Disappointed With Turkey

My mum wouldn’t have poultry in the house (something to do with growing up on a farm?). We always had a massive piece of pork at Christmas and I’ve carried this on. I’ve done turkey some years but everyone prefers the pork

We had a leg of lamb this year. Lovely!

We often had a capon, neutered chicken, for Christmas lunch as a child, more difficult, but not impossible, to find nowadays…

We had a turkey crown from a supermarket beginning with M and it was the most tasteless, tough bird I have ever had. We also had a cornfed chicken which my son brined and it was amazing. I had only bought the turkey because I thought we might miss it if we didn't have it. I won't be buying it in future.

We had duck and gammon this year I made stock from both meats. There in freezer bags now very handy for soups etc.

None of us like turkey much and I do not like the smell of it cooking. We have anything that is a special treat. This year it was Somerset Old Spot pork. Lovely crackling and so tasty with home made herb stuffing and apple sauce.

Last year it was Scottish venison. My mother always cooked a capon but I have not seen one to buy for decades.

We don't normally have turkey but this year I bought a boneless rolled joint from the butcher and wrapped it in smoked streaky bacon for 2 hours of cooking and then removed it for the last hour to crisp up the skin. It was actually lovely

DanniRae

We had a turkey crown from Sainsburys and it was moist and delicious
It's the luck of the draw I guess

We got a large turkey crown from Sainsburys too DannieRae. Everyone commented on how delicious it was.

I've just remembered I cooked it above a stock and white wine to try and keep it moist. Not sure if it helped

We normally have turkey but when DH and I have been on our own we have duck. This means very little leftovers!

There was outrage when I suggested possibly going non traditional this year so turkey and ham it was, both from a fairly local butcher. We spend a fortune on it but it’s so good and all 12 of us really love Christmas dinner. Other times of the year when we have the family round for Sunday lunch it might be shoulder of lamb, roast pork or a couple of chickens - and always use the carcass for soup.

We've had a cockerel for some years, the meat is tasty as it is slow grown and free range. The ones we buy are from Ocado though I know that others sell them. This year's bird weighed about 5.5kg, and I cooked it at a lower temperature than suggested, upside down for the last half of the time to keep the breast as moist as possible.
My husband likes dry breast meat so I often cook a small turkey crown which can be sliced up for him, but the rest of the family prefer the cockerel.
We did have goose in the past but there is relatively little meat on a huge carcase, it works out very expensive for what is basically just one meal for our family.

Gin

None of us like turkey much and I do not like the smell of it cooking. We have anything that is a special treat. This year it was Somerset Old Spot pork. Lovely crackling and so tasty with home made herb stuffing and apple sauce.

Last year it was Scottish venison. My mother always cooked a capon but I have not seen one to buy for decades.

They call capon "cockerel" now and they are available at Christmas from Ocado and other sources.

Our turkey this year (6.5kg) cost… wait for it …£153! However, it has made several meals and the carcass is about to be turned into soup so a bargain really!!😂

We had a delicious, tender goose for the second year running. It was very expensive but for once a year worth it and has to be ordered months in advance. Not for those who don’t like gamey meat, similar to a strong duck flavour.
A real treat which we always look forward to.

Grannynannywanny
Your story reminded me of my friend Morag from Barra in the
Western Isles, as she often collected brown paper parcels of meat from the sorting office.The meat was always lovely.They were very hospitable people
and I often had my dinner with
the family.

I do not like turkey and never have. As a child we either had chicken or pork for the christmas dinner. This year my youngest son and his partner cooked a wonderful dinner of roasted gammon and a chicken. It came with all the trimming after a starter of prawn cocktail.

I made a big vegan pie.... and the turkey certainly wasn't disappointed

Brace of pheasant. Plucked and oven ready from the local shoot. Cooked in cider and stuffed with apple really delicious.

We had turkey crown from Waitrose this year, it was delicious! Secret is not to over cook- use a meat thermometer .

This year we had a leg of lamb cooked in the slow cooker. Hadn’t done this for years so I was a bit anxious about timing, but it was fantastic.

I have served Beef Wellington on Christmas Day for about the last ten years.It is always lovely and much easier to cook than turkey.I buy a large fillet from Costco in October and freeze it till needed. There is enough meat for two Wellingtons,and no waste.It is delicious and has plenty of leftovers to serve cold with salads .

Why do posters post a supermarket beginning with s/t
Why not write Sainsbury or Tesco
It’s not a secret.

Bambi, aka venison. I’m not that keen on turkey but my OH likes it so I sometimes buy a rolled turkey thigh as it only makes meals for two days.

Lol MerylStreep you are right and I did write S in my original post when I really meant Sainsburys. It was in the news that people were complaining about their turkeys from Aldi, Tesco and Sainsburys. It seems it's in the way they are prepared for the stores.