! LOL
If anyone else wants to swap eggs for some Holland White hatching eggs, please let me know. I still need someone to swap with for Chocolate, arburn and Black Spanish turkeys, if I can find some to swap. If you want to swap for any breed you might want, please feel free to let it be known on this thread and I am sure someone who has the breed you want will contact you if they are willing!!