belfastfoodman: Galloway Free Range Turkeys

The BFM loves Galloway Turkeys!! First I want you to read this piece:

How the Turkey got its name http://t.co/WxY2olOnxE

Secondly I wish to thank brothers John and Thomas (the boy's) Galloway for letting me come to their farm and showing me what and how they do it,and also to Mrs Galloway (mum) for making lovely tray bakes which we had with a cuppa.

Galloway Farm was started in the 1950's by the boy's father, who reared beef and turkey. The boy's still carry on in the traditional way.

50 Tannaghmore Rd

Ranalstown

Antrim

BT41 3HB

United Kingdom

http://www.gallowayturkeys.com/

You must check out their site.

As you can see the turkeys are free range

and live in an ordinary barn built with telephone poles and corrugated metal sheets. There are Norfolk Black, Bronze and white turkeys. The key to having succulent turkeys has been selective breeding, being free range, using 6 different species of bird which grow to maturity after different times. The key to having succulent Turkey is the marbling of fat in the meat.

This is looking into the cavity and there are clear white lines running through the meat. The commercial producers, supermarkets and some unscrupulous butchers will use one species the T10, sometimes T5 and get the chicks in September, grow to approximately 30lbs and then they are processed, so they have maximum weight conversion or growth as possible. If they want smaller sizes they get chicks later and process as per sizes. Hence they are not mature and haven't got the marbling of fat and are dry. Yes they are cheaper but their upbringing is questionable. Other things commercial farms do is give antibiotics, force feed the birds, don't give them room to roam,inject water into the meat. They also used to use growth hormone/steroids which has been banned in the UK. Some butchers/supermarkets get turkey from abroad where they do use all of the above. So these people want maximum profits at the expense of welfare?

Now the way the boy's do it is very different. Firstly they use 6 species which grow at different rates. So they get their chicks at day 1 from the hatcheries in England and they are brought over in a heated truck (23oC) in late June early July, the same day they hatch. They are incubated for the first few weeks and up to the first 5 weeks they will,only if necessary be given antibiotics.

They would also process birds for local farmers. Now some of these birds are not as clean and the Norfolk Black feathers are not shiny compared with the shiny ones Galloway rear. The reasons the feathers are shiny are that they are totally free range, are clean, are fed locally produced feed pellets (from Fane Valley and Thompsons) which contain vegetable protein,cereal and to reduce boredom in the turkey barn or range they get to peck at cabbages. The bedding is wood chips which are regularly cleaned and replaced and recycled as fertilisers for their fields.There is hardly any dirt or Ammonia smell from the shed, as the turkeys grow naturally there bones and cardio vascular system is well formed so they don't get too big, too fast and break there legs and are therefore getting hock burns by kneeling in pain in concentrated ammonia like in commercial farms. Turkeys also love eating nettles and clover. There is a ready supply of water in which are added "good probiotic bacteria", minerals and Vitamin D3 and E.

Another farmers non shiny bird

Shiny feathers on this rooster or cock from the French coq

Loading the feed

The feed pellets

Upto 1000 birds are in the barn

Great view of Slemish Mountain

The birds following us

The birds enter the range at 8-10 weeks old.Door is always open and on sunny days they love to stay in and will come out when dull or wet!!

The farm started processing 600 birds when they started but now production is 5000. The butchers they supply take 10% black or bronze and 90% take the white (4500), whilst retail customers can order direct from the farm and 30% take the black/bronze, while 70% take the White (500). So they have outgrown their current facility and will be making a new purpose built unit.

I did get to see the processing of the birds and as it is now high season 20 people work 6 days a week, usually there are only 3 full timers on the farm. The turkeys are walked into a trailer at night and are walked into the holding pen,which holds 100 maximum. The birds are lifted from the legs, shackled, killed with electrodes (110v,1 amp). At this stage they are brain dead. Then an incision is made in neck to sever the two jugular veins and all the blood gushes out. I'm not showing any pictures but please rest assured that they do not suffer and feel very little pain if any. Their is a bit of involuntary muscle spasms as they ex sanguinary. This way they are not stressed and no cortisol is released into the meat which can affect flavour,another reason why their birds taste nice and succulent. Different species of different sizes are all processed from 1st December to the 11th December so they have all reached maturity and have the marbling.They are then machine dry plucked and kind of sheared, before being dipped in wax for a few seconds. Once this wax hardens the army of staff hand pull all wax and feathers off. The wax is recycled and the feathers are used for bedding for the cattle.

A plastic bag is then placed over the head and the birds are racked and hung over nite to cool.

The birds cooling before being hung in cold room for minimum 14 days another reason they taste succulent and good, this is called dry ageing see below.

The cold room is kept at 0oC and there was no smell and all the turkeys were dry to touch.

The commercial producers kill,pluck,eviserate,gas flush with nitrogen and freeze/ package in plastic in 1 day. The birds wrapped airtight this way cannot breathe. The boy's will put birds into open plastic bags and into a carrier bag for their customers, who will pick up their bird right up to Christmas Eve. They will be using boxes specially made in England lined with grease proof paper which will allow them to breathe. When they eviserate they take all the material from the cavity, taking great care not to rupture anything. The neck,outer stomach muscle, heart and liver are vacuum packed and given to the customer and this is the giblets. The turkeys are fasted for 24 hours pre processing. The pH of the stomach is 2 or very acidic and this is held in a "leather pouch" which is discarded and along with the lungs,intestines feet and wing tips make up the offal and this along with the blood has to be incinerated.

My bird was weighed and then eviserated only after being hung.

My bird was 7.9 kg and oven ready it is 6.635kg. Bird loses approximately 13% of mass after processing.

Old bag packaging

New box prototype

Wax used for plucking.

The eviseration starts from 17th December giving a 10 day shelf life. The optimum age for turkeys range from 20-26 weeks depending on size/breed. Over 26 weeks birds are too mature and tastes different. So if there is an excess (last year there was 10), they are processed at 26 weeks.

They often get a butcher in from the 18th to crown and debone. Also there is scope for Halaal or Kosher.

Did you know that the Black Turkey was native to North America and had a single breast and its meat was superior in taste. During colonial times these were naturally or selectively bred with other native two breasted white birds which give us the results we have today.

As mentioned before the boys keep 110 Cattle (2yr old) for beef. The Black ones are Aberdeen Angus and Brown are the Blond Aquatane. They also have Limousine cows. They are fed maize,barley,corn gluten and soya feed as well as silage (fermented grass) and hay (dry grass). The cousin has horses for livery and they are fed hilage (semi fermented grass).They get no steroids or hormones, and only get penicillin as and when required, not like our US friends.

I was so keen to try the turkey, so I got home, cut off the legs and wings and made Tandoori Turkey. The rest I froze. When cooking the bird at Christmas make sure it is thawed for 24 hours, then plac in a bucket of water and salt for 24 hours, dry,prepare and cook. You can stuff the bird but be careful.

Back to my Tandoori Turkey,it took 24 hours to marinate and about 90 minutes to cook. We had it with onion paratha, yoghurt and mushroom bhaji. I basted the pieces and turned over several times and cooked at gas mark 7. Then finished off under the grill. Michael Deane has kindly offered to show me how he would use the giblets. Most people throw them or use for jus.