Sorry to hear things are tough right now, Johnny. I really hope something turns around in a positive direction for you in the very near future.
I also highly recommend Mary’s. Best turkey I ever made.
I brought a free range organic, corn fed, blah blah blah turkey once and my family wasn’t that crazy about it . They liked the store brought one better. I got to pick out the turkey I wanted and felt bad eating it , I rather not meet my meal before eating it .It didn’t cost $97
Is corn fed good? I thought the idea of being free range is they eat all kinds of stuff in the field (bugs, worms, grass?).
Or is it a matter of being “not fed” whatever crap a standard turkey gets?
I don’t know if you could farm Thanksgiving-sized turkeys on a large scale if they’re just going to eat random bugs. I assumed the “corn fed” was to let you know they’re not getting some high protein mash made of ground up chicken bones and who knows what else.
Anyway, I went to get my turkeys yesterday and had asked about a 14lb and an 18lb turkey a couple weeks ago in an email and the owner there said “yeah, I’ll mark you down”. Of course, when I got there, they didn’t have those sizes available – apparently being told “I’ll mark you down for those birds” doesn’t mean that you’ll be marked down for those birds – and so drove off with an 11lb turkey for the fryer and a 26.6 pound bird for the oven. Hope everyone likes turkey 
Doing the math, it came out to ~$2.87/lb
I just heard that Trump has ordered that all the turkeys pardoned by Obama be slaughtered. “Worst birds ever.” Maybe you can pick up one cheap.
Minor hijack -
Fun facts about the turkey
In Turkey - it is called Hindi (from India)
In India - it is called Peru
Now, if only in Peru it would be called Ingles or something like that - Would make it a full circle.
Does “blah blah blah” include gluten-free and non-GMO?
And does the local turkey farm test for glyphosate levels and carry the Food Babe seal of approval? You can’t be too careful.
Remember, tryptophan is a chemical, and there is no safe level of any chemical to consume, ever.
Free range, organic, kosher. $127.
Truly a superior bird. I get kosher primarily for my mom, but the effect of koshering is that acts as a dry brine, so the bird is really good. I get t even when my mom isn’t coming.
Not all fresh turkeys are good. There is a large California farm called Diestel Farms that a local grocer sells. We had one some years ago and I thought that it had a gamy, unpleasant flavor.
I got my two 6 lb heritage breed hen turkeys from my rancher friend, who killed, plucked, and gutted them for me. They ran around in a pasture with the other turkeys until the day of slaughter. I do this every year. In comparison, commercial turkeys, about which you do not even want to know how they are produced and processed, taste like tofu. Not an exaggeration. Like the difference between venison and veal.
She charges me what it costs her to raise them to butcher weight plus her own labor: $10 a pound. It is worth it once a year.
But then I have the extra money.
Wow, I just came back into this thread to ask if anyone knew anything about Diestel turkeys, as that’s what I see in my local stores as a “premium option”.
I’m guessing Butterballs are not so good (healthy-wise), right? 
I would also like to find a way to subtly indicate my moral superiority.
I only got a turkey because they were so cheep. Living alone I don’t usually do turkey since there are so many other things I can try and no expectations from others to deal with. But this year the supermarkets got in a loss leader contest and one of them got down to $.39 a pound. I couldn’t turn down a 12 pounder for 5 bucks. Yeah it’s not great turkey, but I really only like the white meat for the cold sandwiches, and it once roasted it is 1478.23 times better than any other turkey sandwich meat for that prices. So a leg for Thursday dinner, one for soup next week, and several sets of sammiches over the next few months. 
I picked up my turkey earlier today; forgot I ordered a duck breast, too. Last time I do that. Almost $17/lb! :eek:
It’s not actually the tryptophan. . . It’s just Grandma’s way of keeping the peace.
I am apparently just going to follow you around and agree with you. 
I had the same experience, I bought a Diesel a few years ago and it was the worst. Very disappointing.
Next time try a hybrid, like Turduken.
Wow, my first posse!
I ended up with a 19-pounder this year, and it only came in at about $72. Last time I got a Roperti’s turkey, my pickup day was Wednesday, and they were out of the size I specifically ordered, and so probably paid the equivalent of $97 today. I got smart and opted for Monday pickup this year.
My expectations are high this year, and they were satisfied last time I did it. The turkeys are free range, in the sense we actually think it means. I could drive by the now-urban farm every day and check them out, if I wanted to. And most importantly to me, they’re not pre-injected with some type of saline solution to “help juiciness” (and increase their sales rate). I just put it into a saline-filled cooler to brine tonight. It will be a salty-juicy-delicious turkey in a couple of days.
Honestly, I’d do it every year, but I’m usually out of the country, or it’s someone else’s turn.
Now if turkey were on my menu weekly, I’d worry about the spend, a little bit.