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Frank Reese may be known around the world as a poultry farmer, but he is truly a turkey evangelist. For four generations, her family has been raising the centerpiece of Thanksgiving dinner in Kansas, starting when her great-grandmother received bronze eggs for a wedding gift. “They came from a farm in Pennsylvania considered to have the finest bronze turkeys in America,” Reese says. “They paid $5 per egg ($132 in 2023), they hatched and that’s the foundation of what we have now.”
Breeds like bronzes, Narragansetts, bourbon reds, and black turkeys were common at the time. But with the advent of factory farming creating genetically mutated turkeys that were inexpensive and quick to eat, these heritage breeds disappeared. As one of the last people to raise them, Reese is on a mission to keep unraised turkeys alive and available to people.
On his Good Shepherd RanchReese cares for the oldest flock of pure, standard-bred poultry in the country and fortunately for him, his birds are becoming more and more popular. This year his farm produced 7,000 birds, almost double the production of fifty years ago. “We can’t keep up with the demand,” Reese says. “But it is a difficult, difficult and time-consuming activity. You can’t have another life and do this. But I want to keep these birds alive and teach the next generation. Because once they’re gone, they’re gone forever.
As Thanksgiving approaches, we wanted to better understand what actually are, why they cost more and how they taste different from supermarket birds. He told us the five things everyone needs to know to prepare to buy their Thanksgiving turkey. And then we share three online suppliers where you can buy yours.
Frank Reese and his birds.
Photo: Courtesy of Jim Richardson
What is a heritage breed turkey as opposed to one labeled organic, free range or all natural?
“I hate the word ‘heritage,’ but we’re stuck there. The real name of these turkeys and the name they have had for 150 years is Standard Bred. Domesticated turkeys have been around for a few thousand years. This is a turkey capable of breeding and still possessing all of its natural behaviors.
“Even if you buy a turkey that’s supposed to be organic, free-range and everything else, the parents of those turkeys are still in horrible conditions. In fact, in today’s turkey production, a male turkey never sees a female turkey in his entire life. All turkeys sold in grocery stores are artificial, dead-end animals. They cannot reproduce. They are there only because of a factory farm and human intervention. It makes no difference if they are organic, free range, all natural or whatever you want to call it. So even if you buy from a local farmer who says the bird runs in a pasture, 90% of those farmers still buy them from the same place as Butterball. These are always artificial turkeys obtained by artificial insemination. They have been genetically modified to grow faster. We have moved terribly away from the natural and normal animal.
Why heritage turkeys are more expensive than supermarket birds.
“Industrial turkeys can weigh up to 40 pounds in 19 weeks. They literally destroyed the pituitary gland in the brain which tells the animal: “You are full, stop eating.” » So the industrial turkey never stops eating. My turkeys do not suffer from the genetic mutation of morbid obesity. My turkeys will grow to 24 pounds live weight in 24 weeks. They need more time to grow.
“Part of the reason they cost so much is also because of the infrastructure. I pay two to three times more for processing and five to ten times more for transport. It is difficult for an independent farmer to survive. We live in a country where people make plastic bags that you put turkeys in and make more money than the farm that raises them.
This is your chance to find out what turkeys should taste like.
“There are several things that change the flavor of meat. One of them is the genetics you choose to breed and another is the animal’s access to exercise. In fact, many of my turkeys sleep in trees at night. This animal’s ability to maneuver and move changes them at the cellular level. It comes from genetics. The closer you get to its original ancestry, the better the meat will be in terms of flavor, texture and aroma. If you have a factory turkey that can barely walk and is growing faster than normal, many of the nutritional elements that occur in the muscles are not occurring. They don’t get oxygen, they don’t have mobility, and they struggle to stay alive.
“My turkeys are going to be a darker color. The whiter the meat, the worse the nutrition, because oxygen did not reach the muscles. With my turkeys you get a deep, rich, heavy dark meat flavor and I talk to a lot of people who never liked dark meat until they ate my turkeys. It is dark because the animal can run, jump and fly.
Is there a special way to prepare an heirloom turkey?
“There’s not much difference in roasting temperature compared to the modern turkey, the temperature in the thigh should reach 165. But my old cats put on a lot of fat and your roasting pan will fill up. That’s where all the flavor lies. We do not inject them or put any added flavoring. I went to a supermarket turkey processing plant and they inject them. The turkey goes under a hood and about 500 small needles inject it with salt water to “pre-baste” it. We tell people you can brine our birds if they want, but they don’t need to inject all kinds of flavors to make them taste like something. You just need to roast it.
For more tips on preparing your bird, three-star Michelin chef Corey Lee of Benu and San Ho Won offers an overview of roast a perfect turkey this Thanksgiving.
Where to Buy Heritage Turkeys Online
Heritage farms
There may be heritage turkey breeders near you that you can purchase at your local butcher shop or farmers market, but these suppliers will take pre-orders and ship your bird to you.
D’Artagnan
The purveyor of gourmet ingredients favored by Michelin-starred chefs also has a thriving direct-to-consumer business selling foie gras, truffles, Wagyu and more. During the Thanksgiving period, it also offers free-range heritage birds that deliver fresh days before the main event.
Heritage Foods
Slow Food USA and Heritage Foods founder Patrick Martins played a key role in not letting heritage breeds fade into history. The site is the exclusive online supplier to Frank Reese’s prized flock, selling fresh turkeys ranging from 10 to 30 pounds.
