ottawa foodies

Hello! For the first time ever I'm hosting Christmas dinner and I need to buy a turkey (I'm estimating a 5-7 kg bird should do the trick). Where's a good place to buy? Do you buy in advance and then freeze it? How many days in the fridge do you allot for thawing from frozen? Thanks in advance for all your advice.

Are you looking for free range/ organic? If none of these matter check out Farmboy-they have fresh & frozen birds. If you want organic or free range you may have to look around a bit & possibly order ahead. (BTW-I live in West Carleton and our local butcher has already been advertising fresh turkeys).

Thanks WC!

I believe Saslove's on Wellington brings in free-range, organic, fair trade, shade grown, heritage, hand-reared (and massaged?) turkeys. Need to order ahead.

I pre-ordered mine at Brian's over the weekend. $4.89/lb., heritage etc. etc. etc. I gave them a rough weight I was looking for, and then said when I'd pick it up. You do need to pre-order, but you don't need to pay in advance.

We offer free-roam vegetable grain fed turkeys from Lyons Turkey Farm in Spencerville. Great birds but only fresh at Thanksgiving and Christmas (frozen at other times). Ordering ahead is recommended. Price is about $4.19/lb.

I usually go w Saslove's, but Glebe Meat Market gets in solid fresh birds too. pretty sure you have to order in advance but i could be wrong.

Last week I stopped in the Glebe Meat Market and they were getting a turkey order in the following day but they were all spoken for. You should call ahead to avoid disappointment.

Turkeys are on sale at many grocery stores this week-for instance Sobey's young turkeys (frozen) for $2.18/kg. Butterballs are on sale at a couple of stores, again frozen. Deals to be had!

How long can you keep a fresh turkey in the fridge? The reason I ask is because I swear I bought a local fresh turkey this year for thanksgiving at Costco. I'd like to go late this week (Friday) or on the weekend. I would normally order one from a butcher but I liked being able to pick the exact size (weight) instead of picking small, medium and large. Also the turkey was very reasonably priced. Something like $30 or $40. Seem to remember paying closer to $60 or $70 at Saslove's for a "small" turkey that was really on the edge of medium in size. Would it keep from on Sat to a Wed? I should mention that I also brined the Costco turkey we had at thanksgiving and it was really good! Suppose if I can't get fresh at Costco, I could always buy frozen ...

Thoughts?

I would think you'd be able to keep a turkey in the fridge for up to a week. Don't sue me if you get food poisoning :) The longest I've had a turkey around after buying is probably 3 or 4 days.

I've ordered a 16 or 17lb fresh turkey from Lyons through Manotick Village Butcher and asked the same question in an email to Lyons. The butcher receives one shipment and I'll pick up my turkey on Friday. Lyons recommended I freeze it since I wanted to cook it Boxing Day. To me, that defeats the purpose of buying a fresh bird. After speaking with the butcher, I've decided to risk it. I'll keep it very cold, in the garage if I have to. I think the producers obviously have to err on the side of caution.

Ayoubs Grocery on Somerset EAST sources grain fed fresh birds and you can pick up Christmas Eve and I even picked up Christmas Day once. They ONLY take orders, none available off the shelf, but they keep corner store hours so very convenient and a great product if you are in or near Sandy Hill.

You should keep fresh turkeys in your fridge no more than 2-3 days. Larger butcher shops and grocery stores have larger walk in fridges that are well equipped to keep poultry for longer. When they are in your home fridge, and you're opening the door all the time, the air does not stay cold enough and you risk contaminating your turkey. Basically, if your lettuce isn't frozen, your fridge isn't cold enough....

If you provide feed and water for the turkey it will keep until ready for slaughter on Xmas eve. They are pretty hardy in the cold like this.