Turkey is a versatile meat, and when feeding a crowd, it can be more economical than cooking several chickens or more expensive roasts such as beef or lamb.
Turkeys can be bought as a whole bird, as portions, or even as ground or diced meat.
This article will explain the different cuts that can be got from a Turkey and how you would use them.
These are the different cuts that can be produced from a whole turkey?
- Whole Turkey
- Bone In Turkey Crown
- Boneless Turkey Crown
- Turkey Legs
- Turkey Thighs
- Turkey Drumsticks
- Ground Turkey
- Diced Turkey
- Turkey Steaks
- Turkey Escalope
- Turkey Sausage
We will now look at each of these cuts to explain how they are sold, what recipes they would be good for, and how much you would need per person for a general serving size.
Whole Turkey
Whole turkeys are generally sold in weight sizes from 10lbs (5kg) up to 32lbs (15kg) and every weight in between.
Whole Turkey Buying Guide
Prices of Whole Turkeys fluctuate throughout the year depending on supply and demand, quality and rearing methods.
If you are not too concerned about what type of turkey you are getting, then a Grade A turkey from the freezer section of the grocery store can be a very economical buy.
However, if you are looking at having a Free Range or Organically Reared bird, then you can look to be paying as much as a 300% premium on the price of your bird over the frozen option.
Buying from a grocery store will always be cheaper than buying from an independent meat market or butcher, however the grocery store will have bought their birds from wherever they could purchase the cheapest, and the independent butchers will likely be using a local supplier and offering a much more superior product.
You will need to decide what things are important to you and your budget and purchase accordingly, understanding that the more ‘ethical’ your choice, the more expensive it will be, such is the added costs of rearing those birds.
Money Saving Buying Tip!
If You Have Freezer Space, Buying Turkeys After A Holiday Such As Thanksgiving or Christmas Can Save You Up To 75% As The Stores Sell Off Their Remaining Stock.
A Turkey Can Be Kept Frozen For Up To 12 Months Without Affecting The Flavor or Quality!
Whole Turkey Serving Size
A whole turkey is approximately 50% carcass, meaning that you only get about 50% meat from the bird once all the skin, bones and cartilage has been removed.
You should bear this in mind when deciding what size bird you will need to feed your guests.
Typically you want to allow 6 – 8oz of meat per serving for a roast turkey dinner such as Thanksgiving or Christmas. This increases to 12oz per person if you want to have leftovers for another meal.
This may seem to be a little confusing but it doesn’t have to be. A simple rule of thumb is that the weight of the bird in lbs will be the amount of people it will feed for a generous serving meal. You may have a little leftovers, but that depends how hungry your guests are.
So from a 10lb Whole Turkey , you would expect to comfortably feed 10 guests for a main meal, or 6-8 guests with leftovers for another meal.
A 15lb Turkey would be 15 guests, or 10 – 12 guests if you want leftovers.
You get the idea.
Shopping Tip!
Turkey Weight in Pounds (lbs) = Number of People It Will Feed*
*Generous Main Meal With No Leftovers
Turkey Crown
A Turkey Crown is usually a whole turkey that has had the legs removed, the wings may also have been removed but not always..
A turkey crown is a popular option for people who only want to eat the white meat of the bird.
Due to still being on the bone, the turkey crown can look as impressive on the table as a whole turkey, and can be carved just like you would the whole bird.
Turkey Crown Buying Guide (Bone In)
Again, with the turkey crown being just a whole turkey without the legs, the same pricing differences apply, depending on the quality of bird you choose. However, you will pay a further premium over the price of the whole turkey, as you are just buying the ‘premium’ white meat.
Basically, the meat producer has to get almost as much money for selling just the crown, as they would have gotten for the whole bird. Turkey Legs are not popular, and so they have to work on the assumption that they will not get much for them, and so the cost is added to the price of the crown.
This means that you may pay as much money for an 8lb Turkey Crown as you would for a 12-14lb whole Turkey!
Turkey Crown Serving Size (Bone In)
Just like the whole turkey, the breast has about 50% bone and cartilage ratio, and so the same serving applies. 10lb Weight = 10 Generous Servings.
