Recipes are important, but the raw ingredients can make or break the meal, too. And when you're cooking a big hunk of protein — like a turkey — for a group, you've got just one shot to do it right. To help you select the best bird this Thanksgiving, or whenever you eat turkey, we roasted six whole turkeys from widely available brands according to a classic recipe, Simple roast turkey with rich turkey gravy and conducted a blind taste test.
The simple recipe we selected is purposefully devoid of tricks to impart flavor or improve texture: no basting, brining, slathering in butter, or injecting with spices. To provide unbiased results, we made sure our turkeys were not delivered by mail (or PR firm) but rather purchased at supermarkets. All of the turkeys were fresh except the Butterball, which we could only purchase frozen during the time of our test. They are all widely available in the U.S. and are relatively inexpensive, ranging in price from $1.49 to $4.49 per pound. (Prices may vary depending on season and geographic location. The prices listed below indicate what we paid.)
Nine of our editors compared the look, flavor, and texture of the turkeys and ranked them using our four-fork rating system. We tested a total of six birds: One conventional, one kosher, and four free-range or natural. Read on to see how they stacked up.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27687401/
Fresh Bell & Evans Turkey
Cons: They are only available east of the Mississippi.
Fresh Eberly Organic Free-Range Turkey
Cons: A full, fatty flavor was a turnoff for some tasters. "Better for dark-meat fans," opined one critic. This was the second-most-expensive turkey we tested.
[URL="http://www.murrayschicken.com/"] Fresh Murray's Natural Turkey[/URL]
Cons: "Tough, dry texture and minerally flavor; not a good way to impress the in-laws" proclaimed one judge. Priciest of the bunch.
Fresh Plainville Turkey
Cons: "Mushy," complained one eater. A majority of the editors concluded that the "flavor was better than the texture" after taking a nibble of this bird. Yet it lacked real turkey flavor — it was mild and bland, but overly salty. One judge even believed the turkey had been injected with a saltwater solution.
[URL="http://www.butterball.com/"] Frozen Li'l Butterball[/URL]
Cons: Don't judge a turkey by its cover. This Butterball was dry, chewy, and "chemically tasting," according to several judges. Ultimately, the meat's unusual shade (bright white) belied the fact that this turkey did not live a free-range life.
Fresh Empire Kosher Turkey
Cons: The testers unanimously agreed that this bird was the least desirable of the bunch. It had a "chalky texture," according to one editor, and tasted "toasty" to another." The peculiar flavor is not objectionable, but I'm not sure it's natural either," said yet a third. All agreed that off flavors lingered, leaving an unforgettable and unfortunate aftertaste.
The simple recipe we selected is purposefully devoid of tricks to impart flavor or improve texture: no basting, brining, slathering in butter, or injecting with spices. To provide unbiased results, we made sure our turkeys were not delivered by mail (or PR firm) but rather purchased at supermarkets. All of the turkeys were fresh except the Butterball, which we could only purchase frozen during the time of our test. They are all widely available in the U.S. and are relatively inexpensive, ranging in price from $1.49 to $4.49 per pound. (Prices may vary depending on season and geographic location. The prices listed below indicate what we paid.)
Nine of our editors compared the look, flavor, and texture of the turkeys and ranked them using our four-fork rating system. We tested a total of six birds: One conventional, one kosher, and four free-range or natural. Read on to see how they stacked up.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27687401/
Fresh Bell & Evans Turkey
- <LI class=textBodyBlack>Weight: 13 lbs. (2.99 per lb.)
- Average rank: 3 1/2 forks
Cons: They are only available east of the Mississippi.
Fresh Eberly Organic Free-Range Turkey
- <LI class=textBodyBlack>Weight: 11.17 lbs. ($3.99 per lb.)
- Average rank: 3 forks
Cons: A full, fatty flavor was a turnoff for some tasters. "Better for dark-meat fans," opined one critic. This was the second-most-expensive turkey we tested.
[URL="http://www.murrayschicken.com/"] Fresh Murray's Natural Turkey[/URL]
- <LI class=textBodyBlack>Weight: 10.57 lbs. ($4.49 per lb.)
- Average rank: 2 1/2 forks
Cons: "Tough, dry texture and minerally flavor; not a good way to impress the in-laws" proclaimed one judge. Priciest of the bunch.
Fresh Plainville Turkey
- <LI class=textBodyBlack>Weight: 11 lbs. ($2.29 per lb.)
- Average rank: 2 1/2 forks
Cons: "Mushy," complained one eater. A majority of the editors concluded that the "flavor was better than the texture" after taking a nibble of this bird. Yet it lacked real turkey flavor — it was mild and bland, but overly salty. One judge even believed the turkey had been injected with a saltwater solution.
[URL="http://www.butterball.com/"] Frozen Li'l Butterball[/URL]
- <LI class=textBodyBlack>Weight: 10.16 lbs. ($1.29 per lb.)
- Average rank: 2 forks
Cons: Don't judge a turkey by its cover. This Butterball was dry, chewy, and "chemically tasting," according to several judges. Ultimately, the meat's unusual shade (bright white) belied the fact that this turkey did not live a free-range life.
Fresh Empire Kosher Turkey
- <LI class=textBodyBlack>Weight: 9.66 lbs. ($2.29 per lb.)
- Average rank: 1 1/2 forks
Cons: The testers unanimously agreed that this bird was the least desirable of the bunch. It had a "chalky texture," according to one editor, and tasted "toasty" to another." The peculiar flavor is not objectionable, but I'm not sure it's natural either," said yet a third. All agreed that off flavors lingered, leaving an unforgettable and unfortunate aftertaste.