can i just ask how much your turkey is costing you this year please?

[mrsmplus3]

im feeding 11 people (9 adults, 2 kids) and have ordered a 6-7kilo turkey which is costing me between £60-£70. i told my mum this yesterday and she couldnt believe the price and told me to cancel the order.
what are others doing? should i cancel and go for something cheaper but still nice? if so what? or is this the norm these days?
thanks in advance.

yes! i have one vote for cooking the turkey on christmas eve! phew. thanks chablis.

DH is a trained chef and worked in cheffing for years (is that how you spell it, looks vaguely rude) and he always cooks beforehand, slices and reheats as you said.

Just be careful you heat it properly and dont get food poisoning!

2 votes now! the chef bit has made my mind up. its getting cooked and sliced on christmas eve. can you be bothered asking him the best way for me to reheat it? just in dish, with gravy or water?,covered in tin foil, in oven ? - what temp and how long? dont worry if this is a question too far.

Ill ask him and post it for you tomorrow night - hes at the gym - Im sure he does it in gravy but Ill get times for you.

my frozen asda turky cost about £12, it is called 'small' yet nothing bigger would fit in my oven; it will feed 4 adults and 2 kids
going to do pigs in blankets too, and bacon-y sprouts mmmmmmmmmm

--how long do they take to defrost? approx 14lbs

my mum always did different christmas dinners - pork. roast beef, a massive salmon, pasta penne, a massive chicken. whatever we fancied, and whatever meat-eating status we were that year

hmmmm cooking on xmas eve sounds interesting, more room for stuffing and roasties on the day itself

but how do you safely reheat slices?

ill let you know as soon as i know psychic. im presuming maybe 20/30 mins in a medium heat oven? 180 degrees? covered in tin foil? watch this space, a chefs wife is going to give us details tonight!

Kelly Bronze, about the same weight about £80.

If you are feeding 10 off a bird that size it isn't really £7 a head because there will be plenty left for sandwiches/ another meal and the carcass will make fantastic soup. Spending this much on a turkey I am always determined not to waste the tiniest scrap of it.

A cheap one can be made to taste very good (brining etc.) but it requires more skill/effort

Hopefully this will be a good way to cook my turkey. Hoping I can make a cheapy one great! www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/turkey-recipes/best-roast-turkey-christmas-or-any-time

Psychic- I think current advice is not to reheat whole bird but to slice and cover in gravy and reheat for 30 ish mins to kill all bacteria! Seems a little school canteen to me iyswim but possibly a better bet than food poisoning....? I'm sure others will disagree and would love to know a more appetizing sounding way

do you reheat the slices in a dry frying pan? on medium? for 30mins? I do that with frozen beef slices, they taste gorge when heated like that, far more tender and moist

I bought a tesco finest bronze frozen one last year about £30-40 and a waitrose frozen one the year before about the same price as the tesco one and they were both really good. I do however brine my turkeys so not sure if that helps.

My mum always cooks her turkey Christmas eve and then makes her gravy in the roasting tin and reheats the slices in the gravy on Christmas day - she does it on the hob with tin foil over tin as a lid. It's always really moist and yummy.

I decided that this year I couldn't afford the butcher's Bronze (70) and I plumped for a Waitrose Plumpie (45). I liked the name.

have you checked if your guests like gravy? there are 2 foods I don't like - gravy and brussel sprouts. Whilst I'm happy to insist people eat what they are given, i do think a line should be drawn at gravy!!!

i make a mean gravy so theres no problem there. i think they all like gravy, never thought about it actually. ill keep in separate in a jug anyway.