What's The Best Value Nicest Turkey

chelms38

alandbailey wrote: »

As it will be for Xmas, I bought frozen reindeer from Lidl. IMO turkey is way over-rated or my frozen turkey choice/ cooking is rubbish!
This year I will be eating venison, reindeer, springbok and perhaps a decent ham.
I find goose too greasy, duck too tough, turkey too boring and chicken too everyday.
I will buy reduced price chilled turkey if I see it on Xmas Eve, but only because I need to be on a high protein diet!:)
I do NOT eat sprouts either.

I bought some Venison burgers from Tescos a few months back and the taste was lovely so I may try Venison for Crimbo lunch for a change.

dangers

There was an article in one of the Sunday papers that a lot of the turkeys are not from Britain!

silverjay

I have gone for a Sainsbury's frozen Taste the Difference free range British turkey.
£15 for the small (mine is 4.4kg), £21 for the medium, currently on special offer.

It had better be good or I will be writing to that Jamie Oliver bloke.

geordie_joe

CommitedToChange wrote: »

But if everyone did buy a free range one - demand would force more farmers to produce free range ones for next year. So in a few years most would be free range.

It doesn't work like that. Remember HFW and his chicken campaign?

His campaign increased the demand for FF chickens from "less than 5% to less than 10%". His words not mine.

This increased demand so much the suppliers couldn't cope, so they redefined what free range means, so more chickens could be called free range in order to satisfy demand.

Free range means they have access to the outdoors for at least 8 hours per day. They don't have to actually go outdoors, and the 'farmer' can take steps to ensure they don't go out.

The simple fact is, there isn't enough land in the UK to allow everyone to eat free range birds (in the sense most people think of free range), so they just redefine the term "free range" so more birds can be kept inside but still be called free range.

geordie_joe

I've just been digging around, and it sems the rules have changed from a bird having 8 hours access to the outside world per day to "half it's life time" or 12 hours per day.

But the main word is 'access', they don't have to be outside 12 hours per day, they can be inside and 'have access' to the outside.

Some points about free range.

Birds can be kept in a shed at a rate of 13 chickens per squae metre, I can't see any restriction on the number of turkeys.

The access to the outside world must be at least 1 square metre per chicken, or 4 square metres per turkey.

So a free range turkey is one that has had access to at least 4 square metres of outdoors for half it's life, the other half it could have been crammed in a shed.

A fre range chicken has had access to at least 1 square metre of outdoors for half it's life. The other half it could have spent being crammed into a shed at the rate of 13 chickens per square meter.


Why does this happen? Because some people "care" about birds because they think it is fashionable, they think they are morally superior to the rest of us because they can say they care and only buy free range.

But they never care enough to get off their @rse and find out, and all it takes is a google search, they don't physically have to get off their @rse.

If they ever did find out they wouldn't be telling people to buy free range, they would be telling people not to buy ANY birds until the government makes free range mean what we believe it means.

A turkey kept indoors for half it's life, and only allowed access to 4 square metres of land the other half IS NOT FEE RANGE IN MY BOOK.

Poultrymeat special marketing terms (SMTs)

The poultrymeat marketing regulations allow optional indications of certain alternative farming methods, often referred to as Special Marketing Terms (SMTs). These specify the criteria which must be met before claims about certain types of farming can be made. The Regulations seek to protect the consumer by setting high uniform standards and providing informative labelling. They also protect the producer against unfair competition.

Examples of SMTs are "free range" and extensive / indoor barn. In order to comply with this claim, the producer must comply with the criteria set out in the respective regulations.
What does "free range" on an egg or poultrymeat product mean?

"Free range", on an egg or poultrymeat product, is a Special Marketing Term (SMT) indicating that the product has been produced in compliance with the criteria set-out in the respective marketing regulations. The criteria for both eggs and poultrymeat are shown below:
Poultrymeat production

Stocking rate in the house is as follows:

* Chickens = 13 birds but not more than 27.5 kg live weight per m²;
* Ducks, guinea fowl, turkeys = 25 kg live weight per m²;
* Geese = 15 kg live weight per m²;

Age at slaughter must be:

* Chickens = 56 days or later
* Turkeys = 70 days or later
* Muscovy ducks = 70 days or later for females, 84 days or later for males
* Peking ducks = 49 days or later
* Female mulard ducks = 65 days or later
* Geese = 112 days or later
* Guinea fowl = 82 days or later

In addition, the birds have had during at least half their lifetime continuous daytime access to open-air runs, comprising an area mainly covered by vegetation, of not less than:

* 1m² per chicken or guinea fowl (in the case of guinea fowls, open-air runs may be replaced by a perchery having a floor space of at least that of the house and a height of at least 2m, with perches of at least 10 cm length available per bird in total (house and perchery)).
* 2m² per duck
* 4m² per turkey or goose

The feed formula used in the fattening stage contains at least 70% of cereals, and the poultry house must also be provided with pop holes of a combined length at least equal to 4 m per 100m² floor space of the house.

More detailed information on poultrymeat market regulations, a copy of the regulations and a guide to these regulations are available.

stockers_2

Re Free Range:

Turkeys do like to get out and wander about - and those labeled 'free range' certainly do. Equally they like to stick together with their mates and near the food - so they tend to all hang out in a bunch, whereas free range chickens will wander all over their patch.

Re 'best value':

A bit 'you pays your money' - to be able to offer enough fresh birds the supermarkets start killing and packing them very early December. They are 'gas packed' in carbon dioxide so that bacteria do not multiply (they need oxygen for that) and held at between 0 and -4 C, known as 'deep chill'.

This generally gives a better bird as the meat has a chance to mature.

It can be pot luck with a frozen bird as they are simply killed, defeathered, gutted, packed and frozen pronto. Sometimes you get a tender one, sometimes tough. There is no way of knowing in advance.

Whilst the above may have changed a bit I expect (having been the turkey, duck, geese and game buyer for two Christmases a while back at one the very biggest supermarkets) it is still accurate.

Naturally how you cook whatever you buy can have a huge impact on how much you enjoy what ends up on your plate.

cheers

Stockers

PS Big supermarkets need big suppliers to be able to offer them enough to keep us hungry shoppers happy - thus it is quite possible that supermarkets X and Y get their turkeys (or whatever) from the same supplier - yet still you will hear people say, 'Oh, it was much nicer from....'

moonpixiewitch

However turkeys from lidl/aldi have always exceeded expectations and their frozen goose was much nicer than a fresh free range one we bought from a very well known local farm for 4 times the price :eek:
The other option is to wait until after lunch on christmas eve and "hang out" with your trolley in the fresh meat aisle near the turkeys in a certain supermarket beginning with W . I am reliably informed that they reduce by 50% or more
Personally I try and avoid all supermarkets in the week before Christmas and I won't want a turkey as we are having Buffalo Forerib from a local farmer / friend this year . Organic , free range and out of this world on flavour , and less money than the equivilant in turkey or goose !!!!:rotfl:

Linda32

I've just bought a Bernard Mathews from Tesco, its suited us before quite nicely. 4.00kg for £10.00

4.00kg is the biggest in their smallest range at £10.00 each, if you want a bigger one then I think I saw they are £14.00. Their "Finest" is £20.00 but looked like much bigger birds.