Disguising Price Increases(No Politics Please)

[GoDawgs]

The local WalMart has had frozen turkeys for about a week, now. Shady Brook Farms at .98/lb and Butteball at 1.04/lb. Usually Butterballs are 1.29 to 1.49/lb, for the first arrivals. Maybe there will be a glut this year. Of course, this is New England, Pilgrim country, where a higher percentage of the population must have their turkey dinner for Thanksgiving. I wait for the sales, usually one week before the holiday, when they are .49/lb.

Won't be buying a whole turkey this year.
I tell myself this every year but it's not gonna happen this year for sure.
I think maybe Cornish game hen is in order along with boxed cornbread dressing.

You know you will. LOL! BTW, I just checked Walmart and they are selling a twin pack of frozen Cornish hens for $3.25/lb. I gotta buy a whole turkey as I will have the usual three guests (so a 17 pounder to insure leftovers) but even if it was just the two of us I'd buy a whole one, 10-12 lbs if I can find one.

[worth1]

The local WalMart has had frozen turkeys for about a week, now. Shady Brook Farms at .98/lb and Butteball at 1.04/lb. Usually Butterballs are 1.29 to 1.49/lb, for the first arrivals. Maybe there will be a glut this year. Of course, this is New England, Pilgrim country, where a higher percentage of the population must have their turkey dinner for Thanksgiving. I wait for the sales, usually one week before the holiday, when they are .49/lb.

Won't be buying a whole turkey this year.
I tell myself this every year but it's not gonna happen this year for sure.
I think maybe Cornish game hen is in order along with boxed cornbread dressing.

You know you will. LOL! BTW, I just checked Walmart and they are selling a twin pack of frozen Cornish hens for $3.25/lb. I gotta buy a whole turkey as I will have the usual three guests (so a 17 pounder to insure leftovers) but even if it was just the two of us I'd buy a whole one, 10-12 lbs if I can find one.

I just can't deal with a hole chicken much less a whole turkey.
I have all these ideas of turkey salad sandwiches and soup but in the end the meat ends up getting wasted.
I can eat a Cornish hen in one setting and no waste.

[MissS]

Butterball turkeys were in the store today at a mere $3.29 per lb. It's a good thing that I still have my 10 pounder in the freezer.

[bower]

Cooking a turkey is a day's work, and if you're processing leftovers, at least another day.
Well worth it, if you scored a good deal and that's the plan.
Also great if you have family coming or a party.
But cooking a turkey when you're busy with other things is just a bad idea.

"Canadian thanksgiving" TBH was never a holiday here in NL, and every time it came around my Mom would impress on everyone that this is not OUR holiday. My Dad would seize any excuse to cook a turkey though. He put up with her mutterings by staying busy with the giant bird.
For myself this year, I pulled some Tokyo Silky Sweet turnips and ate them raw to celebrate. Yum.

[Tormahto]

Butterball turkeys were in the store today at a mere $3.29 per lb. It's a good thing that I still have my 10 pounder in the freezer.

WalMart, frozen, $1.04/lb, here. Likely about 75 Butterballs, and 75 of another brand ( @.98/lb). I wait for the half off sale.

[Tormahto]

Cooking a turkey is a day's work, and if you're processing leftovers, at least another day.
Well worth it, if you scored a good deal and that's the plan.
Also great if you have family coming or a party.
But cooking a turkey when you're busy with other things is just a bad idea.

"Canadian thanksgiving" TBH was never a holiday here in NL, and every time it came around my Mom would impress on everyone that this is not OUR holiday. My Dad would seize any excuse to cook a turkey though. He put up with her mutterings by staying busy with the giant bird.
For myself this year, I pulled some Tokyo Silky Sweet turnips and ate them raw to celebrate. Yum.

Living about 100 miles west of Plymouth, this area is the Thanksgiving epicenter of the world.

For me, the turkey is easy. A little bit of prep, thawing, washing and pat drying, rubbing shortening onto the skin, pulling the skin over the edge of the exposed breast meat and pinning it with a toothpick (most years), ALWAYS forgetting that the pinning should happen before the rubbing, and into the oven for about 4 1/2 hours. Once the fat starts dripping sometime after the 1st hour, basting about every 20 minutes. It's all of the side dishes and dessert(s) that are the 2 days of work.

The following day is very busy, de-boning the 25 pounder, making stock out of the carcass, maybe making one casserole (like turkey tetrazzini) to freeze, the following day turkey soup to freeze, meanwhile the non-cooking of having turkey sandwiches for meals during it all.

[worth1]

No deals on turkeys here.

[JRinPA]

Butterball turkeys were in the store today at a mere $3.29 per lb. It's a good thing that I still have my 10 pounder in the freezer.

WalMart, frozen, $1.04/lb, here. Likely about 75 Butterballs, and 75 of another brand ( @.98/lb). I wait for the half off sale.

OK, so when is the half off sales? Turkey week, Tues Wed Thurs Fri or Sat?
Easter Candy, I remember hitting those sales, it was the day after.

