Do shops ever run out of turkeys at christmas

Bowey123

I am hosting 10 this Christmas. I am thinking two turkey crowns at each end of the table.  Going to get frozen because for me, it’s all about the trimmings. 

I have limited freezer space. But I was wondering if anyone has known the shops to run out of turkeys at Christmas.  Was going to buy them on 22 or 23. They will slowly defrost in my extremely cold utility room. 

Brie

there is always something somewhere.  it might be M&S as someone hasn't picked up their order or it might be Aldi because they've ordered too many and have too many left in the freezers.  But it might not be crowns.  More likely to be whole birds, frozen.  If that's the case google how to debone (really easy frankly) or how to turn a whole turkey into just the crown (haven't a clue as I don't know what a turkey crown is - might be a case of just cutting off the non crown bits - youtube will know.)

Best deal I ever saw  was afternoon of the 24th and Aldi had too many fresh turkeys left so were selling them all at £5 each.  

Floss

Bowey123 said:

I am hosting 10 this Christmas. I am thinking two turkey crowns at each end of the table.  Going to get frozen because for me, it’s all about the trimmings. 

I have limited freezer space. But I was wondering if anyone has known the shops to run out of turkeys at Christmas.  Was going to buy them on 22 or 23. They will slowly defrost in my extremely cold utility room. 

If you get 2 turkey crowns around 2kg each, they should easily feed 10 and give leftovers.

TadleyBaggie

A couple of years ago turned up at my local Sainsburys a day or so before Christmas (as usual) and they had nothing. The Lidl close by was the same. Luckily the closest Tesco had plenty.

MayDogsandCoffee

My brother used to be a butcher and one year his own was sold, his family had chicken and ham pie for dinner (own made get your teeth stuck in the meat type of pie).

born_again

Why not just order from local butcher. Might pay a bit more, but well worth it.

soolin

I’m old so have years of experience of buying turkeys and yes I’ve definitely had years where crowns in particular have run out . One year , possibly 6 or 7 years ago I couldn’t buy until late and the only ones I found were M and S ones at a huge price , ended up buying a really small one for about £50 hoping it would cover Christmas Day at least. luckily one of my guests found one in a supermarket near her and bought that over to me Christmas Eve and I ended up cooking both. The supermarket one was less than half the price of the fancy M and S one and frankly it was nicer as well. 

I’ve managed to make room in my freezer each year since by running down my usual stock of things, and I have a large crown already bought and waiting to be defrosted before cooking Christmas. 

Glad

Do supermarkets still do a click and collect? You could specify the date you want to collect 

Gem-gem

We try to get one cheap on Christmas Eve for the following year. Mind you, last year the discount wasn't much to shout about. 

This year, we have ordered a four meat pack from the butchers and frozen them.

Pollycat

TadleyBaggie said:

A couple of years ago turned up at my local Sainsburys a day or so before Christmas (as usual) and they had nothing. The Lidl close by was the same. Luckily the closest Tesco had plenty.

My friends had the same experience.
Running round supermarkets on Christmas Eve is not much fun when you've got a houseful of people coming the day after.
They ended up with the last fresh turkey from a local butcher at an eye-watering price.

jackieblack

Glad said:

Do supermarkets still do a click and collect? You could specify the date you want to collect 

But if the store has sold out they'll still be left empty handed - booking Click and Collect doesn't mean they'll be put aside for the collection