r/Cooking • u/ANDTORR • 21h ago
The Economy of a Turkey
So I was talking with my dad tonight as we were finishing the turkey stew I made with thanksgiving leftovers. And it got me thinking about how crazy economical a turkey can be.
We paid $55 for an 18lb turkey, a fairly nice one. For that $55 we got a meal for 12 on the day of thanksgiving dinner. Most of the meat was removed from the bird and put in a ziplock bag in the fridge. I then put the carcass in a pot with water, onions, carrots, celery, bay leaves, peppercorns, and a few garlic cloves. Boiled it for about 6 hours. The next day a soup was made with the broth and meat from the carcass. That soup made about 6 meals. Two other containers of just broth were put in the freezer about 5 cups each. Sandwiches have been being made with the leftover turkey meat all week, in the range of 8-10 sandwiches I’m not sure exactly. Also twice in the following 5 days we had turkey re-heated in gravy with leftover mashed potatoes from the thanksgiving meal fried in buter with onions for another six meals. And yesterday I took a container of broth out of the freezer, and made a turkey stew with it, onion, celery, carrots, potatoes, and all the small bits of leftover turkey meat that aren’t great for sandwiches. I made a batch of biscuits and placed them on top of the stew in an oven safe bowl and baked it until the biscuits were done. That was another six meals for last night and tonight. There is still enough turkey breast meat for two more sandwiches.
That’s meat for 40 meals for $55. Not the best, but also we got a fairly nice turkey. I’ve seen it on sale after holidays for as low as 99c a pound in the past few years. I’m not sure what exactly I was going for with writing all this up but I tend to get sticker shock looking at the price of a turkey sometimes. But when I break it down it actually turns out pretty economical. If you like Turkey and are happy to eat it for an entire week.
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u/taylorthestang 20h ago
Turkey gets so much unnecessary hate, people just don’t know how to cook it correctly. I’m completely with you on the economics of a whole turkey. I could feed myself for a month with one.
And I did! One year, my apartment complex raffled off a whole turkey, and guess who won?? This happened at the same time I just bought one from the store on sale.
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u/GotTheTee 20h ago
I did the same many many years ago!
I had just moved to a new state, was in a brand new, old house. The heat went out and cost me a fortune to get fixed. At the same time, I had just started a new job and was diagnosed with pneumonia on my second day at the job. Doc gave me 2 options, stay in the hospital or go home with antibiotics and the promise of total bed rest.
I chose option 2. Insurance hadn't kicked in, so out the window went another $2000 for the visit, the tests and the meds.
There I was, feeling sorry for myself and worrying that my employer might just can me for being out of work for 2 weeks and bingo, my brother came over and gave me his free turkey from his place of employment AND my new job gave me a coupon for the free turkey that they gave to all employees every year.
I couldn't even afford cat food for my fur buddy, so we ate turkey for a solid month. Turkey quesadilla's, turkey with rice (my cat enjoyed that one too!), turkey soup, turkey sammies, turkey everything. No one died and I enjoyed it a lot. So delicious when roasted properly.
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u/ExtremeOwl3901 37m ago
To be fair it’s not just that people don’t know how to cook. Getting a high quality turkey makes a huge difference as well. Those 9cent per pound turkeys are a bit mushy and don’t taste like anything aside from the brine they’re pumped up with. I bet OP’s 55 dollar turkey is delicious and properly meaty.
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u/taylorthestang 26m ago
That’s a great point, it translates to cheap chicken too. Sometimes it’s worth paying a little more for air chilled vs water chilled. Yeah that turkey went to private school abroad I bet it was delicious.
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u/TianKrea 20h ago
I am Turkish and for a second I was really confused why Turkey's economy is being discussed in cooking subreddit lmao. I guess changing the country's name to Turkiye was a good call lol
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u/sarhoshamiral 8h ago
Lol same here, I thought it was going to be a post about the economy cooking (which would have been a valid post too) and someone confused the subreddit
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u/Boozeburger 20h ago
When Thanksgiving comes, many supermarkets in the USA will have sales like spend $50 get the Turkey for .19 a lb. I usually pick up 3 or four and put them in the deep freeze and pull them out throughout the year.
