To buy a supermarket christmas turkey?

[Littleunicorndreams]

It’s my first time hosting christmas for a crowd. I have cooked plenty of xmas dinners but at other houses and I’ve never had to provide the turkey. Everyone else has always had turkeys sourced from good butchers or their local farm shop.

We don’t have a butcher or farm shop that we trust and use regularly? But AIBU to just add one to my Xmas delivery from Sainsbury's
Asking now as I believe I need to order it soon?

@Littleunicorndreams they come out on 19th dec (I got the Aldi catalogue this week!) so just get there for 9am and you'll be fine x

Yep, get yourself to Aldi! We had a free range turkey crown from there last year for £17. As pp said, they put them out on the 19th so find out when your local one opens and go straight in at opening time, job done.

I've gotten a Waitrose turkey for years. The past couple of years, I've stooped so low as to purchase a Waitrose essential turkey.

It was gorgeous, the essential one. I've only ever been complimented by guests, though lashings of wine will soften anyone up!
I'll get another one this year.

Has anyone ever bought a Costco turkey?
Was going to pre order but the dates were rubbish so would rather go in nearer to the time .

My Aldi already have frozen ones in store, we had an Aldi crown for the past two years, everyone cleared there plates.

We always get ours from Aldi. We have a turkey crown, there's always plenty in our store, they tend to replenish the stock quite often, but I don't leave it past the 21st/22nd.

We've not had a bad one yet.

YABU, get beef. Turkey is horrid!

I find it is easier to cook a crown perfectly than a whole bird.

The accompaniments make a big difference.

If you really would prefer a farm one, loads of producers will deliver nationwide. Have a google.

I get mine from my local supermarket every year - its half price when you collect enough tokens in the run up to Christmas (I'm not in UK). It's always lovely - or as lovely as it can be given my basic cooking skills

IME, the farm turkeys have always been nicer than those from a supermarket (only tried Asda TBF).

Last year was particularly bad - it was just the four of us so I bought a supermarket turkey and it was actually inedible - it was a small, pre-basted crown, covered in some type of polythene/plastic in a cardboard tray and it went in the oven like that.

Whatever you choose, I would highly recommend a meat thermometer!

Order of preference in our house:

Pigs in blankets
Roast Potatoes
Gravy
Roast root veg
Stuffing
meat - turkey/chicken/beef/pork/whatever
carrots/green beans/cauli/cabbage
sprouts
cranberry sauce (I like it no one else does)
bread sauce (now removed from list!)

For the cost of it, the meat comes quite low on our list - so would say it doesn't matter where it comes from - wonder if I could get away with pigs in blanket/roasties/gravy/roast root veg....

Would be a very cheap Christmas dinner...

I don’t want a turkey crown - there are going to be 10 people and at least half of them will be fighting over the legs!

Always get ours - a free range - from M&S - I go as soon as they open - crack of dawn! - on 23rd Dec.

Re taste, I seem to recall a load of foodie 'experts' doing a blind taste test on several turkeys - from the most expensive Norfolk fed on manna from heaven, etc, down to the cheapest supermarket bird.

And IIRC the cheapest came out best - they were all mortified!

Having said that, I still wouldn't buy any but FR and I do think so much will always depend on how you cook and rest it.

I think I am going for an aldi one this year as I was happy last year. There are loads on Christmas eve morning - I just wait for the store to open and it's fine.

I am happy cooking a whole bird - I’ve been cooking the dinner for 25 years! I just normally do it at other peoples houses (as I am the best cook!) but as I am the visitor they get the bird as its harder to transport... At least this year I can do it in my own oven!

I’ve tried all sorts of turkeys and now buy a mid range one from M and S - mainly because I’m just rubbish at cooking them. Think cotton wool texture! Which is why we’re having beef this year. No matter how much I spent on them I could never get it right.

Another vote for Aldi. Bought one from there- their best range a few times and it has been really good. My BIL spoke at length about this free range turkey sourced from a local farm and honestly when he served it it was tasteless and dry. Cost a £100. Could've been the way he cooked it though

Badly cooked turkey will taste awful wherever it’s from!

Butter is key.

Another vote here for Aldi.
As there’s only 2 of us eating the meat, I bought a reduced price organic chicken from Aldi last year and it was very nice. I’m not keen on turkey anyway and if you bung in a lemon, it keeps it nice and moist. I never bother with fancy stuffing, I just do a normal roast dinner.

We have had stonking good Copas Turkeys. They are £100 to feed 8-10 but taste really nice. Equally fresh Aldi turkey tastes good. We do a spatchcock turkey which tastes good no matter what because it isn't overcooked.

www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2012/11/butterfiled-roast-turkey-with-gravy-recipe.html

We love turkey and I have always bought a good supermarket one, put butter under the skin with herbs and lavishly coated in more butter and then bacon. Always really enjoyed it.

However last year I was given a free range ready prepared turkey crown that cost three times what my usual turkey did OMG it was delicious! So moist and succulent and well.. perfect. No faffing about with pounds of butter and no stuffing it as already done. I can't afford to buy one myself but that will be a very fond memory.

i get a whole bird, i love the soup best

i think moistness is the key.
not over cooked

I get mine from M and S. Used to get it from a farm shop but they are always overpriced. Wouldn’t touch Aldi ones. I know 2 people who got ill on separate occasions after eating turkeys from there and it wasn’t their cooking.