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Rose Hoad mingles with a group of Royal Palm turkeys, including her “working pet,” Edward, left, the star breeder at Emma’s Family Farm in Windsor. The reddish bird is a heritage breed called a Bourbon Red. Below, a Royal Palm tom (left) and a Beltsville White hen.

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Royal Palm tom turkehy, left, and a Beltsville White female.

enlarge Jill Brady/Staff Photographer

Steve Hoad operates Emma’s Family Farm in Windsor with his daughter Rose Hoad.

WHAT'S A HERITAGE TURKEY?

NATURALLY MATING: The heritage turkey must be reproduced and genetically maintained through natural mating, with expected fertility rates of 70 to 80 percent. This means that turkeys marketed as "heritage" must be the result of naturally mating pairs of both grandparent and parent stock.

LONG PRODUCTIVE OUTDOOR LIFESPAN: The heritage turkey must have a long productive lifespan. Breeding hens are commonly productive for five to seven years and breeding toms for three to five years. The heritage turkey must also have a genetic ability to withstand the environmental rigors of outdoor production systems.

SLOW GROWTH RATE: The heritage turkey must have a slow to moderate rate of growth. Today's heritage turkeys reach a marketable weight in about 28 weeks, giving the birds time to develop a strong skeletal structure and healthy organs prior to building muscle mass.

Source: American Livestock Breeds Conservancy

FRESH OR FROZEN?

The same turkey-tasting panel from Cook's Illustrated that raved about heritage birds also found that most of their higher-ranked turkeys were frozen, not fresh. What gives? It has to do with the way the birds stored, according to senior editor Lisa McManus. Fresh turkeys can be stored at temperatures just slightly above freezing, according to McManus. As they are moved from one place to another, the temperature can fluctuate up and down, "and when it does, ice crystals form and break through the cell walls and dry out the meat."

These particular turkeys, a heritage breed known as Royal Palm, have a lot to be happy about. This year, the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy moved Royal Palm turkeys from the threatened list to the watch list.

Heritage turkeys have made quite a comeback in the past 10 years. They're the breeds that your ancestors ate at Thanksgiving before the development of the Broad Breasted White, the industrial birds with unnaturally large breasts that you find in the frozen-food section of your grocery store. Many breeds of heritage turkeys were on the verge of extinction before the conservancy, poultry fanciers, and the Slow Food movement started sounding the alarm.

Rose Hoad and her father, Steve, raise five breeds of heritage turkeys on their 70-acre, central Maine farm, which was established in 1820. They also raise Broad Breasted Whites because some of their customers like a bigger turkey.

"I just enjoy the heritage breeds a lot more," Rose Hoad said. "They have a lot more personality. The Broad Breasted Whites are like dumb dogs. They all see you and run up to you and beg for food from you, but the heritage breeds have personality and talk amongst themselves all the time. They can fly."

They can also breed naturally, while the Broad Breasted Whites have to be artificially inseminated.

The heritage turkeys do an evening dance, especially in the summertime. The Broad Breasted Whites are so efficient at turning their feed into breast meat that they have problems moving around.

"When they get really big, their breasts will be big enough so they'll fall over," Steve Hoad said. "They'll lose their balance and they'll fall down."

This kind of comparison has led to an increasing demand for heritage birds at the holidays.

"Right now heritage breeds are what you might call a niche market, a big up-and-coming fad in the food world," Rose Hoad said. "The Slow Food movement has done a lot in promoting heritage turkeys because they grow slower and they forage more and they use a lot more natural things as opposed to eating all this processed grain."

But feeling good about your choice for the Thanksgiving table can come with a high price tag. Factor in shipping, and a mail- order bird, depending on the size, can range from $100 to $200.

At Emma's Family Farm, all turkeys cost the same this year: $2.65 per pound. Customers are required by law, however, to pick up their purchase themselves at the farm. And the Hoads, who do all their own processing, are not allowed to sell to restaurants.

Is the taste of these turkeys worth the cost in dollars and drive time?

The Hoads believe the heritage turkeys taste much better, and it's what they prefer to have on their own Thanksgiving table.

"Some people would disagree," Rose Hoad said. "I've had people say no, I don't like it, it tastes too much like turkey. They really have a very robust flavor, and it has more texture."

A panel of 24 tasters at Cook's Illustrated agreed. In a recent taste test of eight turkeys that were all prepared the same way, a heritage turkey was one of just two of the birds rated "highly recommended" for flavor, texture, moistness and overall appeal. The heritage bird "really stood out as immensely flavorful," said Lisa McManus, senior editor at the publication.

"The scientists told me that when (the birds) grow slower, they develop a little more fat, and fat is what carries a lot of the flavor," she said. "So they have natural fat on them that kind of seasons the meat more and gives it a really nice taste."

McManus said the panel was also impressed by the moistness of the bird. It didn't dry out, even after being left on the plate for a while.

"By the time people were finished tasting, within like 15 or 20 minutes,...