Turkey prices where you live?

[Val]

Just wondering about this since I saw a Walletpop article or some other financial news yesterday saying that the average turkey prices this year were $1.68 per pound!! Bought my smallish (11 pound Butterball) frozen turkey at SuperTarget for .88 per pound.

[Cherylptw]

Two weeks before Thanksgiving I bought a 20 pounder from Walmart (their store brand) for .68 lb then the Friday before, I bought two 16 + pounder Jennie-O brand @ .39 pound with a $35.00 addt'l purchase at Food Lion in NC...I wish I could have had room for more in my freezer as I like to cook them all year long.

[JerryMe]

Got mine for 28 cents per pound. It was a small one (under 20 lbs) and came out great. It was a frozen one and we bought two and tucked one into the freezer for future.

[cgarner]

I went to a local small farm this year and paid $4/lb for my turkey... my husband nearly went through the roof, but you spend more than that on other types of meat for special occasions (thinking a while filet, or prime rib roast) so it didn't faze me. It was a flavorful bird who lived its life pecking around on the farm... totally worth it
(Acme, which is part of Albertsons was selling froz turkeys for 29cents per pound if you bought a certain dollar amount of groceries)

[JuniorBalloon]

I paid $10/lb. I'm sure that's more than most. Free range, organic. Not sure if it was a good deal money wise, but it was a good deal for my taste buds.

Bring on the ridicule.

jb

[monku]

No ridicule.
Was it worth it and would you do it again?

[JuniorBalloon]

I will deffinitely get a free range organic bird from a local supplier and If I can get it for less I will, but if not then yes I'll spend the dough.

jb

[monku]

Not sure I'm ready to make that jump.
Paying 10+ times more is beyond my way of thinking.
$20 for the Costco turkey or $200 is something to think about.
I was very happy with the Costco turkey, but can't imagine being 10 times happier than I was.

[JuniorBalloon]

I completely understand. For me it's not just about the cost. It's also about supporting local farmers who put quality above quantity. This is not meant to sound high and mighty. At this point in my life I can afford to splurge a few times a year.

jb

[cgarner]

+1 JB!

[Val]

Nor would I ever ridicule you for your choice...am envious, in fact, but like I said in my prior post, cannot break the bonds from Butterball, sons LOVE it...JB, how did you prep your bird? Brine it?

[JuniorBalloon]

No brine. Pretty simple prep, garlic butter under the skin, rolled it in a mix of carrots, celery and onion spiced with salt, pepper, rosemary, thyme and sage. After it got a good massage I covered it with foil and put it in the oven. I have a fuller description on my blog, but be warned there are pictures of turkey butchering. Not really that bad, but not for the squeamish.

jb

[Val]

Thanks JB...won't look at the blog....but I do appreciate your answer about whether to brine or not..ONE OF THESE DAYS, I will try a bird other than BB!!!! hee hee!

[coll]

29 cents a lb for Shady Brook here on Long Island with an additional purchase of something like $25. I got three which should last me all winter.

[Val]

wow..fabulous deal, coll!!! Way to go!

[coll]

The week before everyone was 45 cents, but I didn't have any room in the freezer. Glad I waited, it was obviously a price war. At 29 cents, I made room for them!

[jeanmarieok]

I got one turkey for .39 a lb, at Kroger, with a $25 purchase. Regular frozen turkey. Day after Thanksgiving, I got a fresh free range turkey for $1.57 a lb - which was a very good deal indeed.

[Val]

jm, how do you prepare the free range turkey, may I ask? Butterball is *traditional* with my sons and I cannot, no cannot, wriggle free from the bondage chains of tradition that bind me each year, though I *long* to try other birds (deep-frying, no, not interested), so do you brine it?

[Harters]

Obviously depends on the quality of the bird. My usual supermarket offers a range:

"Standard" frozen - £3.26 per Kg
Free- range frozen - £5.22 per kg
Free-range fresh - £6.39 per kg
Organic "Bronze" fresh - £9.99 per kg

[monku]

Kg= 2.2046 pounds
£= $1.565 US dollars

Is that "Standard" frozen $1.48 US?

[Harters]

I'm not very good at precisely converting kilos to pounds (weight), let alone pounds (sterling) to dollars (American, Canadian, Australian or whatever).

But I think that's around $2.30 US a pound for the factory farmed "standard" turkey. We'll be buying the fresh free-range for Christmas.

[monku]

You're right...about $2.30 US/pound.

[ospreycove]

Butterballs are more salt than turkey, so that was not a consideration. I have a source for Bourbon Reds, fresh killed and hung for 2 days in a cooler; we will not change our turkey provider, unless he stops raising "backyard" turkeys. Oh, the price is approximately $5.00, including feet and head, not considered useable by most consumers, but adds to the stock flavor.

[monku]

Did I recommend Butterballs?

[sunshine842]

I paid 9,80 Euros per kilo for my bird this year -- that works out (at today's official exchange rate) to be $5.76 per pound. Yep, that's a once-a-year splurge.

And that was cheap, right from the farm.

The butcher in town (straightfaced, no less) quoted me 20 Euros per kilo last year.

[monku]

Probably naive on my part, but is turkey popular in Europe?
You say "cheap, right from the farm", so I assume they raise some turkeys there.
But, the prices tell me they aren't exactly a main stream item.

[Harters]

Turkey is very popular in the UK - but really only for the Christmas lunch. You'd pretty much never see it at other times of the year. It's only in the last 50 years that its become the bird for the feast - mainly because factory farming has reduced the prices. Almost all are raised here - I see that in 2008 we ate about 10 million birds, suggesting that well over 50% of households had it.

