Comments on Crunchy Chicken: Stay away from enhanced breasts

As a small-holding poultry wrangler, I am very muc...

2009-12-02T04:40:07.628-08:00

As a small-holding poultry wrangler, I am very much in favour of folks appreciating free-range, cruelty-free birds. If one has consumed intensively-raised & chemically-enhanced animals for many years, the taste of the "kinder alternative" might seem a bit strange or "gamey" initially. But if one persists with naturally raised meats, soon the flavour of artificially "enhanced" flesh will leave an unpleasant taste in the mouth as well as in the conscience.
Our turkeys are Heritage Bronzewing, and in our experience they are much more accident-prone than other poultry. But we still adore them!

I will say, that while I'm not thrilled by the...

2009-12-01T06:55:49.405-08:00

I will say, that while I'm not thrilled by the Broad Breasted White birds that are the typical, having raised turkeys for five years now, I haven't found that they are actually that much dumber than the heritage breeds. It is true they are too large to breed naturally, and there are good reasons not to love them, but I'm not sure that stupidity is one of them.

I have raised five different breeds of heritage turkeys as well as the broad breasted whites, and if you need a big turkey, the whites are a good choice - we had 27 at my Mom's this year, and that meant either a 30lb turkey or two of them.

I've had my heritage birds kill themselves too. All domesticated turkeys are sweet and dumb as toast, as far as I can tell.

Sharon

I had Tourney for Thanksgiving. My husband and I p...

2009-11-30T18:39:06.848-08:00

I had Tourney for Thanksgiving. My husband and I planned to skip the family meal and serve one at a shelter instead. We didn't need a big bird for the two of us when we ate our own dinner, and since we like to try new foods, we went the Tofurkey route. The irony of two carnivores having a vegetarian Thanksgiving wasn't lost on us!

BTW, we stuffed ourselves and ate too much. It's possible on vegetarian fare too.

We got a chicken because we couldn't find a go...

2009-11-29T22:41:20.626-08:00

We got a chicken because we couldn't find a good turkey that wasn't huge and we were only feeding 4.

Or you could just go vegetarian or vegan. I made a...

2009-11-28T22:31:34.915-08:00

Or you could just go vegetarian or vegan. I made a homemade "tofurkey" this Thanksgiving and I think I actually enjoyed it more than any turkey meal I've had. I didn't have that terrible overstuffed feeling and it was delicious.

We are so lucky to have a local Mennonite family w...

2009-11-27T13:29:20.028-08:00

We are so lucky to have a local Mennonite family who raise pastured turkeys and chickens. Our 16 pounder was sooooo delicious. Sure, more costly than Wallyworld but worth it. prefer to know where my food comes from. Personally, I'm a fan of legs/thighs so all I care about is I don't cook my bird so long that the breast meat, that everyone else seems to favor, is dry.

We're fortunate to have a farm one town over f...

2009-11-27T08:36:48.918-08:00

We're fortunate to have a farm one town over from where we live that raises heritage turkeys. This is our 4th year in a row with one of their birds on our table - and I can say we don't miss the big-boobed kind of bird one bit!! :)

I got a heritage turkey from a local farmer, and i...

2009-11-26T18:57:24.576-08:00

I got a heritage turkey from a local farmer, and it was delicious. Long and lean, but very good. :)

Greenpa, I am so with you on the roses. They are a...

2009-11-26T08:37:22.918-08:00

Greenpa, I am so with you on the roses. They are a slap in the face of true roses.
I was able to buy a heritage breed, pasture raised turkey from a neighbor. It does look a little funny, it's long and lanky rather than round, but I'm sure it's tasty. It was expensive, but I have saved so much on food this year through my trade network and growing my own that it's really not a big expense in the grand scheme of things.

Thanks to the fact that I've been addicted to ...

2009-11-26T08:16:50.837-08:00

Thanks to the fact that I've been addicted to your blog going on 2 years now, I volunteered to host Thanksgiving this year and splurged (in a fairly major way) on a pasture-raised heritage turkey from a local Amish family. I cannot WAIT to try this bird out--nor can I wait to put its carcass and giblets to use in some of the best broth I'll probably ever have.

This is going to be the most local, organic Thanksgiving dinner my family has had in decades--much of what I'm serving was grown in my garden this summer.

I am thankful for you and your fantastic blog, Crunchy. Thank you for opening my eyes and helping me realize the beauty of ethically obtained, local foods. I'll let you know how I liked the turkey!

I do enjoy your titillating entries. For me, th...

2009-11-26T07:51:28.896-08:00

I do enjoy your titillating entries.

For me, the big buzoomed turkeys are another excellent example of science gone incompetent and short-sighted.

Like all the beautiful roses you can buy- which have no scent whatsoever.

To me, those roses are an offence against the universe. No really, they anger me. Because their existence on the market means good breeders have either been greedy on their own, and presented the world with work only half done- or their work has been subverted for commercial purposes.

I don't see anything wrong in breeding turkeys so they produce more, better, or different meat. But breeding so they are incompetent organisms- is just astonishingly stupid. Bad science. Irritating.

It's going to be interesting to watch the resurgence of the small farmer and free range turkeys. My guess is you'll find genetic diversity cropping up- and some lucky farmer will wind up with Burbon Reds that have 40% more breast muscle than the old ones- but are still able to "do it" on their own... and are perfectly functional critters.

Someday. Happy Turkey Day Crunch. :-) (and everyone.)

Ironically, the big-booby turkeys are my local her...

2009-11-26T07:08:34.030-08:00

Ironically, the big-booby turkeys are my local heritage - they were first developed about 9 miles from me, at the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center here in Maryland.

Thanks to you on this day for writing this post. ...

2009-11-26T06:36:56.583-08:00

Thanks to you on this day for writing this post. Somewhere (so I'm afraid I can't cite the source) I read a line that always comes to mind when "cheap" is used in the same sentence with "meat." The idea is that someone pays for what we identify as "cheap;" a price that is usually paid by the animal. To me, this is unacceptable. I therefore opt to pay more on my end to ensure the animal doesn't have to on theirs. The costs are more evenly balanced and the animals live more turkey- (or cow- or pig- or whatever) like lives. But I'm probably preachin' to the choir here...

Thanks for the laugh! The turkeys we raise (and ar...

2009-11-26T05:57:42.398-08:00

Thanks for the laugh! The turkeys we raise (and are headed over to cut up, vacuum seal, and freeze this morning) are heritage.

Though I have to say, I'm a fan of big boobs :) Some of us are just naturally endowed, and there's nothing wrong with that. Happy Thanksgiving!