Christmas Turkey & Ham - Where do you buy from?

yellow hen

I'm sorry as I'm sure this has been discussed to death but I couldn't find a thread from last year so I'll ask here...

Where do you buy your turkey and ham from? It's my first time cooking and I def don't want a full turkey -a crown or boned and rolled would be fine. I'm also not the biggest fan as I always find the bird so dry but willing to be converted. I adore the ham so want to get that right too. What should I be looking for?

McMurphy

Always the local butcher - a crown will do us this year due to covid, and nor having extra family members etc, but I go with boned and rolled each year anyways.

woodchuck

Sorry to jump on the band wagon, but how far in advance do you need to order something like this? Normally we'd each go to our parents at Christmas, but it might not be possible this year due to Covid. So we might end up doing Christmas at our house just for the two of us for the first time. I assume we'd get something small (boned and rolled crown? not even sure what that is tbh :P). But do we need to get ordering soon or can we figure it out closer to the time?

Princess Calla

woodchuck wrote: »

Sorry to jump on the band wagon, but how far in advance do you need to order something like this? Normally we'd each go to our parents at Christmas, but it might not be possible this year due to Covid. So we might end up doing Christmas at our house just for the two of us for the first time. I assume we'd get something small (boned and rolled crown? not even sure what that is tbh :P). But do we need to get ordering soon or can we figure it out closer to the time?

Our local butcher normally will start taking orders around now. I "think" last year it was up to the 20th of December for last orders.

I'll be at the supermarket tmw and if they are taking orders I'll just order it don't see the point in waiting. I'm absolutely dreading grocery shopping this year, it's always ridiculously busy. I'd happily do a chicken nugget dinner and play with the santa toys

HeidiHeidi

I was talking to my local butcher yesterday, and he reckons the demand for small turkeys and crowns will be absolutely through the roof, and they'll be like gold dust due to the nature of Christmas dinners this year, with less huge family gatherings with a 20lb turkey as the centrepiece.

woodchuck

Thanks guys! I suppose I don't want to order something now in case we can actually visit the parents (and scab dinner off them :P). The future in-laws only live around the corner and while we've visited them during the restrictions, we haven't had dinner together at all since March. I've only met up with my own parents outdoors this whole time, haven't been invited to the house at all, so they're even less likely to want us this year.

So it's not just about the restrictions in place, but whether or not they're comfortable to have us there for dinner, which is totally understandable. Might need to have a conversation with them sooner rather than later... or just take matters into our own hands and telling everyone we're staying at home this year!

So if we do order something in the butcher, what's the best thing to ask for for two people? A small crown of turkey that has been boned and rolled? Do we need to pick a weight or something? Sorry, never done this before :P

SineadSpears

I never ate turkey as a kid or even an adult as I didn't like it all.

But last year my mam bought us a frozen crown of turkey in Iceland (:eek:) for the kids so that they wouldn't miss out. Knowing quite well that I would never cook a turkey.
& would you believe, I actually loved it!! & I have even bought it once or twice again throughout the year.

This year I will look out for a bit better quality one, maybe I'll try Dunnes or Supervalu even.

But an Iceland €6 frozen turkey had converted me from a lifetime hate of turkey:D

Princess Calla

woodchuck wrote: »

So if we do order something in the butcher, what's the best thing to ask for for two people? A small crown of turkey that has been boned and rolled? Do we need to pick a weight or something? Sorry, never done this before :P

Just looking at my butchers website and the small turkey feeds 6....now it really depends on how traditional and how much effort you want to put in

For just 2 people I'd be inclined to avoid the butcher and go to your supermarket, they usually have stuffed turkey in a silver foil tray that takes about 90 mins to cook and small hams.....otherwise you'll be eating Turkey until mid January. The Christmas food catalogues are probably online for whatever is your closest supermarket, have a browse through them.

Dizzyblonde

I always buy from a good butcher, and we actually ordered ours this week (in the hope that it won't just be the two of us eating here at Christmas!). For years I didn't bother with a turkey but now I buy a crown along with a whole ham.

For anyone who thinks as I used to, that turkey is dry you should try Neven Maguire's buttermilk brine. It's a game changer

https://www.rte.ie/lifestyle/recipes/2019/1203/1096748-neven-maguires-buttermilk-brined-roast-turkey/

phormium

I have bought them everywhere, did the really fancy ones a few years, bought online from free range organic bronze etc etc, bought butcher ones and supermarket ones.

Most years I buy two so have been able to compare by buying one expensive and one supermarket version and my verdict is not enough of a difference to make it worth buying expensive. Turns out my taste is more for the supermarket bird actually, I find the really expensive ones are probably a better meat, are denser in texture but that makes them seem a bit dryer. Had done the brined/bag options too.

For the dinner itself it hardly matters once you cook it right, between gravy/stuffing/bread sauce/cranberry sc the turkey flavour doesn't have to really shine, for the sandwiches alright it's nice to have a half decent one but I'm going for Aldi/Lidl this year as I only need one this time as family can't travel as normal.

