To ask about frozen turkey? *Title edited by MNHQ on OP's request*

[polkadotpjs]

I can't find a fresh one. I've always bought fresh but can't order one and having a minor fret. I can find a fresh whole one for the price of a small bungalow but cannot pay that. What do you all do?

Frozen turkey is fine, just make sure it’s thawed properly before cooking so it cooks thoroughly and evenly.

Honestly, I have had frozen turkey crowns from Tesco, fresh turkey from Waitrose, free range organic turkey which I saw enjoying itself in the fields at the farm and, one memorable year, Bernard Matthews turkey dinosaurs. The turkey dinosaurs were the best. The rest of them, I couldn’t have told you which was which. It’s an uninspiringly tasteless creature.

I could have a whole thread on my unreasonable family and the questioning I get about Christmas turkey.
I'm a decent cook but they think as I'm veggie that I am intent on killing them with under done turkey. I've cooked for 20 years and no one got ill yet. I don't worry about cooking it but never had the defrost/ cook thing before.
I am not AT ALL sniffy about it being frozen. Just asking for experience
I'm having a Lidl nut roast as nobody else will eat it bar me and I could just eat Parmesan parsnips and roast potatoes and nothing else and be happy.

I normally buy fresh but this year I bought a frozen turkey crown in early Nov. Just need to remember to take it out to defrost

Sitting in the freezer. Had fresh and frozen. No difference so back to frozen.

Go to a local butcher and place an order for pick up on Christmas Eve if you want a fresh one, that’s what we alway do - I love the trip to pick up all the festive meat (we also get our sausages and bacon, and then add some black pudding for boxing day breakfast, and a gammon joint for New Year’s Day). I’m aware you’re a veggie OP, but this has got me salivating at the thought of it all!!

But, in the absence of a meat feast from the butchers, then frozen is perfectly fine.

We normally buy a free range frozen whole turkey, and it has always been as good as fresh. This year however, the only one I've seen looked like it had been dragged behind the delivery lorry and I haven't been able to find anywhere else selling them (been looking for weeks! It's usually in my freezer at the end of Oct!). We don't want to risk leaving it any longer, so are biting the bullet and ordering a fresh one. There are plenty of free range frozen crowns about though OP, so you wouldn't have an issue there.

We always have a frozen crown. Did away with having a whole Turkey years ago as DH prefers no bones, easier to carve. although we’re a large family so get a big one. We never had fresh again after the year we got a green, stinky one when we took it out of the packagjng .

We take put it in the fridge to defrost a few days before, then DH does a layer of thin sliced oranges and lemons under the skin, then butter bastes it with loads of herbs. It’s always complimented.

This year I got a bit panicky that there may not be any turkeys due to the scaremongering in the media so I’ve had one in freezer since early October!

@Lockheart

Buy whatever you like, why would that be unreasonable? It's a frozen turkey crown, not 2kg of cocaine.

TBF at this stage getting 2kg of coke might well be cheaper than a butcher's turkey crown

@FurrFeather

I bought a really expensive fresh M&S Turkey Crown last xmas. Disappointing to say the least.

Just something basic (frozen or fresh) often works just as well IME!

I too have used various combinations of fresh/frozen, crown/whole, expensive/cheaper and in all cases I find that it's the cooking and what it's cooked with that gives turkey some flavour as it's a fairly bland tasting meat.

@Not2daySatan

I normally buy fresh but this year I bought a frozen turkey crown in early Nov. Just need to remember to take it out to defrost

So many people seem to be buying frozen turkeys or bits of turkey that I'm looking forward to the fresh Norfolk turkeys being sold off after Christmas!

Surely it’s too early to find a fresh one? It will be off by Christmas

I think if you've cooked for 20 years, maybe it's time that someone else takes a turn and gets to stress about the turkey.

We always get a turkey butterfly, which is a single large turkey breast from a local farm shop and normally just go in on the 23rd and buy it, no pre-ordering or anything.

I am wondering if this plan will backfire this year if they will be available to buy on the day, but if not, I'm sure they'll have a chicken, or a supermarket will, so I'm willing to risk it.

Brought mine the other day.

We've had frozen turkey crown before. I think with turkey it's all in the prep and cook and frozen/unfrozen doesn't matter

If you have time, and can be bothered, you could brine it.
Nothing wrong with buying a frozen crown though, I'm planning on Chinese Takeaway!

I bought one of morrisons frozen turkey crowns last year, cooked it in the slow cooker overnight it was lovely. The lid on the slow cooker didn't sit properly as the crown was too big so I wrapped some tin foil over it, we don't like skin.

I have bought a frozen turkey crown every Christmas for the last 10 years from Aldi.

Was dubious at first, but it's been absolutely fine year on year.

I take it out of the freezer on Christmas Eve to defrost and I cook mine in the instant pot and then browned in the oven, super moist and tasty.

I've gone for frozen (goose, which is what we always have). In the current uncertain climate, there's no way I'm risking haring round two days before Christmas trying to get a fresh bird.

I buy a fresh turkey crown at Tesco on 22/23rd December. Only because I’m scared of the defrosting. Then I put garlic purée and bacon on top. My key thing I did the other year was letting it rest for a long while after it was cooked. Mostly because I was slightly pissed and was cooking everything one thing at a time! But the turkey tasted really good. I don’t think it was because I was drinking!
My DM always has a frozen supermarket turkey and it always tastes good.

Used to buy frozen ones from usual supermarket during the year as they were pretty cheap and very tasty.

Used to defrost it throughly. Then roasted it upside down in a tin, with an orange
or two cut into eighths and piles into the cavity with some butter.Sometimes some herbs like rosemary or thyme or tarragon too. Then some foil over the top. All the juices and butter run down into the breast and give flavour and stop it getting dry.

Then for last half hour, remove foil, flip it over and let skin brown.used to press the orange bits with a fork so the juice came out and they were plenty tasty juices for gravy. You can also use lemons or clementines or any citrus really. Works with a whole bird too you just pop everything int he cavity and roast upside down.

[quote polkadotpjs]@DappyApple when you say steam roast, what do you mean? I roast under foil with a lot of liquid under. Is that the same?[/quote]
Sorry didn’t see your reply!

Yes it’s basically the same. We put layer of root veg in the tray, sit turkey on top then pour chicken stock over the veg. Wrap the whole thing in tinfoil and cook!

I can't cope with the possibility of not getting one and you've sold me that frozen isn't much different so I'll go get one. Just to clear out the freezer now! And I do butter and herbs under skin then a load of bacon and roast with stock and wine in the tray and cover it for the whole time in foil bar the last 20 minutes

I buy one every year now from Lidl, I used to get one just in case the fresh ones were too expensive, or in short supply, but the frozen ones were fine, and it saves a lot of stress knowing I have one in the freezer.

Had frozen one year and couldn’t tell the difference

How long does the defrosting take would you say?