Large Turkey, cook whole or joint up ????

[NotwatchingSpooks]

So we have got a 5kg turkey arriving on Wednesday it’s fresh. I’m not cancelling it as I really feel for the farmers and butchers. It was really expensive and I hate the thought of throwing food away.

I am torn between cooking it whole and having loads of leftovers, knowing that some will have to be frozen or jointing it up, and freezing what we are not going to eat over 2 days.

If I joint it up , my plan was to take off the breast, stuff it and roll it up and have that on Christmas Day and cold on Boxing Day. Then cut off the rest and put the legs etc in the freezer.

Has anyone done this previously and what are your views ?..

Won't your Butcher do this ?

Thats a great idea, ask the butcher to do it. Then freeze it.

It’s an online order direct from the farmer so I suspect the turkey is already in the box waiting to be shipped. I’ve got some good sharp knives and have butterflied a leg of lamb previously, so I’m hoping it’s a similar thing to do.

I suspect it will make carving it much easier too.

Definitely divide it up to reduce waste, lots of videos/instructions online about how to properly portion up a bird into the different parts. This is a good excuse to have a go!
Our family Christmas is off now so we're going to have a go at an alternative turkey DH has bought a big tub to brine it and I'm sure he's got more weird and wonderful ideas to mix it up instead of the usual bacon wrap.

Divide it up. There's a lot more you can do with fresh Turkey than cold cooked Turkey - the breast especially will go really dry if cooked and then frozen.

Perhaps look at jointing it into a crown and legs? There might be instructions on YT or the BBC Food section.

I actually prefer the legs as a roast, I think boning the crown and stuffing it sounds like it will give it some flavour. Jamie did a similar thing but boned and stuffed the legs.

Whole! Mine is 9kg. Love a big bird.

Just a quick update.

In the end I jointed it up and deboned it, then got it all ready and stuffed it on Christmas Eve . It was 5.8kgs.
So stuffed and rolled one breast, froze the other.
Stuffed both legs.
Took rest of the meat off the carcass and froze the meat.
Made stock from the carcass and giblets. Then threw the carcass etc away .

I’m so glad I did that as cooked 1 stuffed breast and both the legs, it was lovely, cooked quickly and really easy to carve. We still have 1 leg leftover, despite eating it for 2 meals and in sandwiches.

Sounds delicious OP