My wife just picked up two 10lbs. turkeys from Baker’s at $.69/lbs. said there was plenty of them.

Plenty of Turkeys here . Cranberry sauce is in short supply though .

There's no shortage. It's just internet rumor, assumption and panic.

The only problem I had getting a turkey yesterday was finding one of the many available that was small enough to fit in our roasting pan.

My only problems getting a turkey today were:

the extraneous people the actual shopper had with them. Bunch of window lickers blocking the aisles with blank expressions.

people using shopping carts as walkers. I'm not talking senior citizens either. It's preteens, Gen Z, millenials, etc. where the couple or couple + chitlins each have their own shopping cart and are sprawled over it like it's too much effort to walk upright. Crowd up the aisles even worse than the window lickers in the first bullet.

In other words plenty of turkeys and idiots. Ham looked sufficiently stocked too.

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:
There's no shortage. It's just internet rumor, assumption and panic.

BINGO!

I had no trouble finding turkeys at BJs last week.

Their freezers were FULL of Butterball - whole and breast.

-Rob

plenty of hams, granted no Cure 81, at Aldi's in RVA,


Gro Biz vet, 35 years of it, don't miss it a bit,

and as a Virginian, and an ex butcher\meat guy, , gotta say, Cure 81 is not the ham to buy, and nothing special about them,

quote:

Originally posted by wolfe 21:
Honestly have not checked out the ham/Turkey situation locally. I don't particularly care for either and I'm single and in no danger of hosting a holiday meal.

I'd as soon have a good pizza anyway.

I’ll second that!

got 2 butterballs from walmart, 16/18#.

quote:

Originally posted by lyman:

and as an ex butcher\meat guy, gotta say, Cure 81 is not the ham to buy, and nothing special about them

So what do you recommend?

^^^^^^^^^
Bet he says Smithfield. My roommate in college could not shut up about them. I hated them, WAY too much salt.

Just bought another frozen turkey to sock away in the freezer for future use. Cheap at Fry's Supermarket.

quote:

Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:
^^^^^^^^^
Bet he says Smithfield. My roommate in college could not shut up about them. I hated them, WAY too much salt.

Smithfield has been owned for years by the Chinese. You won't find a Smithfied product in my kitchen, ever.

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:

quote:

Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:
^^^^^^^^^
Bet he says Smithfield. My roommate in college could not shut up about them. I hated them, WAY too much salt.

Smithfield has been owned for years by the Chinese. You won't find a Smithfied product in my kitchen, ever.

Absolutely concur. No clue why he is dissing Hormel's Cure 81. They are about as good as it gets for supermarket City hams.

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:
There's no shortage. It's just internet rumor, assumption and panic.

Yep. Went to Costco the Monday before Thanksgiving and got an 11lb spiral cut ham. They had a whole freezer section full, a person restocking it with a whole pallet loader thing full of hams, and it was wall-to-wall people. IF there was a shortage, I'd imagine I wouldn't have seen what I saw when I saw it. What Bald1 likely encountered was a hiccup in the supply lines, because whatever clog there was in the "ham and turkey hose" was cleared and spraying full blast at a busy Costco just a few days prior to the big day.

Now, what they did run out of were Brussels sprouts and celery, but those are vegetables, I think.

quote:

Smithfield has been owned for years by the Chinese. You won't find a Smithfied product in my kitchen, ever.

^^^^^^^^^^^^
Did not know that. College was a long time ago. Not a fan of ham.

quote:

Originally posted by bald1:

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:

quote:

Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:
^^^^^^^^^
Bet he says Smithfield. My roommate in college could not shut up about them. I hated them, WAY too much salt.

Smithfield has been owned for years by the Chinese. You won't find a Smithfied product in my kitchen, ever.

Absolutely concur. No clue why he is dissing Hormel's Cure 81. They are about as good as it gets for supermarket City hams.

that's just it, they are City Hams and that means processed like lunchmeat,

they did not sell well in this part of the States, and were no better than any other store brand or canned ham,

in fact, the Hickory Sweet Brand, that was sold by Winn Dixie, outsold and tasted better then the Cure 81's,


keep in mind, I have been out of the grocery biz 7 yrs, and moved out of the Meat Biz in 2001


re the Smithfields, good hams, but they are Country Cured hams, not a city or water added Smoked ham like a Cure 81

Todds was about the best, Red Eye, is good as well,

being Southern, it's just a thing we eat, like Dukes Mayo,


Redeye or any Country ham cooked correctly, sliced thin, on toasted bread with some Dukes and a slice of Muenster cheese,,, damn good,

Thanks for the clarification Lyman. As I mentioned in my email, never have had what I deduce as a properly prepared country ham... always way too salty. With what supermarket choices we have here the Cure 81 is the best we can hope for.

quote:

Originally posted by bald1:
Thanks for the clarification Lyman. As I mentioned in my email, never have had what I deduce as a properly prepared country ham... always way too salty. With what supermarket choices we have here the Cure 81 is the best we can hope for.

check your local deli's, see if one has Red Eye ham, or a similar boneless(not processed as much or like a city ham) salt or salt/sugar cured ham,

slice it paper thin,

it will still be salty, but delicious,

kinda like salted pistachios or peanuts, you get the salt, but not horribly strong,


Country hams are a Southern thing, and not that easy to find in this area any longer,

which is a shame since Smithfield is 1.5hrs east of me, and Todd's is now a Condo building,

btw, a Smoked Country Ham is a thing, and absolutely delicious,