Buying a Turkey Online - Eat Like No One Else

Are you thinking of getting your turkey online this year? Follow these tips so that you will be pleased with your decision. Also find out what where we recommend you get your turkey from.

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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.

? Turkey Buying Tips

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

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.
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. Since the turkey is being shipped most likely frozen it really shouldn't be a problem. But if you leave it out overnight some of the local animals might try to partake!
Try to support a small business when shopping for your turkey. Does your source say what farm the turkey is coming from?

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 had a chance to chat over email with James Peisker, a co-founder of Porter Road. I asked him why they chose Jolly Barnyard to be the source of their turkeys.

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.