The Color of Turkey Thighs

[shel]

I usually buy my turkey thighs from a local natural butcher. He uses birds from a local, well known and well regarded source. They are organically raised and fed, rather lean, and and the meat is a dark, reddish color. Really beautiful thighs (I've always been a leg man )

A few days ago I bought a couple of thighs from the butcher dept at the local Whole Foods. When I got the thighs home and compared them, the ones from WF literally paled in comparison. They were much lighter, more greyish-red in color, had more fat around the muscle, and the skin was fattier and thicker.

Based on what little I know about the subject, my guess is that the WF bird got less exercise, and maybe a poorer diet. The other birds do get time in a big pen and resally do run around a bit, and they are fed organic grain and meal.

Do you think my assessment that the WF birds do not get as much exercise holds water?

Thanks,

Shel

[DC Sunshine]

Shel,
Sounds like your assessment is right in that they've probably had less exercise, as any animal that's had a lot of exercise and room to move has pretty dark red flesh e.g. game (hares, deer, kangaroos, wallabys, pigeons etc) and I would be guessing they've been fed a high amount of corn or some other grain feed to have the noticeably higher amount of fat.

I've had some turkeys from a friend whose turkeys are totally free range from his farm, with only a small daily allowance of grain feed in addition to what they forage. These birds meat was fairly dark(even after hanging) with litle or no visible fat. Taste was good but has to be careful cooking them or they turned out very dry - an oven bag worked wonders, cooked long and slow.

How was the taste on the WF ones and were they tricky to cook?

Daina

[notoriouslyKEN]

I believe the redder color comes from hemoglobin. It is a protein that carries oxygen in muscle. The higher level of hemoglobin in the muscle, the redder the color. If the turkeys had more exercise, there muscles would require more oxygen and hence more hemoglobin. It is also the reason tuna muscle is red. (Tuna is a fish that never stops swimming, i.e. muscles are working constantly)