Pastured Heritage Turkeys

Pastured Heritage Turkeys

This is way beyond so-called "Free Range" or other fancy labels.

This is Pastured!

It's the only way anyone can raise a

nutritionally superior, better flavored turkey.

Pastured Heritage Turkeys for Thanksgiving

As per normal our all-in price for a

Pastured Heritage Turkey delivered to your door

is in the hunt for the best deal in the USA.

We started taking orders November first and sold out in just over two weeks. In the past our inventories lasted well into December for Christmas. But not this year (2008) . . .

There will be no turkey products until November 2009.

Product	Price/ Pound	Apx. Wgt. Lbs./Pack	Status
Pastured Heritage Turkeys	$6.48	8 to 22	OUT
Weights Remaining: ~~8-10~~, ~~10-12~~, ~~12-14~~, ~~14-16~~, ~~16-~~18, ~~18-20~~, ~~20-22~~, ~~22-24~~
We are out of whole turkeys but still have the following:
Pastured Heritage Bone-In Breasts	$6.48	4 to 8	OUT
Pastured Ground Turkey	$6.48	1 lbs Packs	OUT
Pastured Turkey Fresh Bulk Sausage for Making Sausage Patties
Vermont Maple Syrup and Sage Sausage	$6.98	1 lbs Packs	OUT

Pound-per-pound, "Pastured" Heritage Turkeys are the finest Thanksgiving Day turkeys money can buy. They are just the opposite of the nutritionally deficient, greasy, slimy, mushy, tasteless grain-fed turkeys Americans have grown accustomed to eating. And it dosen't matter what label is slapped on a grain-fed turkey, all grain-fed turkeys are the same no matter the name. This is why the demand for Pastured Turkeys has grown over the past few years. This demand has pushed Pastured Turkeys into a league that's all their own and they are being recognized more for their outstanding flavor than even their nutritional advantages. Yes, Pastured Turkeys cost significantly more than a grain-fed turkey. But that's only because they are raised in very small numbers by dedicated producers who have abandoned the mass-produced, grain-fed, feedlot confinement approach in favor of allowing their birds the freedom to roam lush pastures where the birds can live just like wild turkeys.

Remember, it's not the “free range,” “organic,” “heirloom, or “heritage” aspects of the turkeys that make them more nutritious and better tasting. It's how much grazing in a normal turkey habitat the birds do that makes the difference. An organic, free range Heritage turkey raised solely on grain is no different in terms of nutrition or eating characteristics than the cheap Butter Ball bird at Wal Mart. Poultry must be pastured where they can eat grass and bugs that eat grass for them to be more nutritious with better flavor. (Nobody in the United States that we know of raises what can legitimately be called a grass-fed turkey. Everyone at best provides some grain to their turkeys on grass, consequently the proper term for them is “pastured” not “grass-fed.” Nearly all commercial turkeys are raised without any access to grass whatsoever.)

The Pastured Heritage Turkeys we feature in November (pictured above, to the left, and below) are raised by Frank R. Reese Jr.. He is our nation's most prominent Heritage Turkey fancier and he takes great pride in his turkeys’ foraging characteristics. His birds spend about four months in lush pastures. He has the nation's largest flock of Pastured Heritage Turkeys (about 15,000 birds) and is far and away the largest supplier of these fine birds. (Compare that with most of the conventional grain-fed turkey farms that have to raise about five million birds at a time in order to make a profit. Now that's mass production!)

The pastured turkeys usually come in a wide variety of sizes ranging mostly from 8 to 24 pounds. Of course the selection narrows down some as each day passes after we start taking orders on November first. Our minimum order is normally 15 pounds and of course it is not restricted to just turkey. (Please note that larger weight shipments are way more economical to ship on a per pound basis. That's because most of the shipping costs are tied up in the first 15 pounds.) So look around our Web site for additional items you can use to augment a perfect Holiday Feast. If you eat food, then it's easy since we offer the world's best! Click on these unique suggestions:

Whole Organic Cranberries

Macadamia Nut Cooking & Salad Oils

La Tourangelle Walnut Oil for Salads

Grass-Fed Butter and Cheeses

Grass-Fed Lamb

Grass-Fed Goat

Grass-Fed Bison

Wild Alaskan Sockeye Salmon

Beef Standing Rib Roast

Beef Premium Sirloin Roast

Grass-Fed Goat

and

Wild Ocean Caught Crab

are on Sale!