Of course, quality has also reduced so those of us interested in such things tend to buy higher quality birds. We bought organic last year - cost over £50 (about $80 US)

[monku]

Another stupid question and I've been to Europe several times, but maybe not observant.

So going somewhere to get a turkey sandwich isn't a hard thing to find?

Some organic birds like a Diestel in the US go for about the same price.

[Harters]

It's possible to buy turkey sandwich in the UK, although most sandwich outlets will have chicken as a "white meat".Sliced cooked turkey is generally available in supermarkets - either on the deli counter or prepacked.

[sunshine842]

The French eat whole turkey, but at Christmas.

There is no Thanksgiving outside the US, of course, so finding a whole bird is a little bit of a challenge the last week of November.

You can buy turkey parts most any time of the year, but cutlets, legs quarters, and whole breast filets, but that's about it. Even then, it's not cheap - cutlets run about US$4 a pound (more or less, depending on who has a special)

Turkey is popular, but no, I don't think you're going to find many turkey sandwiches on offer. The lunch meat of choice in France is ham (and French ham is the yum).

[James Cristinian]

I scored a 15.58 pound fresh turkey for $1.57, not a pound the whole bird. It was ten cents a pound at my local HEB, and since we work retail stupid hours the day before and after Thanksgiving, we are doing Thanksgiving today, Sunday.

[golfer1]

"There is no Thanksgiving outside the US, of course", and Canada, although we have ours in mid October...

[sunshine842]

How about "there's no Thanksgiving in France"?

[JerryMe]

Really awesome James - Hope it came out great. I thot I did good but your price impresses me!

[Jen76]

I got a quote for a locally raised turkey from a (very) small producer. $8/lb and likely to be higher next year when they switch feed. Not in the cards for us this year. Fry's (Kroger) had Jennie-O turkeys for $.29/lb with $25 purchase. Fresh and Easy had them for $.37/lb. I still have one in the freezer so I didn't buy any this year.

[Oakville Boy]

We scored a 11-pounder at Wegmans for $.38 per pound on our last shopping trip to Buffalo - they were price-matching Tops for the US Thanksgiving and it was obviously a loss-leader. We don't eat Turkey but decided to get one at this price, at less than the cost of a chicken here. We ate it today.

[scubadoo97]

I picked up a Murray 16+ lb turkey the day after TG for $0.69/lb. A 4 bl Murray chicken was more expensive.

[iluvcookies]

A&P had frozen Shady Brook turkeys for $.39/lb if you spent $25 or more on other groceries. Pathmark gave free Shady Brooks if you spent $300.
Prior to T-Day, fresh Butterballs were going for $.98 to $1.49/lb, but I picked up 2 yesterday at Costco for $.49/lb.
Fairway had organic and free range birds for $3 to $4/lb.

[FrankD]

A Toronto chain recently had frozen turkeys on for $0.77 Cdn/lb (though there's little difference between US$ and C$ these days). However, I should add these were "utility" turkeys, which means they might be missing a wing or leg. Taste fine, but they don't make that awesome presentation on the table that a Grade A bird does.

[monku]

89 cents/pound for the Costco fresh turkey's in the Los Angeles area.

[Cathy]

The Costco fresh turkey has been that price for the last three years. Nationwide.

[monku]

Wasn't aware that was the nationwide price, but I do remember buying it at 89 cents/pound the last few years.
Several years ago the day after Thanksgiving I got a couple for the freezer at 45 cents/pound. Think they stopped selling them the day after because the last few years I checked for that bargain again and never saw it.

[Cathy]

I read it recently in one of the publicity things Costco does. Said they bought early so did not have to raise prices. Planned to sell/bought 1M this year.

They have to make space so do lower prices. The turkeys were cheap on Wednesday night this year. I saw some groups of people ( I saw firefighters and some I think were from local churches) buying up multiples at about 8 p.m. at my Costco. Price was 49¢/lb. I don't count on it though. Really, what other meat can you get for 89¢ a pound, or even $1.59/lb all year?

[monku]

That would explain why I don't see any the day after Thanksgiving anymore.
I wouldn't dare go to Costco the day before Thanksgiving to begin with.

[Cathy]

It's like Christmas Eve. Every cash register is open. No wait.

After about 7 p.m., there is plenty of parking. Before then, everyone is in some sort of panic. As if there is a hurricane coming or an earthquake and they suddenly have to stock up. I always wonder how people plan meals other days of the week...

[monku]

I've never been a wait till the last minute type of person....my loss.

[Cathy]

Oh. I'm not a last minute person either (if I told you my job, you would know how much I do not like nor ever would be a procrastinator).

I know when there are no crowds and when stuff is marked down.

[bagelman01]

99 cents seemed to be the average promotional price for frozen turkeys this year with a few stores at 88 cents (Connecticut and Massachusetts). We use kosher turkey and most stiores were $2.79-3.79 lb. But I stopped in a Shaw's Supermarket in Mass. last week and all frozen turkeys, turkey breasts and roasting chickens were 99 cents including Kosher. I bought 6 Empire Turkeys, 8 Empire Turkey Breasts and 8 Empire roasting chickens and filled my freezer.
Shop Rite in Connecticut still gave a free supermarket brand frozen turkey witth $300 of grocery pruchases from October 20-Novenber 24th.

[Val]

Yes, my sister is in NJ and I remember her saying that Shop Rite did the give-away...nobody does that here in FL that I've ever heard of.