If I Buy a Turkey Online Will It Be Fresh?

Looking to have a turkey shipped straight to your door? Worried if it will be fresh on arrival? Get our recommendations along with tips for purchasing your Thanksgiving bird via the world wide web!

A collage with a butterflied turkey on top sitting on a sheet pan and slices of turkey breast on the top arranged on a white plate. In the middle the words "Tips for Ordering a Turkey Online" appear.

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This year I imagine that many people are looking to online shopping for their turkey needs for Thanksgiving day as with many other things people have been buying online this year.

If you are a first time turkey online shopper, we wanted to provide you with some tips to make the best of your experience.

One of the biggest concerns our readers have is how will the turkey stay fresh and maintain proper temperature while heading to your front door. We will address this concern among others

Jump to:

💡 Turkey Buying Tips
🦃 Our Recommendation
🚢 How It Ships
🛒 Order

💡 Turkey Buying Tips

Here is what you should be looking for when buying a turkey online.

Most important is that your turkey is going to arrive safe to eat. It needs to remain at the proper temperature during shipment. Find out how the company packs the turkey. What materials do they use to keep it fresh. Is it shipped frozen? Even if you ship frozen parts of the turkey will start to thaw during shipment and those parts can't go above 40 degrees, which is when harmful bacteria can begin to grow.
Next, you need to know when you turkey is going to arrive. It's best to get it inside and refrigerated as soon as you receive it. Ask a neighbor to hold it for you if you aren't going to be home.
It is going to arrive in time for Thanksgiving? That must include time for the turkey to thaw if shipped frozen. You can do a quick thaw in you need it but you will need to be prepared for that with a 5 gallon bucket and a pound of ice. Wherever you choose make sure you know the date they ship.
What can you find out about how the turkey was raised? If you are going to go through the trouble and increased cost you want to know everything you can about the turkey. You want quality. A question you should ask was the turkey pastured raised? You don't want to just end up with the same quality turkey you could have gotten in the grocery store.
Will it feed my crowd? Make sure you get the right amount of turkey so you have plenty. You don't want people to feel like they can't eat as much as they want. If you are concerned you always could do a turkey breast as well and have extra white meat. I have an easy recipe for an Instant Pot Turkey Breast that is quick and tasty.
Look at shipping costs to determine what the turkey is going to cost you. Check to see if they charge more money to ship a larger bird.
You can order a smoked turkey if you like to. Those are already cooked so you just need to re-heat them. I wouldn't recommend buying a turkey that is already cooked if it's not smoked, it's not worth the cost. Smoked turkeys may be if you don't have a way to smoke one yourself.
Try to support a small business when shopping for your turkey. Does your source say what farm the turkey is coming from?

A cooked turkey sits on top of lemons, garlic, and herbs in a roasting pan. Next to the pan is a carving knife to the left and some pears. A bowl of gravy and a bowl of butter are to the right.

🦃 Our Recommendation

There are a growing list of options out there but the one that we recommend is Porter Road. They have limited quantities so you will need to act fast.

I got to tour their butcher shop in Nashville, TN back in May 2021. I meet their co-founder, James Peisker and heard all about their drive for bringing high quality, delicious, good for you and for the land meat to a larger audience.

Here is what James has to say about the turkeys they source from Jolly Barnyard.

We at Porter Road try extremely hard to choose the right farmer partners to buy animals from. We met our current poultry farmer over 8 years ago, long before we ever launched online. When we first went out to Samuels farm he was renting a small plot of land and raising chicken out on pasture that was right by the side of the road. We knew Samuel was going to be our guy because of the passion he had when he talked about his animals.
They were not just inventory to him. He looked at raising poultry as a mutually beneficial relationship. He would care for the birds to the best of his ability, give them a nice life, and in return they would help revitalize his farm and produced amazing tasting and healthy meat.
We were able to help Jolly Barnyard grow from renting a small plot of land to owning a large farm. He now has the ability to raise his birds out on his own pasture and help rejuvenate his own land for his family for years to come.
He raised birds the hard way, out on pasture with no antibiotics or growth promoters. He feeds them non-gmo grain because he says the birds are healthier that way. He says he can prove it by showing you the difference in their poop.
If the birds do happen to get sick, he used old methods to bring them back to health, like raw garlic in their feed. He cares for his animals in it shows in the end product.
James Peisker, Porter Road

That is the kind of operation I want to support. The more we support farmers raising animals the right way, the better we all are going to be.

🚢 How It Ships

The turkeys are harvested and frozen the week of October 17th. So they haven't been sitting around frozen for very long. They come shipped in box with cornstarch insulation and frozen gel packs. The shipping method varies by destination. They pick the optimal method based on where you live to ensure all orders will arrive in good shape.