Ground Turkey, as healthy as advetised?

The friendliest place on the web for anyone that enjoys cooking.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

Selkie

Executive Chef
Joined
Aug 20, 2009
Messages
3,794
Location
Arkansas
After a lengthy discussion with a friend who is nutrition conscious, we did a little research and discovered:

Unless you have come to prefer the flavor of ground turkey or chicken over ground beef, you may want to reconsider using ground beef for health reasons.

It seems like it would be no contest when using turkey for burgers, meatloaf, spaghetti sauce, chili and lasagna, but ground turkey very often includes fat and skin. A mere 3-ounce serving can contain more than 13 grams of fat and 40+ percent of your day's worth of cholesterol-- almost triple the amount contained in 90 percent lean ground beef!! Regular ground chicken is no better.

I'm only passing this on as something of interest to consider.
 
Unless it's for turkey burgers, I buy the extra-lean ground turkey breast.
 
Toaster Ovens

True about the ground turkey. Unless you can find extra lean or if it says ground white meat, then it would be high in fat. Have you considered buffalo? It is usually quite lean. Chicken and turkey should be fixed and cooked without the skin and excess fat trimmed off. Unfortunately for the public, we have been mislead into thinking that poultry is healthier than beef. I am not opposed to poultry, I like it too. What I've heard is that red meats are harder to digest.
 
Any time you grind something you need to add something to get it to stick together. The way they are cooked also matters. I am sure that the fat content that is advertised is what is in the raw product. If you grill it and most of the fat comes out then you are consuming less fat.

Ground poultry items often contain skin as the fat additive because it is abundant and readily available to anyone grinding the poultry.
 
The extra-lean I buy is Jennie-O: Here's the info:

Jennie-O Turkey Store Extra Lean Ground Turkey Breast

Ingredients
  • Turkey Breast, Natural Flavorings.
  • From the maker

    With natural flavorings. Contains no skin. Premium fresh. 99% Fat free. Dear Consumer: Satisfying your desire... for delicious turkey is our top priority. Our wide variety of premium turkey products, along with your support, has made Jennie-O Turkey Store the number one brand of fresh and frozen turkey in the country. Our green awning symbolizes our pledge to provide great tasting, convenient, home-cooked meals for you and your family. We'll strive to exceed your expectations and promise to uphold the high standard of Jennie-O Turkey Store products. We personally invite you to try our mouth-watering recipes today, and taste how great Jennie-O Turkey Store products can be! We appreciate your commitment and look forward to providing you with the very best. 94% Less fat than regular ground beef - the fat content has been lowered from 25g to 1.5g per serving. The turkey used in this product was raised without added hormones or steroids. Federal regulations prohibit the use of hormones in turkey.

 

Latest posts

Back
Top Bottom