Man of Honour
Don't think we've done Turkey since '12/'13, collectively agreed it's just not that great a meat so it's usually beef or lamb. Doing a lamb shoulder for me and my ma.
Show us yer Turkey
- Thread starter Guest2
- Start date
Man of Honour
Like I said, I'm 63, have at least 3 turkey dinners every Christmas cooked by completely different people and I've never had turkey that isn't drier than chicken.
With chicken I just eat it on it's own but I can't do that with turkey.
With me being a bit of a weird eater I'll often sit down to just a chicken, I can't do that with turkey.
Caporegime
Coquilles St. Jacques or Lobster to start then Rack of Venison with all the usual Christmas trimmings for mains.
Don't mind Turkey at all, but has to be cooked right, super easy to get it wrong.
Don't mind Turkey at all, but has to be cooked right, super easy to get it wrong.
I can eat chicken thats been sat in a fridge after being cooked,
try sniffing turkey that's been sat in the fridge for a few hours and see if you gag.
it absolutely reeks like it's rotten
Soldato
Eating a whole chicken on its own is the dogs. I have, on a weekly occasion a full pack of chicken thighs, just stuck in oven and crispy skin goodness. Salt and black pepper and monch till I burst. Mostly 8-10 thighs in a pack depending on size but they are normally 1kg in weight.Like I said, I'm 63, have at least 3 turkey dinners every Christmas cooked by completely different people and I've never had turkey that isn't drier than chicken.
With chicken I just eat it on it's own but I can't do that with turkey.
With me being a bit of a weird eater I'll often sit down to just a chicken, I can't do that with turkey.
As for the turkey being dry. My gran always cooked the xmas meal when I was a kid and it was always dry. My ex's mum cooked it dry, friends was dry, their parents cooked it dry. I even cooked it dry on many occasion in my teens and early 20s. It was only when I became a Butcher I found out how to cook it properly. Even more so when I became a Carvery chef. Since then they have never been dry
Man of Honour
My wife is a Chef by trade and that has just come out of the oven.
I bet it's drier than chicken.
Soldato
Usual organic free-range turkey from a local turkey farm for us.
Basting is a must along with covering it, seasoning it well and lathering it in butter (you need a metric **** ton). But, cooking it upside down, darker meat takes longer to cook (arguably you can separate the bird to make it easier to cook), is the biggest tip my ol' dear gave to me and it does give you a pretty decent turkey.
You can also cover the breast meat in unsmoked bacon to help keep them moist.
Brining and using cooking racks also supposedly works but never tried personally.
Am interesting in deep-frying a turkey, "a la America", at some point though but need a decent pot.
Basting is a must along with covering it, seasoning it well and lathering it in butter (you need a metric **** ton). But, cooking it upside down, darker meat takes longer to cook (arguably you can separate the bird to make it easier to cook), is the biggest tip my ol' dear gave to me and it does give you a pretty decent turkey.
You can also cover the breast meat in unsmoked bacon to help keep them moist.
Brining and using cooking racks also supposedly works but never tried personally.
Am interesting in deep-frying a turkey, "a la America", at some point though but need a decent pot.
Man of Honour
Like I said, I'm 63, have at least 3 turkey dinners every Christmas cooked by completely different people and I've never had turkey that isn't drier than chicken.
With chicken I just eat it on it's own but I can't do that with turkey.
With me being a bit of a weird eater I'll often sit down to just a chicken, I can't do that with turkey.
Jesus Christ lol
Cook it right then?
Soldato
Got a XL stuffed M&S crown, £70 odd quid, a total rip off but it's always juicy and leftovers keep us going over Xmas. Some gets frozen for sarnies in the new year too 
Man of Honour
Invite me round but I 100% guarantee it won't be as nice as a chicken.
I have never ever had turkey that tastes as good as chicken and like I said at least 3 meals a year and I'm 63.
Wife is a Chef by trade and even cooked it today with bacon on top, still tastes dry compared to chicken.
Just got back from a house where 10 adult shave just discussed this and everyone agrees turkey is nowhere near as good as chicken.
I'd love to know what secret recipe you have.
Soldato
Honestly I've never had a dry turkey and it always tastes better than chicken. Foil and baste with butter every 30 mins. Remove foil for final 30 mins. Most people overcook turkey, get digital meat thermometer and cook to 74 Celsius and wrap and rest for at least 30 mins. You can't really go wrong
Soldato
- Joined
- 16 Aug 2009
- Posts
- 7,749
Same here cook in foil and remove for the last half hour to brown off. I like turkey maybe because its a change from chicken. A turkey crown does for us thats plenty for 3 or 4 unless you want turkey sandwiches, cold turkey, curried turkey, turkey bubble and queek...
Not all of them, I used to work on a Turkey farm and looked after 2000-5000 Turkeys, all were free range, acres of land not just a small area and all could walk properly.
All our turkeys came in as day old turkeys, put under gas brooders in circles of 250 and eventually when old/big enough would get split up into 3 sheds which could house 2000 each and let out to roam all day before being put back into the shed before dark(this was fun at times)
Our turkeys ranged from 8lb whole to mid 30lbs whole when killed.
We never injected the turkeys with anything, they come in different strains we called them which was the size they would grow to, not sure how this process is done as we got them as day olds, but they are hatched the day before and then bought to us so perhaps earlier, later incubation.
Nothing was added to the turkey after killing, its fresh as fresh can be.
The only Turkeys that get very big are the breeders and these are rarely used for Christmas meat as the meat is too tough so what ever articles you are reading either don't know all the facts or just put in the bits they want you to read to get this sort of reaction.
Yes there will be places that don't look after them properly but don't lump all Turkey farms into it without knowing about it.
As for cooking, like others have said, butter under the breast skin, bacon rashers on breast, cover with foil, cook upside down, baste regularly taking bacon off then putting back on and then to brown it off uncover and cook right way up with the bacon off.
As for dry or tasteless meat, probably down to cooking and how the bird was reared and then kept after slaughter.
Since the place I worked at finished doing turkeys i haven't found a turkey that has tasted as good, mainly because I haven't paid the same amount as the free turkey I used to get.
As for chicken being juicer, well it will be as most are injected with a load of water to make them heavier.
If you want your turkey juicer get the syringe out and pump some water in it.
Last edited:
Soldato
Surely the answer here is for all these air fryer multi cookers people have been buying to do their thing.
We have a Waitrose turkey crown that arrived yesterday and it had better be good for the price. Over rated in my opinion but we moan about it most years but never stray to an alternative. I think it's a rip off compared to chicken and actually compared to turkey at any other time of year it's a cheap meat. I'm sure other meats would be better value.
We have a Waitrose turkey crown that arrived yesterday and it had better be good for the price. Over rated in my opinion but we moan about it most years but never stray to an alternative. I think it's a rip off compared to chicken and actually compared to turkey at any other time of year it's a cheap meat. I'm sure other meats would be better value.
Last edited:
Soldato
- Joined
- 22 Jan 2014
- Posts
- 3,817
These suggestions of covering the breast with bacon and cooking upside down...how do you stop the bacon from falling off the breast then? Butcher's string?
Turkey is covered/wrapped with foil.
Permabanned
4kg leg of lamb for xmas day .. 4 kg rump roast for boxing day .. both will be done on the smoker