I’ve watched the price of turkey at the deli counter just get higher and higher.  I’m not a huge cold-cut consumer.  I’m not home at lunch to make sandwiches, but since Victor works from home, it’s nice to have some sandwich fixin’s in the ‘fridge.  But as the price keeps going up, I had to stop and ask myself at what price does “convenience” give way to spending a few extra minutes in the kitchen.

The answer today, was a 99 cent a pound fresh whole turkey breast.  I could either head to the deli counter and pay my $7.99 per pound for turkey or get fresh and bake at home.  What a dilemma.  I could roast a fresh turkey breast in my own oven with my own seasonings, or get something that is:

… prepared from chunks or pieces of meat and are bonded together to form a single piece. The substances that bind these together are non-meat additives, meat emulsions and extracted myofibrillar proteins. Typically they are produced by extracting the meat proteins (by adding salt and massaging or tumbling the meat, which brings these “sticky” proteins to the surface) or by adding non-meat proteins. Myosin is the major protein that is extracted. The meat becomes soft and pliable and is then shaped through the application of force using different molds or casings. It is then cooked to coagulate the proteins, which bind the chunks of meat together in its new shape.

You’ve seen the picture so you know the choice I made!

And really… is there anything better than a fresh turkey sandwich?  Or a hot turkey sandwich with homemade gravy?  And the carcass is going to make its way into a soup later in the week. (I do think I’ll freeze half of it for later use.  The Food Saver really comes in handy for things like this!)

The entire cost of the turkey was $9.87.  We’re going to get a lot more use out of that than we would have gotten with $8.00 worth of sliced turkey.  And without the added myofibrillar proteins!