If you buy a ‘fresh’ supermarket turkey…

[StressedLP1]

ie not one that’s pre-ordered, not a frozen one, and one from any of the major supermarkets rather than local butcher/farm shop, when do you normally go and buy it?

I bought mine yesterday as a sort of panic buy and am wondering if I went too early (although that even if I waited the use by date would still be the same). Have turned the fridge down to 2 degrees 🤷‍♀️

I’ve put ‘fresh’ as I’m aware that some have been frozen and simply defrosted to sell as thawed (although the one I bought says suitable for freezing so I assume hasn’t been frozen).

Not me but did a bit of a shop yesterday. Three people in front of me at till had fresh turkeys in their trollies. They all appeared to have the majority of their food shop done.

All the turkeys have been well dispatched so whether you buy it today, yesterday or tomorrow won’t make a difference.

I have a similar question but about a non pre- ordered farm shop one. Would that be okay to go and get one tomorrow? Do they have a longer or shorter shelf life than supermarket ones?

I shall lift mine tomorrow

I buy a boned and rolled one from Lidl, they have been instore for a week or more already and I noticed on Saturday the use by dates were for the 27th so in theory I could have bought then - but Ive to clear the fridge today

When I bought a whole bird Id buy about two or three days previous , then cracked on to the fact they would be reduced by stupid amounts on Christmas Eve afternoon , so whilst I might not have got the bird of choice , Id get a bird , we didnt go hungry

But one thing I always did with the bird was remove from the bag and take the giblets out before refrigerating. Then take the bird out of the fridge before going to bed Christmas Eve and put into the cold oven/microwave ( have a cat ) to bring the temperature up to ensure even cooking ( we dont have the heating on over night so kitchen is cold enough )

i panic bought, it was a good deal and a small turkey
quite often i aim to buy last minute but i couldnt resist a bargain.
have not turned down the fridge though

I pre order from Morrisons and collect on xmas eve, and leave in the garage overnight. But they used to do a nice free range bronze turkey and this year i could only get the bog standard one....😕! Will have to shop around next year.

I buy a joint of meat reduced in November or early December, freeze it, then I go to Aldi on Christmas Eve and aim for a 50% discount on a fresh turkey crown. If they don’t have any then I defrost what I’d previously bought

buying now with a date of say 26/27th would be fine, if anything be better as your own fridge is likely to be cooler than the supermarket one which could be too full!

We bought a 'fresh' (defrosted) turkey crown on Friday with a date for 26th on it. We had increased staff discount for the supermarket that finished that day. We normally buy frozen but they didn't have any.

Op be careful as on my fridge the higher numbers mean colder.

I bought a fresh turkey today too, I think the ones tomorrow and Christmas Eve will have same use by on them as presumably the turkeys will have been 'dispatched' at a similar time.

I've got mine, I would rather it was sat in my fridge where I have control over the temperature etc than in a supermarket fridge where I don't. Mine is unwrapped but covered and will be fine (but my grandad was a butcher long, long before sell by dates so maybe I am more relaxed about those dates because of that).

Yes, they all usually are dated 26 Dec.

I looked in Lidl today and the date was 26/12. We are away in 25th and I wanted a small one for the days between so won’t be cooking it until 26/12. I will check again as would rather have a couple extra days in the use by.

Interesting that your grandad was a butcher but you buy it from a supermarket? Do u find it the same quality? (Genuine question because I buy all my meat at the butchers except chicken as the quality seems similar at supermarkets, and have been wondering if the same goes for turkey!)

Bought mine today. Normally get a frozen one but none of the supermarkets near me have any left.

I normally order everything from the butcher for Christmas but we were away for the collection days ( Friday and Saturday) so i went to Lidl to do the whole shop today. Loads of everything ( veg, potatoes, vegan mains, pigs in blankets etc) but no frozen turkeys and a few turkey crowns left. Last year there were tons of frozen turkeys but I panicked and bought a turkey crown. Its just in my fridge now.

Have never bought meat from a butcher- can’t stand the smell. Supermarket meat is absolutely fine!

I normally buy a fresh supermarket one but pre-order. However I have noticed that regardless of whether you buy it on 19th December or 23rd/24th December, the use-by date always seems to be the same (26 Dec). I have never bought one from a butcher, but I would imagine it's way nicer. Last year I got one from Waitrose and I must say it was the nicest I have ever had, surpassing M&S and Sainsburys.