Today I went and picked up our Thanksgiving turkeys from my friend Linda of Barefoot Farm and Flowers (check out her FB page, and "like" it so you can stay up to date with everything going on at the farm)! I have been anxiously awaiting this day since we ordered them from her early in the spring. If you remember, a few weeks ago the turkeys looked like this, strutting around her farm, feathers rusting in the breeze, turkey friends gobbling at their sides. They had everything a turkey could ever want, and I was certain I saw smiles on their little beaked faces. Little did they know, the end was near!
Today my turkeys looked quite a bit different, and a whole lot closer to being ready for their big day:
Right away, you can tell that there is a big difference between these two turkeys. The one on the left is a Broad Breasted white turkey, they are similar to the sort of turkey that you would find in the grocery store (at least in the body shape, that's where the similarities end since these turkeys were pasture raised). This breed of turkeys have very big breasts and grow to a much larger size than the turkey on the right did, which is a Bourbon Red heritage breed turkey. Its breasts are much less meaty, and its body shape is a whole lot closer to what turkeys typically looked like before they were "modernized". Linda raises both heritage and Broad Breasted turkeys, and we bought one of each to see what the differences were between them.
The Broad Breasted weighed out at 24.5 pounds, not including the giblets.
The Bourbon Red weighed out at 13 pounds, again not including the giblets:
Since my sister in law Michelle is hosting Thanksgiving at her house this year, we wont be cooking either of our birds on Thursday. But we are holding a second Thanksgiving feast at our house on Saturday, and we will be eating the broad breasted that day. Sometime after Christmas we will roast the Bourbon Red, and I am really looking forward to tasting that one. I have never had a heritage turkey before, and from everything I have heard, its going to be truly delicious. I cant wait!
Oh, and I picked up a couple more packages from Linda today....turkey feet!
Two big bags of them, 20 feet in all. I love that I have the sort of friends that I can ask for animal feet from, and they don't even blink an eye. Turkey feet - to be continued....
Today my turkeys looked quite a bit different, and a whole lot closer to being ready for their big day:
Right away, you can tell that there is a big difference between these two turkeys. The one on the left is a Broad Breasted white turkey, they are similar to the sort of turkey that you would find in the grocery store (at least in the body shape, that's where the similarities end since these turkeys were pasture raised). This breed of turkeys have very big breasts and grow to a much larger size than the turkey on the right did, which is a Bourbon Red heritage breed turkey. Its breasts are much less meaty, and its body shape is a whole lot closer to what turkeys typically looked like before they were "modernized". Linda raises both heritage and Broad Breasted turkeys, and we bought one of each to see what the differences were between them.
The Broad Breasted weighed out at 24.5 pounds, not including the giblets.
The Bourbon Red weighed out at 13 pounds, again not including the giblets:
Since my sister in law Michelle is hosting Thanksgiving at her house this year, we wont be cooking either of our birds on Thursday. But we are holding a second Thanksgiving feast at our house on Saturday, and we will be eating the broad breasted that day. Sometime after Christmas we will roast the Bourbon Red, and I am really looking forward to tasting that one. I have never had a heritage turkey before, and from everything I have heard, its going to be truly delicious. I cant wait!
Oh, and I picked up a couple more packages from Linda today....turkey feet!
Two big bags of them, 20 feet in all. I love that I have the sort of friends that I can ask for animal feet from, and they don't even blink an eye. Turkey feet - to be continued....