..to be surprised that our local butcher's Christmas turkeys are all frozen?

[Edinburghlass]

Our local butcher shop is friendly and helpful and we've always been happy with the meat we've bought. Today I dropped in to buy some meat and saw them preparing all the Christmas turkey orders. I had assumed they would all be fresh from a farm (preferably a local one), but I was surprised they were all frozen, from somewhere over 300 miles away. If I bought a turkey from a butcher, I think I'd be expecting something a bit special and just wonder if customers would realise / expect that the meat had been frozen, then defrosted in the shop.

yanbu, if a person wanted a frozen turkey then surley they would go and buy one.

Good heavens, really? I'd be seriously pissed off if I got a previously frozen turkey from a butcher.

YANBU. I shop at our local butcher precisely because I want something locally sourced and from a farm he knows something about. Generally meat from a butcher is a little more expensive than supermarket pre-packed, and it is this extra that you are paying for imo.

I bought a loin of pork and was saddened to find it frozen. But frozen turkey ? good grief, that is so wrong, isn't it ?

YANBU thats awful! do they care about reputation? in these modern times butchers survive on reputation and if they don't make the effort then every one will just go to tesco and they will WIN

Wow! YANBU! I'd be really pissed off - I bet the customers are paying a premium for getting their turkey from the local butcher too.

YANBU they shouldn't be frozen.

You don't pay a 'premium' for a local butcher though surely. All of our local shops are much cheaper than the supermarket for fresh goods.

YANBU! When we used to get turkey I had to odrer it from the butcher, and then there was a frenzy of customers on christmas eve, and a fresh turkey with my name on it. Would have been horrified to find it was previously frozen!! Do they tell people it has been previously frozen? Means it can't then be frozen again, which could be a problem if people aren't aware it was frozen before.

Seems a rip-off to me!

I think there is no way that small butchers can stock that number of turkeys in the run up to Christmas. Our local (extremely expensive and very highly regarded) butcher does the same because it is the one thing that local people will splash out on even if they don't normally shop there - they simply can't fit them all in the cold room.

I'm not surprised they're frozen in this weather

Well no but surely people know you have to do a Christmas order, you can't just walk in off the street and get one.

I have a christmas order with the butcher, baker, and vegman in by Dec 1st. Last year I dragged the turkey home on a sledge (with DD) and it's looking like I'll be doing the same this year. The butcher has three different collection days to fit everything in the fridges.

All of our local shops are much cheaper than the supermarket for fresh goods

Really, Normality? That does surprise me! It's certainly not the case here. I go to my local butcher out of principle though - the meat is far superior to the crap in the supermarket. If I found out the meat had perviously been frozen, I'd be livid!

We still have to order them but, even then, the demand is such that there isn't the space in the cold rooms because, let's face it, everyone wants to collect them the three days before Christmas. I'm not sure even turkey farms, where the seasonal demand is a given, can co-ordinate their slaughter and delivery to such a small window.

My father was a chef and he always said you could tell when a chicken had been frozen because the bones have dark stains on them after cooking - you'd be surprised how many times "fresh" chicken has come out like that . I don't know if it works on turkeys though.

We have a rubbish local butcher - very pile it high sell it cheap - and I wouldn't be surprised at them doing this tbh. But a decent butcher that you'd normally been happy with YANBU to expect that they would be fresh.

Yep really. The butchers is slightly better value (about 5-10%) but the grocers is FAR cheaper, up to 50% in some cases.

This summer raspberries were £1.99 a punnet in the supermarket over the road from the grocers that was selling the same weight for 99p. Strawberries by the side of them were 29p/punnet. Blueberries 79p. For example.

If I want the best value I get the butchers packs, they do 1lb steak mince, 1lb stewing steak, 1lb chicken breasts, 1lb good sausages, 1lb smoked back bacon,8 beef burgers and 4 pork chops for £10. Which feeds us for two weeks. And it is local, quality branded meat.

The turkey farm about 3 miles from where I live - organic, free range, Kelly Bronze turkeys - told me over the phone 2 weeks ago that their turkeys are all frozen in response to the question: could I bring my dcs around to see the turkeys.

So a lot of premium turkeys out there, including mine will be prefrozen even with the premium price. I don't have a problem with that.

I'm getting Guinea Fowl from our local butcher who told me (when I asked when I should pick it up) that it would be frozen so make sure I get it with enough time to defrost.

Guessing storage, & shear numbers of orders is the reason

My goose from a guild of Q butchers will have been prviously frozen. This is because it is from a small local farm, which slaughters its animals from mid-November onwards to ensure they can cover the orders. I was a bit surprised first year that I realised but on reflection I don't have a problem with it.

Wow Normality that's fantastic value! :)