Heritage Turkeys | Simply Recipes http://www.simplyrecipes.com A family cooking and food blog with hundreds of healthy, whole-food recipes for the home cook. Photographs, easy-to-follow instructions, and reader comments. Wed, 12 Jun 2013 16:27:16 +0000 en-US hourly 1 Simply Recipes » Heritage Turkeys | Simply Recipes http://www.simplyrecipes.com http://www.simplyrecipes.com/wp-content/themes/simply/i/logo.png?v=2 301 47 A family cooking and food blog with hundreds of healthy, whole-food recipes for the home cook. Photographs, easy-to-follow instructions, and reader comments. Heritage Turkeys http://www.simplyrecipes.com/heritage_turkeys/ http://www.simplyrecipes.com/heritage_turkeys/#comments Fri, 04 Nov 2005 01:05:42 +0000 Elise http://www.simplyrecipes.com/heritage_turkeys Heritage Turkeys (photo)

A Narragansett Turkey
Photo copyright American Livestock Breeds Conservancy. Republished by permission. Photo by Frank Reese, Jr.

The turkeys my parents remember eating when they were young were a lot different that the turkeys we now eat for Thanksgiving. Over the last 50 years our nation’s preference for white meat has encouraged turkey breeders to breed turkeys with ever bigger breasts and shorter legs, to the point that the turkeys can’t even breed on their own anymore. The commercial turkey industry produces our Thanksgiving turkeys with great efficiency – lots of meat at the lowest cost – but at the trade off of an ever narrower breeding stock, and many people say, taste. The older varieties of turkeys had much more flavor, according to those I know old enough to remember them.

What are Heritage turkeys? According to the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy, turkeys must meet all of the following criteria to qualify as a Heritage turkey:

Continue reading "Heritage Turkeys" »

]]> Heritage Turkeys (photo)

A Narragansett Turkey
Photo copyright American Livestock Breeds Conservancy. Republished by permission. Photo by Frank Reese, Jr.

The turkeys my parents remember eating when they were young were a lot different that the turkeys we now eat for Thanksgiving. Over the last 50 years our nation’s preference for white meat has encouraged turkey breeders to breed turkeys with ever bigger breasts and shorter legs, to the point that the turkeys can’t even breed on their own anymore. The commercial turkey industry produces our Thanksgiving turkeys with great efficiency – lots of meat at the lowest cost – but at the trade off of an ever narrower breeding stock, and many people say, taste. The older varieties of turkeys had much more flavor, according to those I know old enough to remember them.

What are Heritage turkeys? According to the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy, turkeys must meet all of the following criteria to qualify as a Heritage turkey:

Continue reading "Heritage Turkeys" »

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