Where our birds come from
We buy Joyce Farms turkeys. They are grown on carefully selected farms in North Carolina and Georgia, on free-range pasture — outside, in fresh air and sunshine, the way turkeys were grown years ago.
They are raised in a safe, humane, low-stress environment and fed a wholesome grain diet with no artificial ingredients and no hormones. They are processed in a modern, USDA-approved facility that follows strict sanitation guidelines and an approved HACCP program. From those birds, we hand-select ours from only the very best of the USDA Grade A.
Joyce Farms turkeys are not the mass-produced, factory-farmed commodity birds that fill most supermarket cases. They are not grown to be the cheapest turkey on a shelf. They are grown to be the best-eating one — which is why a good number of four- and five-star restaurants and private clubs use them exclusively for their own holiday menus.
How we brine
Ours is a wet brine, not a dry rub. The mixture is orange juice, salt, brown sugar, coriander and sage.
We brine well in advance, so the bird you collect has already done its time in the brine and is ready to go straight into the oven. There is nothing for you to rinse, pat down or wait on. Every bird is brined unless you ask us not to — without the brine it is $2.00 per pound less, taken off at the counter when we weigh your bird.
If you have brined a turkey yourself, you know the awkward part is finding somewhere cold and large enough to keep it for a day or two. That is the part we are taking off your hands.
How we hand them over
We do not truss our birds.
How much bird
We plan on about 1.6 pounds per person. That is deliberately generous. It is the difference between everyone eating on Thursday and everyone eating again on Friday.
| Size | Feeds |
|---|---|
| 10–14 lb | 6–8 |
| 16–19.9 lb | 9–12 |
| 20–24 lb | 13–16 |
If you want sandwiches through the weekend, size up a band.
Priced by weight
Turkeys are $7.99 per pound wet-brined, or $5.99 per pound without the brine. You reserve a size band online with a $50 deposit; we weigh your actual bird when you collect it and you pay the balance at the counter. The deposit comes off the total and is non-refundable.
We order our birds months ahead, which is why each shop has a fixed number and why the number on the ordering page is the real one.