To not want to cook turkey on Christmas Day?

[ToffeePennie]

Would you buck the trend of turkey for Christmas Day?
Person A grew up having full turkey roast dinners for Christmas Day.
Person B grew up never having a full roast on Christmas Day but would have roast lamb on Boxing Day.
Now these people are married, they need to come up with a creative solution. Their budget only allows them to afford one meat. Which would you go for turkey or lamb?

This report from Ethical Consumer (Dec 03/Jan 04) gives Lidl and Aldi bottom ratings for factory farming and Lidl also gets bottom rating for 'animal testing' and 'other animal rights'. No supermarket gets the top rating, while Asda, Budgens, Co-op, Kwik Save, Marks & Spencer, Netto, Somerfield and Waitrose all get a middle rating for factory farming. Their overall best buys for all ethical criteria were Budgens, Co-Op and Sainsbury's.
www.ethicalconsumer.org/magazine/buyers/86/supermarkets.pdf

This survey is a bit older (2001) and does not feature Lidl, but the best rated supermarket was Marks and SPencers, followed by Waitrose.
www.ethicalinvestors.co.uk/news/supmart.pdf

Personally, I prefer to stick with local butchers and mail order suppliers for meat - for animal welfare reasons but also because they are more likely to treat the meat properly (hang it for sufficient time, butcher it properly, not add water to it, etc) all of which will affect the eating quality.

If you do buy meat from a supermarket then lamb is probably the best option as in general it is the least intensively reared farm animal and British lamb is usually of good quality.

Don't Lidl do a turkey stuffed into a sheep OP? They do everything else 😂😂😂

Sorry just being flippant.

Why not throw a curveball and have ham or beef and start your own traditions.

Chicken or roast pork with loads of crackling

Never cooked a turkey in my life either😀

We’ve never had turkey for Christmas dinner. It’s not either of ours favourite meat, so why would we have it for a ‘special’ meal?
Last year we had venison wellington. This year I think it will be fillet of beef. We usually have lamb on Boxing Day.

I'm doing a ham and beef rib this year.

I would miss turkey dreadfully so I am firmly in camp turkey......mmmmm......turkey, sage and onion stuffing and cranberry sandwiches - BEST part of Christmas for me!

Turkey's got no taste to it. That's why it needs all those trimmings. Christmas dinner should be special, so why have a slightly dull meat when you can have a nice one? As long as it's got roast potatoes, sprouts (yes, I do actually like sprouts - somebody has to) and gravy it's special enough for me. It's the decorations on the table that make it Christmassy! And the company, of course.

Personally I think the fact that one always had turkey as a child is as good a reason as you need to have something different when you're grown up. It's your household now, not your parents'. Do your own thing and be happy.

natural
Op like myself is on a small budget. She doesnt need a lecture in the ethics of every supermarket and actually giving surveys from 14 years ago is really pointless.

Things have changed a lot since then. Aldi has high welfare and free range chicken and meat now.
I do what i can to buy ethical foods but dont have the money to buy mail order meat! And lamb is just too expensive for what you actualy get.

@willow2017 are opinions and views lectures?

ReadWriteDraw
Nut roast??

Oh do behave!!!!!

Small Turkey crown and lamb or ham?

No but op asked what meat to buy.
Not the ethics of buying it nor where to buy meat thats clearly out of her budget.

none of us particularly love turkey
We have beef, a nice rib
Or goose

@willow2017 your not helpful

willow2017 your not helpful

And giving a lecture on animal welfare to someone who is on a budget is, on this thread? It's almost as funny as suggesting a nut roast.

I am doing chicken as there are only 4 of us. A large chicken was £5 in the supermarket yesterday I will be buying one really soon and sticking it in the freezer as they will be a lot more expensive nearer Christmas.

At Christmas the person most into traditional Christmas wins in my book. A don’t give a crap Christmas dinner have a roast the next day vs traditional turkey. Turkey wins.

Goose?

How does not wanting turkey mean you don’t give a crap?! I do give a crap about it being special, that’s why we don’t have crappy turkey. We have something we actually enjoy instead.

Ham. Or goose. Or even duck. Anything but turkey, it's a dry tasteless meat.

And as PP said lamb is for Easter. (And steak pie for New Year's Day)

I'd go for a third option or flip a coin, though agree with PP's that Lamb is an Easter tradition.

Make your own traditions & have what you like, the best food is what you fancy when you fancy it.

Glazed Ham, Beef/Salmon Wellington or Pork with crackling can be really special meals.

willow2017 your not helpful

Thats hilarious and you are?

I posted my idea previously you just lectured op.

What do the children prefare and does that mean that there'd be no special dinner on Christmas Day, if you went with lamb?

If so and liked by all, then Turkey on Christmas Day.

But if money is really tight, then work out which you'll get the most out of.

When we were a bit skint and wanted lamb, I'd slow roast a shoulder rather than leg. But minted lamb casserole was also a good alternative.

chill
Wtf does that even.mean?

A special meal is something you actually like. Many people dont give a toss about turkey and prefer something else. I guess i havent given a damm about xmas for my whole life by your reckoning.😁😁

And how does someone on a tight budget buy a turkey for one day and a roast for the next?