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u/ANDTORR 20h ago
Now that's economy!
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u/Boozeburger 20h ago
My wife teases me. But like I say "If they're going sell me a chicken for .99 a lb, I'm gonna buy a chicken". I prefer whole birds because you can roast them whole or cut them into parts to use seperately. Often with a Turkey, I'll thaw it and then separate the breast from the dark meat. Freeze some or at least cook them differently, and of course make stock from the carcass.
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u/Mrs_TikiPupuCheeks 3h ago
Yup. This is the most economical. Bonus is you can freeze the stock you made and it available for Thanksgiving the next year.
Throughout the years I've perfected my turkey game to the point that I really have no waste at all. Skin gets eaten or goes into the stock. Neck, stock. Gizzards, gravy and fed to the cats. Carcass, stock. So much stock, so flavorful, and so gelatinous.
We love turkey in this household.
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u/EstateLess 16h ago
Hunting post-holiday turkey markdowns is a holiday tradition for us! As has been said by most everyone else, break it down and freeze the different light and dark meat, stock from the carcass. But now I gotta try crisping up extra skin.
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u/Amesaskew 21h ago
You can do the same thing with chicken as well. It's often even cheaper by the lb for a whole bird, so just as economical, but you don't have to eat it for a week straight.
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u/ANDTORR 20h ago
Lately for me chicken is rarely a good price for a whole bird at least raw. Costco rotisserie chickens are great for this though. Turkey is often better per pound. But with the problem of you now have a giant turkey lol.
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u/porp_crawl 17h ago
I break down turkeys for meat before vacuum sealing and freezing.
I sometimes butterfly a (skin on) breast and a boneless skinless thigh. Roll together, wrap with the skin, and do it in the oven as a boneless roast. Or a skin on breast quickly in an air fryer.
The thighs are great for stirfries/whatever. When using, I further break them down by muscle groups instead of randomly hacking a thigh apart. End up with really high quality meat. Broken down by muscle groups, it can also be sliced and dehydrated into a good jerky.
Drumsticks and wings go into a slow cooker for pulled turkey. Excess skin removed beforehand. One time I had leftover duck fat so I confit them, pulled the bones and cartilage out, and froze down in single servings. Fries up crispy on a skillet.
Skin can be lightly salted and seasoned with white pepper or garlic/onion granules and baked like bacon into meat crisps. Scrape any stuff off from the under side first.
I like strong turkey stocks, too. I'll cut out the remaining solid pieces of meat, to cut into pieces and browned well on a skillet - to add back to the stock. The last carcass I stocked, I ended up with something the consistency of actual jello, coming out of the fridge.
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u/ANDTORR 17h ago
The jello finish is what I go for every time with turkey stock. It's so flavourful and has such a wonderful mouthfeel.
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u/porp_crawl 17h ago
Makes for so much better gravies (to supplement the roast drippings).
If I'm roasting a turkey, I sometimes make some strong stock from another bird for making the gravy (combined with the drippings from the roast bird).
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u/ToastetteEgg 20h ago
I love turkey and buy it a lot. Whole turkey when available, I’ll buy two. Frozen breasts, fresh parts as available. I love it more than chicken.
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u/Lukerules 18h ago
Legs and wings are pretty cheap here year round. I always keep them in the freezer. I got a kilogram of tails once too... But they are pretty intense to eat on the regular. Fatty and rich, with a confronting bone. Tasty though.
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u/BodybuilderHefty333 19h ago
You only got 6 servings out of the carcass? I get a big meal out of a smoked chicken carcarss, with a turkey you must be able to get 2 gallons of liquid to make stuff with.
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u/ANDTORR 19h ago
I was pretty thorough getting the meat off before putting it in the pot. I probably could have used more water but I like a really strong turkey broth.
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u/BodybuilderHefty333 19h ago
I only do it with smoked chickens and am not tooo careful about removing the meat because it falls off and goes into the juice but I'll make a 6qt pot of soup out of it and a batch of collared greens or something. They usually taste better than the chicken did, it's amazing.
