One person that I had the pleasure of meeting when I was in San Francisco was Foodie Daddy. He did a cooking demonstration of pumpkin recipes for us (make sure to check out his Pumpkin and 5 Spice pie recipe...it was to die for!) and during his demonstration he made an offhand comment about how you should never get the free turkey at the grocery stores. Much wine was then consumed (at least, by me it was) and the next morning I asked him why he said that about the free turkeys.
After he explained, I vowed to either get the lasagna or the "discounted premium turkey" alternative at my grocery stores.
Check out Foodie Daddy's explanation in his "Free Bird is Just a Skynard Song" post!
I would love to hear your thoughts!
Heather
Last year we picked up a free lasagna from Acme (one of the giant family sized packages from Stouffers.) If I want a turkey I'll buy it. I'm still trying to find some place locally that sells deep fried turkey. I don't care if the turkey is intact or pre-cut. I am dying to try a deep fried turkey without frying it myself and potentially setting the house on fire.
Melissa
We akways get the lasagna rather than the turkey. Since we do Thanksgiving with both our families we end with more than enough turkey eating at both places! lol And Heather, deep frying is actually really easy...my husband and I did deep fried turkey when we were in college, we just put the fryer out on the front porch 🙂
Sam
We always buy a fresh turkey. However, I donate the free frozen one to the local church or food bank.
Abigail's Mommy
I have never had a problem with a frozen turkey. (We dan't get free ones here.) However I brin it for 24 first.
DianeScraps
We have had very good luck with the free turkeys and they are a big hit with my family. I will be happy to get as many as my freezers can hold (which after the current Acme deals isn't many!)
Heather
Melissa, I wish I could convince my husband otherwise. He's convinced if we try we'll catch the house on fire. 🙂 He's watched too many videos of people not following the proper safety procedures.
Tirade
I'm not buying it. Supermarkets sell whole turkeys throughout the entire year. They also have limited freezer space in the warehouse, and turkeys take up quite a bit of room compared to other frozen products. Why would they waste valuable freezer space for an entire year on a bunch of low-quality turkeys that they intend to give away for free? While I've met my share of stupid grocery store managers, I can't imagine them being dumb enough to believe that this is a viable business plan. It makes much more economic sense to unload the leftover turkeys over the course the next year, or donate them to a food bank for a tax break. This frees up space in the warehouse for more valuable products.
"Think of the turkey as a big orange. The little cells of juice in an orange are just like the tiny capsules of fat in a turkey. Once frozen. Ruined forever."
In other words, it doesn't matter if the turkey has been sitting in a freezer for one day or one year. As long as it has been frozen only once, it's "ruined forever". Might as well take the free turkey then since you'll end up with a ruined bird no matter what.
This man could use a dose of common sense.
Heather
I agree with Tirade. Nice name too, very appropriate. 🙂
Economically it doesn't make sense to allow a bird to sit in the freezer taking up space for a year. My father-in-law will buy a turkey throughout the year whenever the urge hits him.
GINA
ah who knows what they do back there in the meat department...LOL, but really, I think that the poster above me is right... I actually asked my husband since he worked in a grocery store in his high school days he said the turkeys come in, in a huge pallet about three weeks before and they go in deep freeze until thanksgiving, after that they are sold off on sale to move them -- not kept till the following year - besides even in deep freeze there would be a noticeable freezer burn on this bird when you open the packaging and if your prepping when you should you have time to return it if its not perfect.
I have been doing the free frozen turkey for years and no one has ever complained about it not being good. I typically brine it for 24 hours and then put it into the Nesco roaster oven on the counter top, to save oven space - and easy clean up. This thing practically falls apart when you lift it out of there never dry and I never have to baste it.
fairydust
ah well, I didn't rack up enough points to score the free turkey (or lasagna) this year, so I'll just get a nice roasting chicken and we'll be very happy with that 🙂 I have wondered about how long the frozen turkeys are around each year, but honestly, I've never had a bad one in all the years of taking advantage of these offers.
Sophia
Aren't there "best if used by" dates on frozen turkeys?? You could always check, if you really thought they were doing something like this. Perhaps they do in some sections of the country, but around here (and everywhere else I've ever heard about), there are awesome turkey sales right after Thanksgiving. They definitely don't hold on to them here. 🙂
I grew up with frozen turkeys, so I guess I don't know what I'm missing. 🙂
Julie
Thanks for posting this one! Not only does it make my heart feel better about using the butter I thought just made for a beautifully browned turkey! I really didn't know that it made for better basting! I also appreciate it for another reason, my hubbie and I shop every 2 weeks because good shopping is an hour away, I was complaining that we hadn't earned enough points to get our free turkey. My husband responded with such an un-frugal response, my tight-wad heart froze "what buy a turkey?" Well now I feel much better about getting our turkey this year and those freebie points be darned!