Turkey taste tesWith so many different brands to choose from in Whole Foods, Food Emp., D'Ags, fresh, frozen, etc. has anyone ever cooked a

About 99% of turkeys sold are Broad Breasted Whites. These turkeys have been bred to have enormous breasts and smaller legs (they are so top-heavy that they can't reproduce naturally). Most often, they are fed grain. These turkeys reach maturity so rapidly and are fed such insipid food that they don't have much flavor to speak of. This is pretty much the case with almost any brand of turkey. For a really flavorful bird, try a farm-raised heritage breed. Heritage breeds are different to cook with--they have larger legs/thighs and smaller breasts and the dark meat has a more pronounced flavor. But boy are they good!

Avoid brands that inject extra water and then sell their turkeys frozen. Fresh and regional always test best. A popular brand on the west coast is Diestel.

For the past 15 years I have only cooked fresh turkeys from Quattro Farms (they're at the Union Square Greenmarket on Saturdays and the Weds before Thanksgiving. They remind me of the turkeys my uncle used to raise when I was a kid. The best tasting birds around, imho. They don't come cheap, but they are pasture raised using organic practices.

Unable to fix errors. That should be turkey taste TEST, and which brand or label tastes best?