Food + WIne - November 2024 | Read full Article
Holiday meals call for a show-stopping centerpiece. If you ask us, a whole turkey is the star of the show on the holiday table, especially at Thanksgiving. However, figuring out how to cook a turkey in a house packed with guests can strike fear in even the most seasoned chefs. Cooking your first bird in a roasting pan or turkey fryer can be intimidating, but our turkey recipe guides are the next best thing to having Food & Wine editors in your kitchen for moral support.
The first step is determining how many people you need to feed and picking the right bird. While we can't help wrangle your guest list, we can help steer you in the right direction with Thanksgiving turkey-buying tips. Shopping and coordinating a holiday meal is already stressful enough, so we recommend ordering a turkey online. Purveyors of quality meats deliver right to your door, and their specialty turkeys are tastier than anything you'll find at most supermarkets.
We roasted and tested 14 mail-order turkeys to find the birds that rose above the rest. We'll help you decide between fresh and frozen, pasture-raised, free-range, or organic turkeys for your holiday spread. These are the four best mail-order turkeys, according to our tests.
Best Sustainable Mail-Order Turkey: Diestel Pasture-Rasied Regenerative Whoel Turkey
Pros
- We were really impressed with this brand's animal welfare and environmental commitments, not to mention the great flavor of the meat.
Cons
- The skin had kind of a gamey flavor we didn't love.
The Global Animal Partnership, a nationwide animal welfare food labeling program, gave this pasture-raised turkey its highest score. Diestel refers to the raising process of these turkeys as "Regenified," raised using regenerative agriculture practices that try to leave the land in better shape than it started. The turkeys graze on rotating plots of land that get compost and rest periods to restore the soil and grow plants that trap carbon from the air and build strength against erosion. At around $14 per pound (with free shipping), investing in regenerative turkey doesn't cost much extra compared to the other options on this list. For the size and quality, we were impressed with the Diestel bird. The packaging it ships in is 99 percent compostable.
The skin on our test bird came out a deep golden brown, and the part closest to the stove's heating element got even darker and crispier. The texture was incredible, though we found the skin's taste a little gamey. Thankfully, that flavor didn't extend into the meat itself.
Size Options: 12 to 22 pounds | Shipping: Included
How We Tested Mail-Order Turkeys
This story includes data from two sets of testing that incorporated 14 mail-order turkeys. We rated each bird on shipping and packaging, how fresh the raw turkey seemed, and how long it took to defrost. We also made notes on each brand's agricultural practices and any organic and similar certifications.
We weighed each bird and prepared and cooked them all the same way, using a simple recipe to let the meat's flavor shine. After rinsing and drying each turkey, we seasoned it inside and out with salt. Then, we refrigerated the turkeys for 8 to 24 hours. When it was time to cook, we removed the turkeys from the fridge an hour before roasting, seasoned them with more salt, pepper, and olive oil, and roasted at 425°F for 1 hour. Next, we reduced the oven temperature to 375°F and cooked the turkeys until the meat registered 165°F on an instant-read thermometer. We let each rest under foil for 45 minutes before carving and tasting for flavor, texture, and juiciness. We also weighed the turkeys post-cooking and noted how much was lost.
After completing our cooking and taste test, we revealed the prices of the turkeys to consider value. We compared prices per pound, making sure to incorporate shipping fees to account for the true final cost.
What We Looked For in the Best Mail-Order Turkeys
Size
As a rough estimate when roasting a whole turkey, you want about 2 pounds per adult and 1 pound per child you plan to serve. But it's always a good idea to tack on a few extra pounds above that to ensure everybody's stuffed and you have a few days of leftover turkey sandwiches. If you have a lot of people to serve, consider buying two separate smaller birds rather than one huge one — they'll both thaw and cook faster.
Fresh vs. Frozen
Fresh turkey tastes better than a frozen and thawed bird but has a much shorter shelf life. A fresh bird is good for a week at maximum, and it'll take up a lot of space in a cramped refrigerator before a big holiday meal. If you plan to order a fresh turkey, see if it's possible to choose an arrival date as close as possible to your cooking date — there may be upgraded shipping options that work better for an extra fee.
Frozen turkeys are more versatile since they can be stored in the freezer for months before cooking. However, thawing is a big consideration. It takes days to thaw a turkey — a week or more for the largest birds — and you need to work that into your planning.
