Christmas lunch

I always put baking tins in the (empty) sink first, then open meat packets above them - straight into tin and cook. There is no contamination of worktops and the sink is easy to clean.

I'm probably extra fussy as I'm vegetarian but cook meat for the family. I have a meat thermometer now but I used to cook things for an extra 15 - 20 minutes, just in case, before.

I used a mini oven for ages when we rebuilt the kitchen and it cooked just as well as a big oven, so I'm sure it will be fine!

Retired microbiologist here?. Yes- it will be perfectly fine. Pathogens like Salmonella and Campylobacter will die in a few minutes at 60 degrees C. A turkey crown will cook much faster than a whole turkey but the wrapper usually gives cooking instructions. Don’t overlook or it will be very dry.

If the use by date is the 27th and Christmas Day is on the 25th - what is the problem?

I assume the turkey crown will have the appropriate time and temperature on the packaging? Or that your son (even if he is not a very good cook) is capable of reading a cookbook or looking up the internet? There is plenty of advice out there on thoroughly cooking poultry, as well as plenty of scaremongering about Christmas food poisoning.

There is nothing intrinsically different about a larger pice of meat than usual. Most of the problems occur because people either don't know the rules or can't be bothered to follow them.

1) Store it safely at below 5 degrees C. If it is frozen, defrost it thoroughly before cooking.
2) Wash hands before and after handling it.
3) Preheat oven to the right temperature.
4) Cook it for the recommended time.
5) Test it either with a food thermometer (at least 75 degrees C in the centre) or by piercing it to the centre with a skewer or sharp knofe and checking that the juices run clear.
6 ) Let it rest for a short while before carving it to allow the temperature to even out all through it.
7) Cover what is not carved for immediate use, while you eat.
8) Carve the rest as soon as you can and pack the slices in single portions to freeze and eat later.

Even better, get in plenty of rolls, butter them and fill them with sliced turkey, and freeze those - taken out of the freezer first thing in the morning, they will give you an instant light lunch on several grey days in January and February.

Monica " Thorough cooking will kill any pathogens in the meat anyway. " this is what I will have to trust to.

I will smile and joke and keep it all light hearted.

cornergran, I can't offer to put the turkey in the oven at the appropriate time as he lives twenty miles away and will be bringing it. raw. have looked up the cooking times etc. and I will just have to try to supervise the preparation and the cooking times and temperature without his noticing. I don't even have a proper oven just a small table top one.
I do wish he had asked me what I'd like. My main concern is keeping this difficult day peaceful, without risking food poisoning. I will buy some of these special wipes for disinfecting the work tops.

Beef tastes better and is more tender if it has hung by the butcher for the appropriate time before it is sold. When you buy it, it wasn't slaughtered yesterday! The turkey, being poultry, was probably NOT hung before sale, so it is likely that it is far "younger" than that lovely joint of beef you would be eating if he hadn't bought turkey.

If EVERY turkey eaten in EVERY household had to be slaughtered the day before Christmas to prevent food poisoning, there would have to be mass recruiting of staff to do the deed!

If the use-by date on it is 27th Dec, and it has been properly stored and cooked, then it will be fine.

Christmas day is on the 25 December, the use by date is 27th. I cannot see what the problem is. The crown will be vacuum packed and providing he is storing it in a fridge and not on a radiator there should not be a problem.

If the meat were not safe and edible being stored in the fridge until then, the shop would not have put the 27th on as the use by date. As it is these dates always veer on the side of caution, it would probably be Ok for several days after that day.

The main thing is, that you have to cook the meat throughly. Thorough cooking will kill any pathogens in the meat anyway. All you need to do with any meat left over is slice it, put it straight in the freezer. When your son goes home present him with the frozen turkey slices wrapped up with a freezer block in a cool bag, if the journey is long (plus 3 hours) and he canput it back in the freezer and just take out slices as and when he wants them

Alternatively give it to the neighbours for their cat or dog, although that seems a shocking waste of good food.

Yes, definitely fine to cook. If you’re worried about your sons ability as a chef why not offer to put the turkey in the oven at the appropriate time? It is a kind and caring offer. Perhaps best to relax and enjoy your son’s company.

As others have said it will be fine. So long as the wrapping is not punctured and it is within its use-by date it is perfectly safe to eat.

Just enjoy the generosity and kindness of you son, your worry is all in your mind.

If something is, 'best before 27th' (or even 'use by') it is not going to suddenly swoop into dangerous decay on the morning after!

With any luck, it'll be through your alimentary canal and on its way to the treatment works by 27th.

It will be fine

That’s just what I was thinking *FlexibleFriend’!

I'm assuming you're eating on the 25th so why would there be a problem if the use by date is the 27th?

I'm sure the turkey crown will be fine. I expect it's vacuum packed, therefore, unless the pack is punctured, nothing can get in to spoil it.
We have meat here which is vac packed, and I've been known cook it after its use by date.
Don't tell Mr MM, he's a stickler for dates!