I’m not sure why turkey is primarily used for Thanksgiving dinner. There’s probably a very good reason – but for the life of me, I can’t think what it would be. NPR’s Planet Money recently released a segment about turkey pricing during the Thanksgiving season. It’s an interesting listen. One of the take-aways is that we might only eat turkey during this time of year because it becomes increasingly difficult to find them in the “off-season”. As a people, we may have been conditioned to see this succulent bird as only nothing more than a holiday tradition.

But I’m here to flip the entire turkey tradition on its head!

Another insight from the Planet Money segment is that the price of turkeys drops by almost 20% during this time of year. From personal experience, I know that the best time to pick up a bird is after the holiday. If you have the freezer space, you can get a bird for pennies on the dollar, hold on to it for a few months and have a mid-year roast that is sure to please. Or, if you are adventurous during the long Thanksgiving weekend, cook a second bird and break it down into individual freezer bags to have meals ready to eat for months to come. There’s nothing better than a turkey sandwich in May.

What’s interesting to me is that people buy sliced turkey from the deli for $9 a pound every week and make sandwiches and wraps all year for their lunch boxes, but they never consider the option of a home-made version, which has less additives, tastes just as good, and is much cheaper.

Back to cost: Last year, I was able to find a bird after the holiday for .69 a pound! This year’s bird was $1.00 a pound. I spent $16.00 on a 16# bird. You can’t get chicken for that price. You can hardly get pork and can NEVER get beef for that rate. If you’re looking for a low-cost, lean protein to add to your diet, rethink about joining the turkey train!

As for ways to cook the bird, try spatchcocking! Cut it into parts (like you would a chicken) and drop it on a summer grill. My nephew uses a smoker for his fowl and it’s a winner every time.

However you decide to cook it, I hope this year you will consider breathing new life into a dead bird. (Figuratively, not literally.)

For more information about all things turkey, visit LunchbyCurt.com/Talking Turkey.

A NOTE ABOUT SAFETY: It’s a well-known phenomenon that deep-frying a turkey can result in explosions and fires. One report notes that fire personnel are called out to 1,000 fires each year that result from attempts to deep fry the bird.