Agricultural Practices and Certifications
Not every turkey is raised in the same way, and that affects the quality of its meat. Free-range birds, which aren't confined to cages and have space to move around and exercise, tend to have more flavorful meat, as do turkeys that can forage for food rather than eating only grain. But these turkeys are also more expensive per pound.
You can check a brand's website for more complete details about how it treats its turkeys, but one thing to look for is a USDA Organic certification. This guarantees minimum standards, like that the birds aren't given growth hormones or unnecessary antibiotics, that they have space to move around, and other regulations about feeding and treatment.
Some turkey brands focus on regenerative agriculture, which seeks to restore fertility to the ecosystem even as it produces food. This can involve rotating turkeys and crops through different areas of land, letting birds forage freely in the wild, and other practices. There are multiple organizations with different types of regenerative and animal welfare certifications, all with their own varying standards.
Shipping and Packaging
Many sellers offer free shipping and guarantee it in time for major holidays, but you should check the fine print and make sure you order in time. Packaging was a big part of where turkeys ranked on our list because a defrosted, late, or beaten-up bird can undoubtedly ruin Thanksgiving. If the bird ships frozen, we'd advise ordering a bird early and storing it in the freezer to avoid any last-minute issues. A frozen turkey should arrive frozen firm, with any ice packs or dry ice at least partially intact, while a fresh one should be refrigerator-cold. Whether you order fresh or frozen, make sure you know the exact day the turkey will arrive and have plans to get it into cold storage as soon as possible. (This means you'll need to free up space in your fridge or freezer in advance!)
Frequently Asked Questions
- How long does it take to thaw a frozen turkey?
A good guideline is that you need 24 hours of thawing per 4 pounds of turkey. In other words, a 16-pound Thanksgiving turkey needs to move from freezer to fridge the Sunday before the big day. Turkey thawing isn't an exact science, so always budget more time than you think you need: Having a fully thawed turkey hanging around the fridge for a day or so is better than trying to cook a half-frozen bird.
As tempting as it may be to accelerate the process, you shouldn't leave a frozen turkey out at room temperature or run it under hot water. Your guests will prefer a slightly late dinner to a group trip to the doctor for food poisoning. It's possible to speed up thawing by putting the turkey in cold running tap water, but you'll have the best results if you leave plenty of time and let your bird thaw entirely in the refrigerator. Set a calendar reminder or three so you don't forget.
- How long does it take to cook a turkey?
That depends on the size of the bird, but a decent estimate is that an unstuffed turkey needs 15 to 20 minutes per pound at 325°F. Don't rely on guessing, though: You should use a meat thermometer to take the internal temperature of the meat at the deepest point in the thigh. The turkey is fully cooked when this reaches 165°F. There will be some carryover cooking once the bird comes out of the oven, so pulling your turkey at about 160°F is okay.
As with thawing, it's always better to budget a more time than you think you'll need for roasting. The turkey will stay warm even if it finishes early and has to hang around on the counter for a bit while the rest of your Thanksgiving spread finishes up.
- What is the difference between pasture-raised, free-range, and organic turkeys?
These are all methods of farming turkeys meant to deliver tastier meat and more humane treatment. Organic is the term with the most specific definition: Farmers must meet specific guidelines set by the USDA to label their turkeys organic. Pasture-raised and free-range don't have as specific of definitions, but pasture-raised turkeys typically spend most of their time outside with plenty of opportunity for grazing, while free-range birds have access to a more limited outdoor space.
- When should I order a Thanksgiving turkey?
Many purveyors offer turkeys only seasonally. If you have a chest freezer, you can order one as soon as it becomes available for the season, many beginning in September. Otherwise, many sellers guarantee turkeys arrive in time for specific holiday dates like Thanksgiving and Christmas, so you don’t have to stress about placing your order on the exact right day. Each seller's policy and timing differs, so check the rules for the site you want to order from.
- What is a heritage turkey?
A heritage turkey is one from an older, heirloom breed. These birds are often smaller than conventional turkeys, with a stronger, more gamy flavor and less breast meat in comparison to dark meat. There's no official legal definition for a heritage turkey, but brands that use the term tend to focus on sustainability and quality over price and quantity.