Standard Bronze on Pasture

Will you deep fry your turkey this year?

Macadamia Nut Oil infused with chilies and garlic add just the right heat to any dish. Terrific for marinades, deep fried turkeys, and such.

12.7 oz. Haleiwa Heat Macadamia Nut Oil = $9.00

128 oz. (One Gallon) Haleiwa Heat Macadamia Nut Oil = $45.00

See Shipping Information for Details

Or call us and ask how you can get the best deal.

To order call Toll Free 1-866-SLANKER (752-6537)

or 1-903-732-4653 or send e-mail to goodmeat@slanker.com.

If you call and an answering machine answers, please leave a

message and we will call you back. We are open seven days a

week. But this is a working ranch so we are not always

sitting by the telephone.

Cooking Pastured Heritage Turkeys

and/or the Pastured American Whites

Heritage turkeys are the same breeds of birds that were popular between 1850 and 1950. They are descendants of old original and traditional breeds that used to be universally used for the traditional holiday feast. They are the same birds you'll will find in the American Book of Standards. It wasn't until the development of the large breasted bird of today that the Heritage turkeys declined in popularity. With that loss also went the pasture raising methods that were responsible for the delicious subtle flavor that all pastured birds provide.

You'll find the Heritage bird has longer legs and is thinner breasted than the American White. But both pastured birds have more flavorful dark meat than conventional grain-fed turkeys and white meat that is also flavorful. Naturally, when using pasture raising methods it takes longer to raise a bird and the fat profiles of these birds are more delicate. (They are higher in the Omega-3 fatty acid.) Consequently pastured turkeys must be cooked at a lower temperature for a longer period of time.

This means the flavor is already in pastured birds so our job is to bring that flavor out, not hide it or destroy it. The trick is slow cooking at 325 degrees and keeping the bird well covered until the last thirty minutes. You know it's done when the meat separates from the bone and juices run clear. Remember to use your thermometer. Insert it into the center of the inner thigh muscle, not touching the bone, and cook to a minimum internal temperature of 180 degrees. Pastured turkeys have longer growing periods and their meat textures are well developed. So season lightly and cook it slow and covered. That's part of the great taste.

Turkey FAQs

Why do Pastured Turkeys cost so much?

The total number of pastured turkeys that are raised all across our nation is pathetically small (maybe as few as 20,000) compared to the conventionally raised turkeys (275,000,000) whether they be Butterball, organic, or free range. The small volume in and of itself increases handling costs far and away above the mass produced grain-fed birds. The time to raise the pastured bird is significantly longer. The birds are harvested at a smaller weight. It takes more land and labor to raise the birds. Plus the marketing of the birds is not easy when the lure of free promotional birds and incredibly cheap birds are all the rage during the Holiday season. (The grain-fed turkey industry knows what their birds are worth!)

If you think our prices are a little too high or if maybe you can find a better bird, I encourage you look around and see for yourself. Our Pastured Heritage Turkeys come from the "Godfather" of Heritage Turkeys consequently no one in the nation will have a better Pastured Heritage Turkey than the ones we offer.

We are in the "real" food business, so if there was a better turkey product we'd have it.

Do the dining characteristics of pastured turkeys justify their additional cost over free range or organic turkeys?

In terms of nutrition "organic" and "free range" mean absolutely nothing. Birds that are raised on grain will all taste basically the same no matter what and they will make a nutritionally deficient meal. (How can Thanksgiving be a celebration of thankfulness when its centerpiece is nutritionally deficient?)

Turkeys that eat plenty of grass and bugs that eat grass will be nutritionally superior to their grain-fed counterparts. The turkeys we offer have spent months on pasture. There is nothing finer except a legitimate wild turkey. As for flavor and mouth feel I can assure you that compared to a pastured turkey, a grain-fed turkey is flavorless even though many processors inject them with turkey flavoring. The meat of a grain-fed, solution-injected turkey feels mushy in your mouth when you eat it. And horrors of horrors it feels greasy and actually somewhat slimy. Yes there is a huge difference in nutritional characteristics, flavor, and texture between the grain-fed and pasture raised turkeys.

