Organic turkey,,. Not so good

[Michael Waldo]

So, for the first time we decided to splurge and buy a fresh, not frozen,organic,free range, bla, bla, bla, turkey from an unnamed grocery here in WSEA.

OMG, the worst turkey I have ever had! Strong, gamey, just not good. have we become used to factory farm, bloated, frozen bland turkey or did we just get a bad one! Anyone else have experience between “regular” turkey and an organic, free range one? Kind of ruined our meal.

It made dessert all the more wonderful though.

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[singularname]

I’m guessing you’re use to a “high-maintenance” turkey. Strong and gamey, minimal fat, etc. is what I’m use to when my dad was kickin’, when we hunted them ourselves.

Similarly, I decided to do some deviled eggs and was kinda freaked at the price of free-range organic (haven’t bought eggs in a good while), so I bought those that each had “EB” stamped on them, not really reading if they were organic, but just cuz they we’re cheaper (although not cheapest). I thought I was being poisoned … so back atcha … Are EBs overly “processed” or something? They tasted chemically, not organic/wild. Think I’m officially done with eggs now.

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[WSB]

Michael – Happened to us several years ago; we couldn’t find the particular brand of fresh turkey (regionally grown) we usually bought, so we tried one that was billed as free range, etc., and had the same reaction. Very glad that the following year and every year since, we have found our preferred brand of fresh turkey back in local stores. Surprised me because otherwise, I am a fan of organic/free range/etc. poultry – chicken, anyway. Maybe something about what they eat/are fed. – TR

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[kayo]

We got the pre-roasted turkey from PCC (Diestel Farms free-range) that came with their holiday meal package and it was surprisingly good. I really did not expect a whole lot given that it was pre-roasted and we had to reheat it for 90 minutes. I expected the white meat to have a sawdust like texture. Instead, it was actually seasoned nicely and moist. Bummer that you had that experience with a fresh, organic turkey. I can definitely recommend the pre-roasted Diestel Farms turkey though. We will probably go that route again next year because it is much quicker than fully roasting a whole bird and it was just as good.

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[dhg]

Food taste is so subjective, it is impossible to know by this whether you had a bad bird or just a bad experience. Free-range turkeys require more basting or a nice layer of fatback on top to keep them moist. (Works for pheasants!) As for the “gamey” taste: an organic turkey will have a a more pronounced flavor, but I haven’t had anyone reject it as unpleasant (and these would be the relatives who have had nothing but white turkeys).

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[Michael Waldo]

It was not just a pronounced flavor, everyone around the table thought it was awful!

Maybe it has something to do with what they eat? It wasn’t the cook, my wife teaches cooking, so she knows what she is doing.

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[seaopgal]

Ours was a little tougher than normal this year, but tasted good. You probably got a bad bird … If you haven’t already, I would suggest taking it back to the store (sooner rather than later) and asking for a refund.

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[rw]

We had a Diestel turkey from PCC and brined it overnight before roasting. Awesomely perfect. Many non-organic “bargain” turkeys are preinjected with fluids so they stay moist, but I prefer to know what ingredients are in my turkey. No basting or lard layer needed. Brining is easy and virtually guarantees an awesome bird. (See Alton Brown’s recipe on Food Network.)

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[miws]

Is anyone else reading “Diestel Turkey” as “Diesel“?

Kinda reminiscent of this:

:-)

Mike

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[Michael Waldo]

Well, spent Friday suffering from food poisoning. One of my guests also very sick. Can only blame the bird. But, we got the internal temperature to 180 degrees, so I don’t know what happened. Roasting a whole chicken next year, I am done with turkey. Oh, and I can’t take it back, the whole thing went into the garbage Thursday night.

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[Luckie]

For the past two years we’ve gotten our turkey from the Swinery. They sell heritage, free-range, fresh, no-chemical birds. Pricier than your average grocery store turkey, but THE BEST we’ve ever tasted. Seriously.

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[waterworld]

Michael: Even though your bird has been tossed, you might want to report what happened to either your primary care provider or the Food Protection Department of the King County Public Health Department. A number of common food-borne illnesses are “notifiable conditions,” meaning that doctors and local health departments are required to report individual cases of illness to the State Department of Health and to the CDC. A single report of a food-borne illness may not mean anything, but if there are several reports of illness stemming from the same producer or retailer, or in the same area, the CDC will investigate and determine whether a recall is necessary.

Just recently, there was a big outbreak of multidrug-resistant salmonella associated with Foster Farms chickens produced in California and sold at Costco outlets. Nearly 400 people had confirmed salmonella, and of those, over 40% were hospitalized. Fifteen of those cases were here in Washington. The rate of actual infection was probably much higher, because so many people don’t go to the doctor when they get food poisoning.

It sounds like you have very good reasons to suspect that your turkey was contaminated and made you and others ill. Unless there’s some particular reason why you think it was just this one turkey that was bad, it’s worth considering calling in a report to your doctor or the King Count Public Health Department. If other people are reporting something similar involving some of the same turkeys, public health investigator will perhaps be able to isolate the source of the contamination and maybe stop an outbreak before it gets worse.

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[shefidgets]

Waterworld is absolutely correct Michael. Food poisening takes between 6 and 8 hours to manifest. And especially if you suspect that that is the case you need to report it to the store manager, if no one else. They don’t want to carry items that would cause harm to their customers and there are still customers out there buying more turkeys.

At least report it for the customers sake.

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[anonymous123]

I also agree with waterworld. Definitely talk to the store manager about it. I’m sure you probably weren’t the only one who got a bad bird.

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[Michael Waldo]

Thanks for the advice you all. I will notify both the store and Public health.

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[anonymous123]

If possible can you let us know what they say?

Also, I forgot to say it before but I’m really sorry you got food poisoning this holiday. Is your one guest that was very sick feeling any better? Hoping you got to enjoy at least a day or two of the holiday weekend. :(

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