What size Turkey or Crown for 3(!) people?

[choccyp1g]

There are only 3 of us for Xmas dinner so we usually get a big chicken for Christmas dinner, but for a few years now DS has asked for Turkey.

I always say it will be too big and go to waste, but looking online there are some smaller turkeys and stuffed crowns, that say they serve 3-4.

Funnily enough, I'm worried that they won't be big enough, as DS (17) and his dad love a big wodge of protein on their plate, and like there to be an equally big piece left to slice for snacks. DS pointed out that last year he had to "rummage" to get enough meat off the carcass for Boxing Day lunch. This was off a chicken that my mother would have stretched to 3 meals for 6 people!

So does anyone have any advice as to how the Sainsbury/Waitrose/MS "serving numbers" actually work out ?

I'm tending to think that if we want proper leftovers, I should buy for 6!! rather than 3. And feeling a bit sickened by their greediness to be honest.

On Christmas day it's just 4 of us and we get a turkey crown hamper from our local butcher, I think the crown is meant to serve 6+ and it also comes with bacon, sausages, sausage meat and stuffing. I love the fact that we can have as much as we want on Christmas day and then stretch the leftovers as long as possible to avoid the shops for a while.

M&S turkey crown for 6 should suit you perfectly. Left overs is part of the joy, aren't they? Not having to cook on Boxing Day but having a fridge full of lovely food ready to eat

Thanks to both of you, you've confirmed what I was thinking.

DS came and looked over my shoulder at the ones for 3-4, and snorted "that won't be enough"!

He's not really greedy, he's just a typical teenager who loves a meaty dinner. If we have steak, he'll usually eat the biggest one, and what I can't manage of my own.

But on Christmas day and Boxing, by the time him and his dad have had as much as they want, I do need to know I can have a decent sized portion myself!

Do you have food issues? Sounds incredibly OTT to be 'sickened over their greediness' just because they would like some turkey leftovers on Boxing Day. That's pretty standard. The M&S turkey crown for 6-8 people does just that,, no leftovers. So for 3 of you that should do Xmas day and boxing day.
Had a little chuckle at the mythical mumsnet chicken that would feed 6 people for 3 meals. Must be some steroids they feed these chickens

XiCi No I don't have any food issues, I like leftovers myself and would certainly feel thoroughly sickened if there wasn't enough for me!

I got a frozen turkey breast to serve 8-10 in m&s last week for thanksgiving dinnner. I served 7 (4 adults, 3 teen/preteens) and it was an after work more informal meal than major feast. Each person got 2 slices of meat (except 1 DC who only wanted 1) and no one toon seconds. There was just enough leftover for 3 turkey sandwiches.

If it was for Christmas (just 3 here), it would be a full bird for lots of leftovers.

But if I wanted an easy life, I’d get that again for just us as it would allow a decent amount of meat, some leftovers, and no bones etc to deal with. It was incredibly easy to carve (added bonus).

They had a smaller one that wouldn’t do in terms of a decent plate of meat sand some leftovers I think.

(I also have no problem freezing leftover turkey if there is too much, as a turkey pasta bake in February and a turkey curry in March are far more appetizing that the 2 straight after roast turkey and turkey sandwiches)😉

As for the mumsnet chicken, we really were quite poor growing up, and the meat was served in tiny amounts.
I was just checking whether the stated portions allowed for leftovers, which they clearly don't.

M&S are good but expensive. Tesco and Sainsbury's will have similar for less.

Depends on your budget really but I find M&S not sufficiently different in quality for the cost.

Just get a bigger one than you need.

This gives you the best of both worlds. DS and DH can eat as much as they want without you needing to worry, you have plenty of leftovers to snack for a couple of days.

The best bit is you can also freeze it in zome gravy for future meals if there really is too much for you to all get through so you have it ready for furture meals

Turkey makes lovely soup, so you could use up leftovers that way, too. I find soup is very welcome after a few days of rich food.

Ah OK choccy so you're worried the greedy so and sos won't leave you any leftovers!!! I'd definitely go bigger then. You can always freeze the meat if there is too much.

Is a turkey joint the same as a crown?

@Holidayshopping - No, they are totally different.

The main kinds of turkey people will eat are:

Turkey - This is the whole Turkey with legs, wings and neck included. It will also include all the giblets in most cases but they can be missing.

Turkey Crown - This is the whole trukey minus the legs, wings and neck. It may or may not include the giblets depending on what you go for.

Joint - This is just the breast of meat, usually boneless.

Hope that helps

There are two of us, and we buy a 10 lb turkey. We like a lot of meat, plus leftovers for a couple of days. We don't buy ham , so the turkey is the only meat.

@fromtheshires actually a joint can be leg or breast and the crown can be on the bone or boneless.

I work in product development for a turkey producer. Supermarkets allow a slightly more generous amount of meat per serving with the serve size recommendations on Xmas turkey. This is to account for not wanting anyone to go short of a smaller second helping for example, it doesn’t take into account leftovers.

The easiest way to know how much meat you’ll have is to buy a boneless crown as you can more easily work out how much meat there is per person as it’s all edible.