Turkey time is coming soon. Turkey-ordering time is here.  The Cut Butchery in Mount Vernon’s Hollin Hall Shopping Center will tingle the tastebuds at a turkey carving and tasting on Oct. 18, 12 noon to 2 p.m. in their shop at 7968 Fort Hunt Road.

The Cut’s turkeys are not those plastic-wrapped butterballs bulging from supermarket freezers. The butchery is featuring and now taking orders for Kelly Bronze turkeys for Thanksgiving tables. Some say these are the “Rolls-Royces” of turkeys.

A Unique Turkey

Judd and Cari Culver raise these special turkeys on their Crozet farm in Albemarle County, Virginia.

The name “Kelly” comes from the British farmer, Derek Kelly, who started raising and selling them in 1984 in Essex, England. “Bronze” refers to their glossy brown color.  

The Culvers’ turkey motto is, “Bred to Be Wild.” These turkeys waddle around 17 acres of pastures and woods and eat mosquitoes, ticks, flies and grasshoppers. They also get a corn and soy diet, fresh well water and shade and are not given antibiotics, feed additives or growth hormones. Turkeys need food, water and fresh air, notes Judd, who studied animal science at Virginia Tech.  

When ready for harvest, handlers hand pluck the turkeys and hang and dry age them for 14 to 21 days, a process that tenderizes the birds and deepens the flavor.  

Tasty Turkeys

Kelly Bronze turkeys are “moist, delicious and succulent,” says Alex Kilroy, The Cut’s owner and manager. The Culvers raise their birds to sexual maturity, to 21 to 24 weeks old, when they have good fat marbling. Commercially-raised turkeys, they say, are typically slaughtered at 12 to 14 weeks old, despite the turkey’s maturity. The Culvers do not try to meet an arbitrary weight requirement.

Most grocery store turkeys have not walked around much, Judd maintains, and they are bred for breast meat.  Exercise makes meat dark, gives it more fat and more flavor, he explains. He contends that Kelly Bronze turkeys are the juiciest, tastiest turkeys available. 

At the Oct. 18 demonstration, Kilroy will also make wine pairing suggestions and offer Kelly Bronze turkey cooking tips. “They are not frozen so there’s no thawing and no brining,” says Kilroy. “You just pull it out and cook it.” Cook time depends on the bird’s size, but a turkey weighing under 12 pounds will be ready in under two hours.

Kelly Bronze turkeys typically cost more than supermarket turkeys. The Culvers’ website shows prices from $133.38 to $474.24, from nine pounds to 32 pounds. You’ll have to visit The Cut to learn their prices.

The Cut is taking orders now by telephone, 571-347-7775, in the store or on the website. Pickup will be between Nov. 22 and 26.

Farmers Market Turkeys

Long-time Mount Vernon Farmers Market vendor Valentine Miller, owner of Valentine’s Bakery and Meats, is also now taking orders for turkeys. His family raises around 50 free-range turkeys that roam around their Orange County, Virginia, pastures. In an Oct. 8 interview, he said that his turkeys eat mostly grass and insects, get no GMO (genetically modified organism) feed or soy.

He’s at the market at the Sherwood Regional Library, 2501 Sherwood Hall Lane, every Wednesday, 8 a.m. to 12 noon and taking orders for 14- to 20-pound birds at $8.99 per pound, until he runs out of turkeys. Customers can pick them up on Nov. 22 at the Falls Church market (City Hall, 223 Little Falls Street) or Nov. 26 at the Mount Vernon market.

Information

The Cut, www.thecutbutchery.com

The Culver Farm, www.kellyturkeys.com 

Valentine’s Bakery and Meats, https://valentinesbakeryandmeats.grazecart.com/