On the sixth day of Christmas, my true love (line manager) gave to me… six turkeys for testing, five hours of roasting, four drip pads cooked, three pets a circling, two hours of clearing, and loads of leftovers to chariteee…
With just a few sleeps left till Christmas, it’s time to order the bird for the big day. Normally my daughter and I have our traditional overcooked Christmas turkey at my mother-in-law’s, which she serves up with her usual slice of gravy and stuffing balls so hard, she serves them from a cannon.
So cooking my own six turkeys for this taste test required my best MasterChef skills (please, no stuffing jokes), took me an entire day to roast, used up every single baking tray in my house, and left me with a leftover turkey mountain which the cats and dog were very disappointed to see me donate to a homeless shelter.
I asked budget, mid range and premium supermarkets to provide their best and most popular medium-sized fresh turkeys – and they mostly sent free range birds. Yes, you can get an intensively farmed cheaper frozen turkey for £30 and it will be fine, but for an extra tenner, you can buy yourself one which has access to the outside and has been allowed to grow slowly, which means better flavour – and karma.
I did also include one turkey crown from Heron Foods which had done well in previous taste tests as a comparison. And I cooked all of the turkeys according to their instructions, and even forgot to remove the drip pad from the undercarriage of some of the birds – for that extra microplastics taste.
The results were close, and I’d have been perfectly happy sitting down to dinner with any of these birds, but the clear winner winner turkey dinner was (drum roll) Booths, which at £89 is hardly surprising. But coming second in all its plump roll-poly-ness was Aldi’s second cheapest £41.17.
And I don’t bag the puddings to test next year, I shall suspect fowl play…
PREMIUM SUPERMARKET
● Booths – Adlington free range bronze turkey
This posh bird came wrapped in gold and white tissue in its own little box – like a pet carrier. And that’s the difference, each bird is looked after in the flock, fed oats and probably named, Cluck Norris, for all I know.
Being wrapped in paper meant this bird’s skin crisped up faster and more evenly than the others, which were in plastic. The layer of fat under the thick, crackly skin was unctuous and gave both the white and dark meat from its big chunky legs a deep rich flavour with a delicious turkey tang. It was how I imagine turkey tasted back when Scrooge sent one to Bob Cratchitt. £89, www.booths.co.uk. 5kg (£17.80 per kg). Serves 9
Rating: 5/5WINNER
MID-RANGE SUPERMARKETS
● Sainsbury’s – Taste The Difference Fresh Medium Bronze Free Range Turkey
This turkey had a strange shape – like those Rolex-watch-wearing geezers on a beach with skinny limbs and a big gut. I don’t like to body shame a turkey, but it did mean the leg meat was dried out by the time it was cooked thoroughly at the breast.
The thin skin meant there was no real layer of fat to keep the breast moist either, and despite testing it several times thinking I’d lost my sense of taste, I found the meat on the mild side compared to the others. However the juices forming under the bird were really jelly-like, which is a sign of a good bird.
Price £41.40, www.sainsburys.co.uk.Weight 4.6kg (£9 per kg). Serves 8-10 3.5/5
● Asda – Exceptional Heritage Slate Free Range Whole Turkey
This was another one with exceptionally long legs, and made me worry they’d sent Road Runner instead of a turkey. However I rested this one the longest which really made a difference to the texture and the ease of carving.
The breast meat was nice and moist but again, one of the problems with the skinny legs meant the brown meat was a wee bit dry and chewy. £45.20, www.asda.co.uk. 4.5kg (£10 per kilo). Feeds 6-10. 3.5/5
BUDGET SUPERMARKETS
● Aldi – Specially Selected Roly Poly Free Range Whole Turkey
A plump golden-coloured bird with juicy, white meat and not overly gamy, stringy legs. It had the right amount of turkey tang flavour to the buttery white meat, and thick crispy skin which kept all the fatty juices in.
Overall a really well balanced mix of savoury and tender meat, and the classic shape made it look really appetising and easy to carve. It was also one of the cheapest budget buys, which means more cash left over for the pigs in blankets (which is what Christmas is REALLY all about). £41.17, www.aldi.co.uk. 4.6kg (£8.95 per kg). Serves 9. 4.5/5
● Heron – Orchard Quality Turkey Crown
Proving you don’t have to spend a fortune – this turkey crown tasted great and carved well, possibly because breast cooks perfectly on its own without waiting for the whole bird to catch up with it. It’s not free range and it was previously frozen, but this doesn’t seem to have affected the flavour.
Heron also does a Turkey Roll which serves four and costs is £6.49, which was a bit dense for me, but the stuffing was nice and herby and the whole thing was wrapped in bacon that actually tasted like bacon. This could catch on – food that tastes like it ought to. £13, www.heronfoods.com. Serves 6-8. (£15, serves 8-10) 4/5
● Lidl – Deluxe Broadland Free Range Whole Turkey
A nice heart-shaped bird with a good layer of fat meant the brown meat had a nice gamey flavour, and there was plenty of meat on the bone.
The legs had been trussed up and tucked inside the body, which made it look like it was doing a turkey yoga position – but it cleverly kept the bird a bit more tightly packed and meant the white breast was moist and flavourful. A close third to Aldi’s second position. £42.24, www.lidl.co.uk. 4.7kg (£9 per kg). Feeds 6-8. 4/5