Tipperary animal lover

Its just the two of us, so what an easy enough meal, local butcher has a crown of turkey and ham(different marinades) in bags pop both in the oven at same time, cooked lovely, €10 for each and we get stevens day out of them also, was in super value today and i see their doing them now.

Rows Grower

I'm collecting ours tomorrow morning, normally would have them a lot earlier than now but the lockdown has changed a lot of things.

Dial Hard

We normally get our turkey from Sean O'brien (yes, the rugby player) and the ham from the butcher in Orwell Shopping Centre in Templeogue.

Not sure what's going to happen this year, tbh, if we can't all go to my folks.

AndyBoBandy

My local butcher does a Christmas pack, which includes a boned & rolled Turkey, a Ham, a big bag of stuffing (which I don’t use), as well as a big pile of rashers, sausages, black & white pudding, think it’s around €70.

byhookorbycrook

As a child , my parents had a poultry business . I would only buy a fresh turkey from a local producer . There really is no comparison for me between the deep frozen birds ( which may be a long time in storage ) and a fresh , free range bird .

s1ippy

Getting a goose this year from Midelton! Paid for an all only to collect from the local butcher in Dec.

L1011

Local butcher. Order in advance, usually takes a deposit of part of the total and you specify the day you want to collect.

Turkey is - usually, supply dependent - from a farm about 3km away from the butcher. Ham is from a reputable domestic supplier.

Princess Calla

Aldi advertising turkey in store from the 20th December.....not sure I'd risk leaving it that late without an order.

That said I bought Turkey in dunnes on the 27th before..... (I went to the in laws for Christmas dinner, I assumed I would get a doggy bag going home, just a couple of slices of meat for a sambo, but didn't, so had nothing to make a sambo with on Stephens day.....cant be Christmas without turkey sambos )

Planet X

Turkey and Ham from Colm Leavy, Lambs Cross, Sandyford. Pricey but good.
Going to cold smoke a side of Salmon myself. First time. Cure it first then cold smoke for a couple of hours......

leahyl

If you can hold out, the fresh turkeys always go down to half price in Tesco on Christmas Eve, in the late afternoon, lots of people have cottoned onto this now and you will see them loitering around the fridges waiting for the staff to mark them down :-P my mum would pick up two or three and freeze them in the chest freezer and they do for the next few years Christmasses :-P oh and they are delicious!

Nekarsulm

Bought both a turkey crown and the ham in Lidl last year.
Both were excellent.
Over the years we've bought from farmers, butchers, reared our own, and once or twice bought goose.
The supermarket ones last year were just as good as any.

Gloomtastic!

My brother gets a Turkey from his work every year and gives it to me.

This year he says it’ll be boned and rolled. Can you buttermilk brine a rolled Turkey?

RunningFlyer

First year hosting Christmas - looking to go down the butcher route to feed 6 (looking at 4-5kg bird?). Before embarrassing myself in the butchers, what price could be expected for that? Saw the Aldi magazine at weekend showing approx €50 for that size so assuming it will be a bit more than that?

yellow hen

Thanks folks. In the end I bought a bronze turkey crown (2-2.7kg) for €32 from M&S. Had planned the butcher but saw this and had it bought before I thought too much. I will buy the ham (my personal favourite) locally.

the beer revolu

If we aren't going to be having an extended family Christmas this year, I'm really looking forward to not having to cook a turkey.

Although, having said that, Mrs Beer does love boned, stuffed, rolled turkey leg so that might be a goer.

AndyBoBandy

Even though it's only the 2 of us & Junior BoBandy, it's not even up for debate whether to get a Turkey/Ham or not...

Not only will we have a Christmas dinner on the day itself, but in the week that follows, we'll have at least 2-3 more dinners of similar stature with all the trimmings.....

Toto Wolfcastle

We’re doing Christmas at home for the first time so we ordered a boned and rolled turkey, ham and a bunch of other things from James Whelans for delivery on the 23rd. I’m absolutely not going near the shops to pick up any food during Christmas week!

Dizzyblonde

Gloomtastic! wrote: »

My brother gets a Turkey from his work every year and gives it to me.

This year he says it’ll be boned and rolled. Can you buttermilk brine a rolled Turkey?

I don't see why not, as long and it's not stuffed.

RasTa

I saw someone putting up their Christmas decorations last week

Lady Haywire

I've buttermilk brined a rolled turkey for 48hrs before Think I'll do the same this year as it's just the parents & myself. Am actually considering having two Xmas dinners, one with them in their house & another one cooked by me in my place a few days after, think it would be fun to have two different ones as I cook rather differently to my Mum so it would be a nice contrast of cooking styles.

She cooks whole turkey, I cook a crown or boned/rolled buttermilk brined one.
She steams sprouts & cooks the carrots beside the turkey, I pan fry/roast my sprouts & do honey glazed carrots.
Plain ham to my honey mustard/sugar ham etc!

I think this year she's getting an organic ham, I'm hoping to get a large one with bone in so I can freeze extra & eat it for the month of Jan:D

Dizzyblonde

I always buy a full ham on the bone, it's delicious.