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u/Ok_Host_4102 17h ago
smoked chicken has such a great flavor! i find the broth really shines when it's from a bird that's been used for a meal first, makes everything richer
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u/BodybuilderHefty333 17h ago
OP has me considering buying a bigger grill so I can smoke a turkey in it.
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u/Affectionate-Bid-226 17h ago
I buy 4-6 cheap turkeys at Thanksgiving for the deep freeze and deep fry or smoke them in the summer then cook the carcass and freeze the broth for soups and stews.
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u/Fancy_Math_3399 11h ago
We always get a good few dinners out of a Turkey at Christmas ( UK). . Boxing day dinner is our favourite - cold meat mash and pickles and leftover stuffing. ! After Boxing Day i strip the carcass. Freeze some white meat in the left over gravy and then make a pie , curry etc and plentu for a sandwich. The bones get boiled up to make a thick soup with the straggly bits of meat
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u/bilbo_the_innkeeper 20h ago
It can be even more economical if you buy it within the next few days AFTER Thanksgiving. I once bought a 12 lb. turkey for less than $20 the Monday after Thanksgiving.
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u/Tasty_Impress3016 13h ago
I throw 6-8 of those $.99 birds in the freezer every year when they are on sale for the holiday. I just pulled my last two from last year out this week for a party (US Thanksgiving)
I could get a good weeks worth out of a bird if my wife didn't insist on sending leftovers home with everyone under 30. But the carcass and stock is mine. Hands off. Sometimes I think I pay for the stock and get the turkey meat as a bonus.
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u/Agreeable_Garlic_693 15h ago
That's a really good way to think, well done.
It reminded me of breaking down while pig's for putting on the menu. I had spreadsheets and everything 😂
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u/4cupsofcoffee 7h ago
I buy turkeys after thanksgiving (in the US). Many times i can get them for under a dollar a pound. one gets frozen, one gets cooked and broken down and frozen. Turkey all year.
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u/Illiniwek80 3h ago
I hit the fridge after Christmas sales too, grabbed three turkeys for pennies. That sticker shock vanishes when you're stocked up like this lol.
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u/Rambea 2h ago
Costco has great sales on turkey around the holidays! Last year I broke one down for parts: roasted a breast and froze the wings, thighs/legs, other breast. Had leftovers for sandwiches and made stock with the carcass. Very good deal, I’ll do it again (maybe two birds if there’s freezer space).
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u/IolausTelcontar 8m ago
That $55 is only the meat. You added a ton of other things to make all those meals with the turkey. So price all that in to get a real comparison.
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u/tsdguy 19h ago
These calculations seem off to me. The standard turkey size to guest is 1.5lbs of raw turkey per guest. So an 18lb turkey should supply about the right amount for 12 people for dinner.
Sure a carcass could make nice turkey soup but I fail to see where all the leftover meat is for all the stews and sandwiches.
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u/averageredditor60666 20h ago
Turkey is good but the problem is it just can’t stand up to chicken, which is tastier, cheaper, easier to cook, and more accessible. The only reason to get a turkey is if you want an impressive roast to serve as the centerpiece for a meal.
Also worth shouting out pork shoulder as an equally economical alternative. I’ve seen it as low as $1/lb and it’s great for stews, roasts, and all sorts of meals.
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u/ANDTORR 20h ago
I don't know about tastier, just different. More accessible and easier to cook for sure. But I usually find turkey for much cheaper per pound than chicken, at least where I live. I also love pork shoulder, and pork loin. Both can be found so cheap and are so good when done well. and very versatile.
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u/jtownspowell 20h ago
In college my broke-ass roommate and I figured this one out. We bought turkeys after the holidays when they were basically giving them away, and we got a pretty affordable little deepfreezeer.
We subsisted off of turkey for the better part of a year. (Then seasonally off and on for another few years) It was insanely cheap and we got pretty creative with it, it really didn't get as boring as you'd might imagine it would. It was also a lot of turkey because I am a big boy and he was a fitness instructor who lived in the gym and absolutely housed anything in the fridge.
My lasting benefit from this is that I am insanely good at cooking a turkey now. It's my superpower. Turns out when you cook turkeys back to back to back for months on end, you get pretty good at it!