Low-salt turkeys seem a bit more widely available in 2022 than they were in 2021. That means you might actually spend less per pound on a turkey this year than last, like I did, despite inflated food prices.
Whole Foods has low-salt turkeys, the same farm that I bought from last year, for $3.99 a pound. A little steep I thought, especially considering that mainline supermarkets often offer high-salt turkeys for 69 cents a pound as a loss leader to get you to buy other things.
So I checked a local Jewel supermarket and found a low-salt turkey for $2.19 a pound. At just over 15 pounds, that meant a considerable savings compared to what I would have spent at Whole Foods.
I look for turkeys with only 60-70 mgs of salt per four-ounce serving (I normally eat a lot more than four ounces). Turkeys at Jewel and elsewhere can have more than 200 mgs of salt per serving because they’re injected with a salt solution that self-bastes the turkey, making it unhealthy in the process.
I baste mine with a low- or no-salt chicken stock.
By the way, Costco, once my go-to supplier of low-sodium turkeys, did not have any when I checked there the weekend before Thanksgiving. Neither did Sam’;s Club, which I joined this year to sample it’s offerings (and get lower-cost gas for my car).
Always check your labels before buying any turkey. The turkey I bought was mislabeled as costing $2.49 a pound. I took it to the store butcher counter and they quickly relabeled it to the correct price.
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