Does any particular brand name of turkey taste better than the rest?!
Answers: i wish i could remember the brand name but i got a frozen turkey at thanksgiving from a factory i worked at and it was the best i have ever had. i think it was smoked before freezing it, but it wasnt precooked. it was still raw meat. i just buy whatever brand is cheaper, does it make a difference to buy a more expensive brand? and does the size affect the flavor?
Butterball! your place of employment has the best price. if you put it in a renyonlds cooking bag it takes about half the time and never a dry Turkey!!!
You could raise your own turkey. Then you can feed it high quality ingredients and it will be both healthy and delicious.
from the butcher?
I suggest you don't buy a name brand turkey at all. Go to a local butcher and get it fresh, or even your supermarket can get them fresh. Fresh is better than frozen, small farms are better than mass production. Also, you could brine it; here is an excerpt from the washington post about brining.
""Brining a Turkey..ahhhhh!: I'm terrified to do it, but I'm going to. What equipment do I need? How long should it brine? Is it different for a frozen turkey?
Actually, you've chosen one of the least terrifying turkey prep methods of all, dear. The question you need to ask yourself is: Do I have the refrigerator space for a bucket or pot that will hold the turkey and a few gallons of brine for 24-48 hours? If you can say yes, then you can brine. All the work is in this advance step, which involves making a highly seasoned solution of salt, spices and mirepoix (carrot, celery and onion), giving it time to completely cool and allowing the turkey to sit in the chilled bath for a day or two. The rest is a cakewalk -- seriously. On cooking day, remove the bird out of the brine, pat it dry, and roast it without fuss. No need to baste, truss or do extra seasoning. Because the results are so reliable, brining has been my go-to method for the past five years, and I have no intention of changing my turkey tune anytime soon.""
I prefer Butterball turkey because it is sweeter and more tender than other turkeys. Size doesn't usually change the flavor of a turkey you buy in the market, but if you are buying fresh the younger ones are better-tasting.
Butterball brand! It makes a HUGE difference!
I get raves with my turkey. Here's how. Thaw turkey quickly in cold water (or buy fresh turkey). Take your largest pot (one the turkey can fit into totally submerged in liquid) OR a very heavy sturdy plastic garbage bag, two layers. Add one gallon of slightly warm water, one half cup salt, one half cup brown sugar, about 3 or 4 tablespoons poultry seasoning spice mix, about three tbsp black pepper. Shake it all up really well, and add your turkey, squishing up the bag so the turkey is competely covered in liquid and there are no air spaces. Put it in the fridge for three or four days, taking it out and sloshing it around to mix the spices up a couple times a day.
The day you cook it, remove it from the brine but don't rinse it (unless there are big icky gobs of spice---just wipe them off) Use a cooking bag and cook it EXACTLY as it says on the bag. Do NOT overcook!
KILLER turkey! Wonderful flavor all the way to the bone and VERY juicy!
As far as size, I think 10-12 lb turkeys cook the best. It's hard to cook a really big one evenly.
Butterballs are usually on sale about two weeks before Thanksgiving and about two weeks before Christmas. Shop around. We got a 12 lb bird for 10 bucks.