Can I purchase a "fresh" Pastured Turkey?

Our turkeys were harvested in early November, as are 90% of all the Pastured Turkeys that are harvested for Thanksgiving and sold throughout the nation. They will be chilled to 30 degrees immediately. Then in transport the temperature will probably drop to 26 degrees or so. (Most marketers of so called fresh turkeys do not admit this and claim they market birds that have never been frozen. We tell the truth.) Turkeys labeled "fresh" can be stored at 26 degrees Fahrenheit, a temperature at which tiny ice crystals can form in the meat. Temperature fluctuations during transport and storage (at the store and home) can cause these crystals to thaw and refreeze, punching holes in the cell membranes of the meat and causing them to lose moisture.

Consequently nearly all the turkeys sold in America are frozen at one time or another and that includes most of the Good Shepherd Pastured Heritage Turkeys or American Whites. It's the best way to retain optimal freshness. Deep freezing preserves them better than keeping them refrigerated (assuring a safer food supply) or just slightly frozen and has absolutely no impact on the eating characteristics. For proof of that, just ask the snooty people who believe they only eat birds that have never been frozen! I guess what they don't know positively impresses their sensory perceptions.

We have eaten many of these birds. After we get the birds we gradually lower their temperature to minus five degrees. We do this in order to guarantee the very freshest bird for your Thanksgiving meal. We ship our birds all over the nation and we could not ship a "fresh" (thawed out) bird and keep it at the same "safe-meat" temperature as when it leaves our facilities. Nobody can do that. Consequently, so called fresh birds always arrive somewhat aged, shall we say, in that in some cases they are no longer even chilled. Because our birds are sub zero when they leave our facilities we can utilize less expensive shipping alternatives and save you money without even coming close to compromising the integrity of a very excellent product.

It is all a matter of meat safety and eating enjoyment. We would not want to eat a bird that was processed in early November and kept in a refrigerator until November 24th. That's two or three weeks! Not the best practice in our view. And it would be especially worrisome to us if at one time between slaughter and some many days prior to cooking its temperature had risen to maybe 60 or 70 degrees. We want our birds to be room temperature when we start to cook them, but that's the only time.

We bring in a substantial supply of birds every year. They are literally the finest Pastured Turkeys money can buy. The supply is limited. The window to get them to you is also limited. Yes, the early bird gets the worm and therefore it isn't forced to eat grain.

Should You Ask Why?

Did your Holiday Turkeys of bygone years host the following legend?

“Containing up to 8% of a solution to enhance juiciness and tenderness.

Solution ingredients: Turkey broth, salt, sodium phosphate, sugar, flavoring.”

Most of the poultry products sold in America have "enhancement" labeling.

Poultry products from Slanker's Grass-Fed Meats do not.

Our meats are the real thing.

They certainly do not need artificial flavoring.

Slanker's Grass-Fed Meats ships Turkeys to the following states:

Alabama	Hawaii	Massachusetts	New Mexico	South Dakota
Alaska	Idaho	Michigan	New York	Tennessee
Arizona	Illinois	Minnesota	North Carolina	Texas
Arkansas	Indiana	Mississippi	North Dakota	Utah
California	Iowa	Missouri	Ohio	Vermont
Colorado	Kansas	Montana	Oklahoma	Virginia
Connecticut	Kentucky	Nebraska	Oregon	Washington
Delaware	Louisiana	Nevada	Pennsylvania	West Virginia
Florida	Maine	New Hampshire	Rhode Island	Wisconsin
Georgia	Maryland	New Jersey	South Carolina	Wyoming
Also Canada and Puerto Rico

We ship our grass-fed meats nationwide 12 months a

year via UPS Ground. We are good at it and it is way

less expensive than Air. So your turkey will arrive in

perfect condition when shipped via UPS Ground.

Check out Ground Shipping Information.

Bourbon Reds