Storing the turkey

[MsHedgehog]

I’m hoping this is the right thread to post it on!

DH and I were meant to go to his parents for Christmas but now we’re not - tier 4. We were originally planning to have our own Christmas today as a couple, but makes sense to do it on Christmas Day instead!

I had already bought everything on Friday so all the sides and trimming should last until Christmas Day. I also ordered a nice fresh Yule log from Paul’s, so I think we’ll need to eat that today which is a tad disappointing.

However, I’m not sure what to do about the turkey!

It’s a crown from Waitrose which is meant to last until Boxing Day. Our fridge can be dodgy so I’m worried that having a fridge packed full of food for a week will mean it’s not cold enough for the turkey and it’ll go off before Christmas.

I’m wondering if I should freeze it until Thursday and then put it back in the fridge on Thursday morning to defrost, or just make the fridge colder?

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. In previous years I have always got the turkey in a couple of days before Christmas so I’ve never had to think about it!

Well I think that freezing does change the texture of the meat, so I would try to avoid that. If you do decide to freeze, be warned that thawing in the fridge from Thursday may not be enough time for it to defrost completely.
Could you do a massive cull of all unnecessary stuff in the fridge, then make it as cold as possible for the turkey?
Another option would be to keep a good check on turkey over the next few days, and if you feel it needs to be cooked imminently then do do in advance if Friday. It will reheat well in a nice sauce or gravy in the oven.

Thank you, that’s so helpful! I didn’t think about the texture changing so that’s useful to know.

I’ve taken some stuff out of the fridge and made it colder, so hopefully it’ll be ok until Friday!

I'm sure it will be! I bought my turkey today.

I've got a porch which gets colder than my fridge so I store all fresh veg & dairy in there. Then I've got more room for meat & other stuff, do you have a porch or shed that you could use? I've also stores fresh veg in the car boot as that gets cold too so there's options. Do you have a small portable beer fridge that you could use to put dairy & salad stuff in?