Shelton’s Poultry

We have been buying our Thanksgiving turkeys for many years at Shelton Farms. Once you have experienced Shelton’s Turkey, you will not go back to the grocery type turkeys. I love Shelton’s website too. They have great recipes. Enjoy this Thanksgiving.

Best supermarket chicken in LA area. The only place I can find it seems to be Pavilions West Hollywood. But Shelton’s chicken beats everything I’ve tried from a supermarket. Even premium brands like Safeway Organic O (which is 7.99 a pound — not cheap for chicken breast!) and anything from Whole Foods.
Their motto is «Our chickens and turkeys don’t do drugs.» It shows. Their meat tastes smooth, clear, pure and light. Even compared to Safeway Organics, Sheltons is considerably juicier. And there’s no comparison to generic supermarket chicken breast, which ends up chewy and sickening. You can tell the antibiotics are just seeping through the meat.
The only downside is Sheltons just raised their prices to $ 9.49 a pound. As recently a month ago it was $ 7.49 a pound which was far more reasonable. Still, Shelton’s is worth every penny.

Shelton’s is known for their hormone free, free range chicken and turkeys. Their products, and there are many parts that make up a good bird, are special and are usually found in high end grocers and health food markets. You can get organic or not, whole birds, select parts, and even gizzards, liver, and feet.
This is the kind of place you want to know about for the big holidays for that extra special, never been frozen turkey. But just know, this location is mostly offices and the warehouse, not a store. The key is ordering ahead, then coming to this location to pick them up on another day. They do however have two small refrigerator units so you can pick up a few items on the spur of the moment, but never in large quantities.
You have no idea how different their birds taste from the better known, well advertised chickens/​turkeys that flood our chain supermarkets. They are also more expensive than those brands, but once you have tasted your favorite dish made with a Shelton’s bird, you will know how special they are.
Since Shelton’s does not breed fat poultry, which is a plus when it comes to weighing them, it does make the meat a little leaner. Not a problem. I believe in insurance. If you brine these, you will never have any complaints.
There are a million great brine recipes, but a simple recipe of ¾ cup of Kosher salt to a gallon of water, and if you wish, ¾ cup of sugar are the right proportions. Just make sure you make enough so your bird parts are covered, and make sure it is refrigerated while it sits for at least a couple hours or overnight. If you have never experimented with brine, you will find how magically moist and tender any bird becomes. The outcome is exceptional and makes many a mistakenly overcooked bird forgivable. But still, don’t overcook it puh-​leese!
I am getting giddy thinking how lucky we are to have a place like Shelton’s nearby! And even more giddy thinking of what to do with the leftovers.

No comparison. That bold claim has never been truer when discussing turkeys. My ex and I, in happier times, started ordering Sheltons years ago. Once you cook up one of these birds you can’t settle for any other brand. A 16 lb’er yields an unbelievable amount of tender breast meat, along with the most moist dark meat you’ll ever taste.
These birds are free range, drug free, and raised on a local farm in Pomona (
). And if you order them locally here in SoCal, like Plowboys Market in Fountain Valley, they come fresh/​not frozen. Just make sure to order several days in advance, especially in the holiday season.
I BBQ mine on a Weber with mesquite briquettes (following the indirect method directions in the Weber cookbook) and it comes out perfect every year. Moist with a terrific smokiness that just can’t be beat.
These birds aint cheap though. $ 55 for our 16 ½ lb’er this year, but so worth it. If you didn’t burn out on turkey this Thanksgiving order one up for that next holiday season. It will not disappoint.