Boneless Turkey Crown (Butterfly)
A Boneless Turkey crown , sometimes referred to as a Turkey Butterfly, is a bone in turkey crown that has had the wings and all the bones removed. The skin is left on.
This has become a very popular way of buying turkey, due to the fact it is so easy to cook and carve, is all white meat, and is competitively priced when compared to the bone in options.
Boneless Turkey Crown Buying Guide
The beauty of buying a boneless turkey crown is that you can usually have it cut to whatever size you need. The roasts can be cut as small as 3lbs or as big as 20lbs, and will be all meat!
This means that if you are just a couple, and want a Turkey Thanksgiving dinner, you can buy a 3lb boneless crown roast and have enough for a meal with a little leftovers. However if you were to buy the smallest whole turkey, you would be eating leftovers for a week or more!
Due to the popularity of this cut of meat, the producers are now boning the crowns at the factory and shipping them ready to sell at the meat markets. This cuts down the labour costs for the independent butchers, and therefore they can sell the meat at a more attractive price.
As crazy as it sounds, you will pay less for the boneless turkey crown than you will for the bone-in option.
Now just to be clear, the price per LB/KG for the boneless will be more than the bone-in, however this may only be 30 – 35% more. When you consider that the bone-in breast is 50% bone, it makes the bone-in more expensive.
For Example;
10lb Bone In Turkey Crown @ $3 /lb = $30 and Yields 5lb meat
5lb Boneless Turkey Crown @ $5/lb = $25 and Yields 5lb Meat
As you can see, the boneless turkey is $2 more per lb but ends up costing $5 less for the same amount of useable meat.
Another benefit of the boneless crown is that it is laid flatter than the bone-in crown and so takes less time to cook, saving you money on your oven expense.
So if you are not concerned with having a big showy centrepiece for the dinner table, and don’t insist on having the turkey bones to make a soup, then buying the boneless crown certainly save money and work all around.
Boneless Turkey Crown Serving Size
As mentioned earlier, the boneless breast can be cut to any size, making it the perfect choice when you have a smaller group of people to feed and you don’t want days worth of leftovers.
As with the other meats, you want to allow 6-8oz of meat per meal, and 10-12oz of meat if you want leftovers.
An easy way to think about the boneless crown is that it will feed 2 people for the weight in lbs that you have bought. A 5lb boneless turkey crown will comfortably feed 10 people ( 6-8 with leftovers!).
Turkey Legs, Thighs & Drumsticks
With the popularity of Turkey white meat, and people only wanting to buy the turkey crowns, the producers are left with a glut of turkey legs to get rid of. These can be sold in several ways.
- Whole Turkey Legs
- Turkey Drumsticks
- Turkey Thighs
Whole Turkey Legs
Just as it suggests, the whole turkey leg is exactly that. A whole leg!
A turkey leg consists of 2 parts, the thigh and drumstick which are attached with a joint in the middle.
Whole turkey legs can easily weigh up to 2-3lbs and one leg could certainly feed 2-3 people.
Many mass producers will sell their legs to pet food companies to be made into dog and cat food, however the smaller producers will often sell the legs cheap over the counter, or bone the legs to make sausage and ground turkey.
Boning the turkey legs is a fiddly and time consuming job for the independent butcher, and so you are far more likely to see the whole legs being sold for a very inexpensive price just so that they can get them moved. If you are a fan of turkey legs, this is great news for you as you can often pick up some great bargains.
Turkey Drumsticks & Thighs
As mentioned earlier, the leg is made up of 2 parts, being the drumstick and thigh. If you think of chicken drumsticks and thighs, this is the same cut of meat but on a much bigger scale.
Many stores will separate the whole leg into these 2 joints and sell packs of all thighs or all drumsticks to cater to the likes of those people who prefer one part over the other.
The Drumstick is the most fiddly to remove the bones, and so some butchers will sell the drumsticks with the bone in, and bone out the thighs to make ground turkey or turkey sausages.
You may pay more for the separated thigh or drumstick over the cost of the whole legs, however this will still prove to be a very economical meal over buying the breast meat.
Depending on the size of the thigh or drumstick, you would probably only need 1 per person for a good meal serving.
