Our Meat Buyer Talks Turkey
Meet the Foodmaker who takes on the months-long process of sourcing the best birds for your Thanksgiving table.
Meet Birch Wilson. Sourcing our Thanksgiving turkeys is one of his biggest projects each year, and as we get into the Thanksgiving spirit here at Good Eggs HQ (i.e. overly caffeinated, incredibly full), we sat down with Birch to talk about his process for getting a mind-boggling number of the best turkeys out to thousands of families each holiday, and our meat and seafood program beyond the big day.
Let’s start with the basics — how did you get your start at Good Eggs?
I was a high school earth science and biology teacher for seven years before coming to Good Eggs. I taught students with dyslexia and auditory processing disorders and had to find alternative ways to engage them apart from reading and writing, which led me to start a little garden at the school. We had vegetable beds, chickens, and a couple rabbits. I ended up making that garden the cornerstone of most of my curriculum. I would just take the kids outside every day and a lot of our conversations would be driven by what was going on in the garden at the time.
After seven years, I got to the point where I’d have to renew my credentials, and I didn’t really want to do that. At the time, we were living out in Pescadero, which is a little farming community. I got some exposure to agriculture in that community, just from helping some neighbors with their pasture poultry operation. They were incidentally selling through Good Eggs, which is how I got connected with the company. I started working at Good Eggs as a delivery driver and warehouse employee back in 2014. After a few months, there was an opportunity for someone to work on our Foodmaker team as kind of a junior support person, and I applied.
You’re now the Category Manager for Meat and Seafood. What does that job entail?
I’m in charge of sourcing our meat and fish, as well as vetting and setting up initial relationships with new producers: mostly ranchers, farmers, and fishermen. Recently, I helped develop the marinated meats program that we just launched, which has been really successful and fun. With this program, our kitchen team does all the marinating and prep work for various cuts of meat in-house so our customers can get a better, more delicious dinner on the table, faster.
I’ve also been working on sourcing more fresh, never-farmed salmon for a year-round supply, which is a top customer demand here. It’s relatively challenging to do while staying within our sourcing guidelines, but we’re actively working on it because it’s important to our customers. I think we’ll finally have it this year.
We’re trying to reinvent our food system, for good. What does that mission mean to you?
I want to reconnect people to what they’re eating and get people to realize that meat isn’t just a thing that comes in a styrofoam tray with plastic wrap. That was a living, breathing creature and it matters how it was treated before we killed it, and how we treat those who work with the animals.
There are so many health problems associated with exposure to pesticides and working in concentrated animal feeding operations or slaughterhouses — conditions can be grim for agricultural and meat-packing workers. There are two different sets of living creatures to be worried about with conventional meat production: the animals and the workers.
How do your sourcing standards address those issues?
All of our producers have to allow animals outdoor access — you wouldn’t believe how challenging that is. There are a lot of animals out there that never go outside. If an animal can go outdoors, it generally means the animals aren’t too crowded. If there’s plenty of space, then you don’t have to debeak the chickens or trim the tails of the pigs. Animals should eat things that are good for them, so we don’t source any beef that’s fed corn or soy. All of our meat is grass fed, grass finished or finished on something like brewery grains, which is a lot gentler on the cows, but still provides that marbling that people love.
Transparency is another huge factor — every producer has to be open to us coming to visit. That’s why we keep it local.
Transparency is another huge factor — every producer has to be open to us coming to visit. That’s why we keep it local. If I can get meat from California, I have much more visibility into what’s happening on that farm than I do into what’s happening in, say, Australia.
How’s this process for T-Day turkeys?
I start sourcing turkeys for Thanksgiving around March or April before the gobblers are even born. This year we have the beautiful birds from BN Ranch, both heritage and broad-breasted, organic heirloom birds from Diestel, and Mary’s broad-breasted. All those birds have outdoor access. We’ve been working with BN Ranch for about six years for our Thanksgiving turkeys. Bill Niman, the founder of BN, is a legend in the sustainable agriculture movement. Their heritage birds are really awesome — they taste better because they are grown for longer and have plenty of outdoor space. Any bird with an active, mobile life will have rich, unctuous meat — so broad-breasted birds can be just as delicious if they’ve been raised right. Our producers know that, and that’s why we source from them.
Any tips or tricks from your own experience cooking turkeys?
I usually do two turkeys every year for Thanksgiving — roasted and smoked. Brining is absolutely crucial. You’ve got to brine your turkey. I do a wet brine, but I know Chris in the Good Eggs Kitchen swears by a dry brine. But I think the best turkey I ever made was a brined smoked turkey and it tasted kind of like ham. For my smoked bird I actually spatchcock the bird, which entails cutting the spine out and splitting the breastbone — you get evenly cooked white and dark meat every time. We’re actually offering a smoked turkey from Diestel this year that is out-of-this-world delicious. My in-laws are kind of traditionalists, so we do the whole roasted bird for presentation, but I learned a flip technique a couple years ago, which is the best way to get even cooking on a whole bird. You start the roasting breast side down and then halfway through, you get two giant wads of paper towels and, really carefully so you don’t burn yourself, flip the turkey and finish it breast-side up. That’s the best technique for roasting a whole bird.
When it’s not Thanksgiving, what meat are you cooking at home?
Pork is definitely the ultimate meat. I think pork belly is my personal favorite. There’s a lot of stuff you can do with it besides make bacon. I love a lot of Asian applications like ramen — I’ll get some pork trotters and whole stewing hen then braise pork belly in that crazy rich broth.
A lot of people get intimidated when cooking meat. Any advice for soothing that anxiety?
Get a meat thermometer. Get a good instant read meat thermometer and don’t be afraid. It gives you piece of mind that you won’t over or undercook the meat.
What does the future of meat-eating look like for you?
I don’t think the world’s going to go vegan. I don’t think the world’s going to go vegetarian. That’s not going to happen, so animals have to be part of the solution. It’s a complex question with a complex answer — maybe it will involve eating a lot of insects eventually, who knows. But for now, I’m happy putting my time in at Good Eggs because I know at least we’re part of the solution.
Pre-order your holiday turkey for delivery the week of Thanksgiving, here.
