Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving. 

This year we raised some broad breasted turkeys and I have my Heritage turkeys on the farm. So I wanted to see if the Heritage turkeys taste significantly better than the broad breasted turkey. The white broad breasted turkey is the one used for the grocery stores because a white turkey dresses out better than a dark feathered turkey. I don't raise the White Broad Breasted but the Bronze Broad Breasted because I like their looks better and my thinking is that since they are not used in commercial production anymore maybe the will be smarter and less susceptible to diseases.

My BBB (Bronze Broad Breasted Turkeys) were healthy, smart and did ok as far as leg problems went. BBB turkeys can out grow their skeletal structure and have leg problems that prevent them from walking. They also tend to have heart problems and can die from a heart attack. Mine also did ok on this front although the really large BBB turkeys (25+ pds dressed weight at 5 months) would not have lived much longer. I could tell their hearts were very strained and didn't have the normal shape the rest of my birds have.

My BBB turkeys had free range all day and were raised with guinea fowl who taught them how to forage. I did not have them on high protein feed and of course no antibiotics except for a very short time in their feed when I first got them as little poults. They arrive by mail and I have found If I don't feed them the standard medicated poultry starter for about 2 weeks they die from stress related diseases. My Heritage turkeys are raised by their moms and never receive the chick starter feed, so never eat the medicated chick starter.

For Thanksgiving we cooked an 11 pd BBB tom he was right around 3 months. He was butchered earlier because he was developing the leg problems he was just beginning to spend his days sitting down all the time instead of running with the rest of the flock. The Heritage turkey was also a tom, but about 5 months and 10 pds dressed weight.

I brined both of them in the same brine same tub and cooked them in the oven at the same time on the same rack side by side. Everything was done exactly the same to one bird as the other. The consensus from every one at the table was they were both fantastic in flavor and tenderness, and I'm only a mediocre cook. The Heritage had a significant texture advantage. The texture was very fine grained and tender. The BBB although it was tender did have a more coarse texture.

Conclusion: I would eat either again (and am really enjoying the leftovers). Flavor wise both were fantastic with a slight preference towards the Heritage. You must remember that both these birds were raised running around foraging. They had full access to a good nutritious chicken meal with a nice blend of wheat, corn and other grains. The flavor difference I'm sure would be significant between these turkeys and a store bought confinement raised turkey, but I'm not going to do that comparison. I'll leave that one up to someone else.

Personal recommendation would be to purchase any free range turkey from a responsible local farmer. If you want to purchase a Heritage please do so. They have a better texture and you are helping to create a market for Heritage turkeys which in turn gives them a purpose on the farm and helps keep their genetics alive. Health wise my Heritage turkeys are heads and shoulders above any of the BB turkeys. They do not have as much breast meat when cooked so just be aware, but genetically they are a far superior bird.