[worth1]

Butterball turkeys were in the store today at a mere $3.29 per lb. It's a good thing that I still have my 10 pounder in the freezer.

WalMart, frozen, $1.04/lb, here. Likely about 75 Butterballs, and 75 of another brand ( @.98/lb). I wait for the half off sale.

OK, so when is the half off sales? Turkey week, Tues Wed Thurs Fri or Sat?
Easter Candy, I remember hitting those sales, it was the day after.

It seems like they go on sale a week before or something like that.
Last year it was almost impossible to find a smaller turkey.
They also have some sort of buy a ham get a turkey free or some such rot.
I'm looking forward to an apple black grape coconut salad or something.

[Tormahto]

Butterball turkeys were in the store today at a mere $3.29 per lb. It's a good thing that I still have my 10 pounder in the freezer.

WalMart, frozen, $1.04/lb, here. Likely about 75 Butterballs, and 75 of another brand ( @.98/lb). I wait for the half off sale.

OK, so when is the half off sales? Turkey week, Tues Wed Thurs Fri or Sat?
Easter Candy, I remember hitting those sales, it was the day after.

Half off turkey sales every year, for the past 2 decades, are at a large New England supermarket chain, Stop & Shop. Another chain store in town matches competitors prices. It start the Thursday or Friday the week before, most people knowing that it takes 4 to 6 days to safely thaw a turkey in the fridge. I cringe at first time couples doing their first Thanksgiving. The day before, all fresh turkeys are sold out, and they have no idea about thawing a frozen one. I hear rumors of very warm water in bathtubs overnight to about noon.

WalMart is hit or miss with half off sales, maybe every third year, but only after Thanksgiving. One year, they had turkeys for .49/lb, would run out, would get more the next month, rinse and repeat at the same price each month, all the way to April.

Halloween candy at WalMart used to be half off the day after. Now it is basically just the morning after, as the growing Ukrainian population is there early loading up entire shopping carts.

I lucked out a couple of years ago, showing up just after noon, nearly empty shelves, eyes scanning only for the large brown bags of Snickers bars. I enter one side of an aisle, as a woman enters the other side. She stops part way down the aisle and grabs a small bag of snickers bars. From my end, I walk to the middle point and grab the one and only jumbo bag in the store, seconds before she reached the same spot. We nodded to each other and walked on.

[worth1]

Something weird was going on today at the store.
All the meat shelves were empty and had been moved to the center chest type cooler section.
There wasn't even any fancy meats or fish out at the custom cut butcher section.
I figured it's cleaning time.

[pepperhead212]

And I saw another one of those overpriced (I'm guessing it will be) stupid things, for those that don't want to think about roasting a turkey. I started it on the end of this newscast, so it's something not on the market yet, I think, but will be, and it's a "pre-brined turkey", that can be roasted from frozen, so people don't have to think about how long to thaw it, in advance, or brining it, for that matter! Just stick it in the oven, set a timer, and that's it. Seems I remember something like this when I was growing up - not brined, but a claim that it could cook frozen at a lower temp, then the temp raised, and cooked until done. I think my Mom or Aunt did this once, but not again, and the cooking from frozen idea sort of disappeared - probably created even drier than usual turkey.

[worth1]

Most all turkeys are pre brined anyway.

[bower]

Last year I couldn't find a turkey that wasn't pre-injected with some kind of seasoning. Not a small one either.

[worth1]

Here's the popular least expensive frozen turkey I've always bought.
I recall getting these on sale for pennies on the dollar.
But they are injected.
I have no problem with it.
It's the Riverside turkey.

Screenshot_20241016-085801~2.png

[worth1]

This is interesting.

[Tormahto]

No deals on turkeys here.

You've got brisket, we've got turkey.

Here, WalMart just started getting whole, unbrined brisket this summer, at about $10/lb.

[worth1]

No deals on turkeys here.

You've got brisket, we've got turkey.

Here, WalMart just started getting whole, unbrined brisket this summer, at about $10/lb.

Good lord and I thought it was expensive here.

[Tormahto]

Here's the popular least expensive frozen turkey I've always bought.
I recall getting these on sale for pennies on the dollar.
But they are injected.
I have no problem with it.
It's the Riverside turkey.
Screenshot_20241016-085801~2.png

I don't think the frozen turkeys that I buy are injected, but every cubic inch of cavity is filled with ice.

[Tormahto]

No deals on turkeys here.

You've got brisket, we've got turkey.

Here, WalMart just started getting whole, unbrined brisket this summer, at about $10/lb.

Good lord and I thought it was expensive here.

Supply and demand. None of the other local super markets have whole unbrined briskets. A city that is 40% Irish for at least part of the family heritage has point and flat cut corned beef 13 months of the year.

20 miles away, one specialty store "might" have the whole unbrined brisket at times. If someone sinks $1,000 into a smoker, the $100 for a brisket, and the party with friends that goes with it, twice a summer, is nothing.