To ask you to tell me about frozen turkey?

[PinkyPinkerton]

I was at the supermarket restocking my freezer, and noticed frozen turkeys and turkey crowns. The price difference between a large frozen turkey and the fresh one I almost have to sell a kidney for each year is ridiculous. And I'm not even a massive roast turkey fan!

I'm not experienced in buying frozen meat to defrost before cooking (I'm a fishfinger expert though!), so not sure what the difference in taste/texture/quality is.

Teach me please!

A turkey crown is just literally the breast meat on the bone (ie the body), so you don't get the legs, wings etc. So a crown will cost more per kilo.

Crowns also tend to dry out more when cooking, so you need to watch that.

Hang on, you were asking about frozen vs fresh, weren't you? Umm... frozen are generally birds produced indoors, the fresh ones are often free-range or organic. There's also a supply and demand thing. They can produce frozen ones all year round which can be stored for long periods, but the farmers can only produce a certain number of fresh ones at once. If everybody wants a fresh one and there's restricted supply then like any commodity, the price will go up.

Always buy frozen turkey instead of fresh. Just follow defrosting instructions. Turkey crowns, on the other hand, are yuck.

@flourbroach

Hang on, you were asking about frozen vs fresh, weren't you? Umm... frozen are generally birds produced indoors, the fresh ones are often free-range or organic. There's also a supply and demand thing. They can produce frozen ones all year round which can be stored for long periods, but the farmers can only produce a certain number of fresh ones at once. If everybody wants a fresh one and there's restricted supply then like any commodity, the price will go up.

I always buy frozen free range.

I always buy frozen...there is the fear every year about ensuring the buggsd is defrosted.

Umm... frozen are generally birds produced indoors, the fresh ones are often free-range or organic.

Eh? You can buy frozen, free range meat of all kinds.

@flourbroach

Umm... frozen are generally birds produced indoors, the fresh ones are often free-range or organic.
All of the major supermarkets sell frozen free-range turkeys including bronze etc.

@flourbroach

Hang on, you were asking about frozen vs fresh, weren't you? Umm... frozen are generally birds produced indoors, the fresh ones are often free-range or organic. There's also a supply and demand thing. They can produce frozen ones all year round which can be stored for long periods, but the farmers can only produce a certain number of fresh ones at once. If everybody wants a fresh one and there's restricted supply then like any commodity, the price will go up.

I sell frozen free range. Turkey, Chicken and Duck. What are you on about

If you're not a roast turkey fan, have something else!

(And by something else I mean beef Wellington).

I get a frozen crown (free range) . I cook it sous vid and finish it in the oven the day.
Fil said last year that was the best one he ever had. I'm proud of that one.
Don't take me wrong if I could afford it I would get a fresh one in a local farm, but I can't justify the x10 price of a frozen one

Iceland sell cook-from-frozen turkey, no worries about defrosting

Ex DH worked in a turkey factory ( albeit many years ago)
He claims that supermarkets returned unsold frozen turkeys which were defrosted in a chemical bath, and then re-frozen with an extended one year BBE date. There was no monitoring of how often the same turkey was treated in this way.
I have a phobia of frozen meat since I heard this

@SadiePurple

Iceland sell cook-from-frozen turkey, no worries about defrosting

Really? I need one of these. We work such long hours that Christmas on a Friday means it’s hard to pick up a fresh bird during the week plus remember all the ones from Tesco etc that were off by Christmas Day.

How long do those cook from frozen turkeys take though?

I mean a frozen turkey is just a fresh turkey that's been frozen..........God (( and Asda )) only knows why it's cheaper.

I've always bought frozen, it's always been lovely thanks to my butter basting and rolling streaky bacon under the skin. 🤤

@Dominicgoings I don't believe that.......what would be the point in faffing about defrosting a load of turkeys when they can just change the labels.

I always get fresh purely because I found defrosting a frozen one ridiculously stressful 😬😬🙈

Thanks everyone.

The frozen Iceland ones obviously take a lot longer to cook. I used to buy a posh £80 bird to feed a crowd, last year my dad was terminally ill and Christmas was kind of cancelled. Then at the last minute I decided I'd just do a low-key Christmas dinner with absolutely no fuss.
I bought the Iceland CFF turkey crown, DH said he couldn't tell the difference between it and the mega-bucks fresh turkey.
With all the virus uncertainty this year, as soon as they get them in stock in Iceland, I'll be buying one again.
Personally I do think the fresh ones taste better, the texture is nicer, but it did save a lot of stress at the time. Just smother it in gravy and top-up the wine glasses

We had a Morrison’s frozen one last year, was very nice.