For a delicious Turkey Drumstick and Thigh Recipe visit SuperGoldenBakes.com
Ground Turkey
Ground turkey is when the turkey meat has been put through a grinder to chop it into very small pieces that can be used for burgers, sausages, lasagne, chilli etc. Basically ground turkey can be used in the same way as you would use ground beef or pork.
Buying Guide for Ground Turkey
Most ground turkey is made from the boneless and skinless thigh meat. This is very lean and tasty and can be a healthier option over using beef or pork in a recipe.
The ground turkey will likely be pre packaged into 2-3lb trays in the meat grocery aisle, however an independent meat market or butcher will sell it by the LB/KG and you would be able to buy just as much as you need.
It is rare that you will find ground turkey breast meat due to the expense, however an independent butcher would be willing to grind the breast meat for you if you asked.
Serving Size for Ground Turkey
All ground meat follows the same serving suggested size, depending on what you are looking to make with the meat.
A general guide is that 1lb/500g of ground meat will feed 4 people. Obviously, due to the nature of the meat, it can be made to stretch much further than feeding 4, but that will be dependent on your own circumstances and what you are making with the meat.
Diced Turkey
Diced turkey is when the meat of the bird is cut into bite sized chunks and used in a vast array of dishes such as Casseroles, Curries, Kebobs and Pies.
Buying Guide For Diced Turkey
Again, you will often find that the cheaper boneless thighs have been used for making diced turkey, however turkey breast will also work if you are willing to pay the extra cost for it.
Much the same as the ground turkey, the grocery stores will have it pre packaged into set amounts, and the independent meat markets will allow you to buy what you need.
Diced Turkey Serving Size
As with the ground turkey, the recipe you are making will decide how many people you will be able to feed.
Cutting the diced turkey into smaller chunks will allow you to make the meat go further. You can do this at home, or ask the butcher to do it for you if you are buying it from them.
1lb/500g would be a good size serving for 4 people if served in a Curry or casserole.
Turkey Steaks and Escalope
Turkey Steaks and Escalope’s are cut from the boneless and skinless breast of the turkey. They are often served as steaks with a cream sauce, pounded thin as escalopes or breaded to make a schnitzel.
Buying Guide For Turkey Steaks / Escalope
Dependent on where you buy the turkey steaks from, the could either be solid pieces of meat cut from the whole breast, or pieces of breast meat that have been ‘formed’ to make a steak.
The ‘formed’ steaks are usually what you would find in the breaded turkey section of the grocery counter.
Steaks taken from the actual breast can be cut to any thickness and can be pounded flat to make turkey escalope’s which can be filled and rolled, or breaded and shallow fried.
Depending on the time of year, buying the turkey steaks can be a cheaper option than chicken.
Turkey Steak Serving Size
Due to the size of the average turkey breast, it is quite common to be able to cut the steaks into single sized portions.
Turkey steaks that weighs 5- 7oz will certainly be an adequate size to serve one per person for a main meal.
A 4oz steak that has been pounded, filled and rolled like a roulade, again would be an adequate serving for one person.
Turkey Sausage
Much like ground turkey, turkey sausage is a way for the manufacturers to use up the more unpopular cuts of turkey such as the legs and thighs.
Sausages are a very popular dish, but not always the healthiest.
The advantage of using turkey meat in sausage is that it is a relatively lean meat and so by adding a few select ingredients can make a tasty healthier alternative to the more widely sold pork or beef sausages.
If you enjoy sausages, but not the health risks associated with them, then you could either purchase pre made turkey sausages from your grocery store / butcher, or if you are feeling adventurous, even have a go at making them yourself.
Making sausages is not difficult, and grinding thighs, or buying ground turkey is a great way to get started.
If you don’t want to go to the trouble of stuffing the sausage into casings, you can easily make sausage patties, or use the bulk sausage as a tasty addition to spaghetti or chilli dishes.
As you can see, there are many different cuts and dishes that can be made from different parts of turkey. There are also different costs associated with those different cuts, depending on what you want and need.
Hopefully this article provided you with the knowledge to understand what the different cuts of turkey can be used for, and why the prices differ so much depending on the cuts you are buying.
When not bought during peak times such as Christmas or Thanksgiving, turkey can be an inexpensive meat to buy when feeding a large group of people. And don’t forget those bargains that are available right after the holidays where you can pick up turkeys for just a few dollars and freeze for another day.
