Turkey Crown for Christmas

We bought a large turkey crown from Costco as we do every year ( I thinks it's about 6kgs) .

It does 4 adults and 2 kids for Cheistmas lunch , turkey sandwiches , then 4 adults and 2 kids for Boxing Day cold meat and mash and sandwiches later . And there's usually some leftovers for the day after .

Our lot love their meat so we do t skimp and have never run out and we've had a crown for many years .

A friend rears and sells free range turkeys to the butchers and also direct to the public. We are fortunate to receive on as a gift - it is likely to have a split in the skin or some other tiny cosmetic flaw that people don't want when they are paying so dearly. This also means we don't know what weight it will be but it will certainly be sufficient for 5+ on Boxing Day plus later cold cuts, plus sandwiches, etc.
I won't be cooking until boxing day and cook a small ham, just for variety.

Often I cut the legs off and freeze them raw, just using the crown. It seems a shame to freeze a fresh farm turkey but I don't like defrosted cooked meat of any sort.

We always cook the full turkey or crown on its breast in double foil, turn it onto its back without foil for the last half hour to brown. Then let it rest for a half hour, again with breast down, covered with foil and a couple of towels - all for moistness.

We have had a crown for years. It ensures we don't eat more Turkey than we need to.

It is tasty with all the other trimmings.

Last year I bought a turkey breast in the supermarket and it was lovely, so I have done the same this time. As there are only three of us it's perfect and gone within a couple of days, no bones to get rid of.

Depending where you order them from but Turkey crowns do come in different sizes. When we had the whole family I would order a larger one from Waitrose and they were always very generous. The trick is to add moisture with bacon etc on top and not over cook. Its always easier to tell if cooked - once the juices run clear from the thickest bit...they are done...no risk of other bits being over cooked.

Nowadays I've gone back to a small whole turkey as we live near a small farm that sells the best turkeys we've ever had and they always do a few small ones.

We had a turkey crown a couple of years ago, there were seven adults, and hardly anything left for next day!
This year we will have a whole turkey, as sometimes guests are a bit disappointed there are no turkey legs to gnaw.

My sister has a 'crown' every year usually M & S although this year she is having an organic one from a farm. She pay about the same s I do for a whole turkey but her family don't like the dark meat and we do especially turkey curry. I think meat of any kind tastes better I it's been cooked 'on the bone' but if you don't like it you can jus buy the breasts if you wish.

I much prefer the dark meat.
DS cooked goose last year, really delicious but the oven was a mess
I've bought a five bird roast from Lidl, we had one at Easter and it is scrumptious.

Perhaps I inherited my DGM's zest for tidy turkeys, Grannyknot

rose when I was about 8 we lived with my grandparents for a while, and my grandad kept, slaughtered and sold fresh chickens - he had a scale at the back gate for weighing and pricing them when the customers came!

Anyway he and my granny were meticulous about cleaning them, they would pluck and wax them, and then my job would be to go over them with tweezers and remove the stubborn feather shafts. So that may explain why I hate buying chickens only to find they haven't been cleaned properly!

I was just wondering what happened to all those surplus legs Kitty.

I bought a turkey breast (not a crown) last year which was lovely. I stuffed it and cooked it wrapped in cling film following a Tom Kerridge recipe. I will do something similar this year. There was lots of meat, no bone and it was really easy to carve. I also bought a couple of boned turkey thighs for people who like the dark meat!

We've had a crown for a few years now and there is plenty and its always been moist and tasty.. as the others say we don't like the dark meat and I always cook a piece of beef as well.

Underwhelmed by turkey although I have done it for the traditionalists. Prefer goose, pheasant or venison, although that always seems in poor taste thinking of Rudolph!
We'll be having half a cow beef this year!

I remember DM telling me years ago that her MIL (my paternal DGM who I never met) could 'pluck a fowl faster than anyone she had ever seen'. I obviously don't take after her!

All helpful advice. Had to chuckle at the thought of you tidying up the turkey rosequartz

I was supposed to be making mince pies but spent the whole evening with a pair of tweezers attacking the turkey!
Now the M&S one I bought for DS to cook last year seemed to be fine.

DS has volunteered to cook again so we are going there
(not that my turkey was anything other than delicious! it's just easier for them with the children.)

rosequartz, that reminds me of the time I spent a small fortune on a Norfolk Bronze turkey from M&S one year and it was a huge disappointment!

My family are obviously major carnivorous.
A small/medium crown would serve five of us for one meal.
DH and I like dark meat anyway.

I bought an organic free-range fresh turkey from a local farm one year (v. expensive) and spent about 2 or 3 hours on Christmas Eve pulling out quills and tidying it up

When we spent Christmas with our DD when they were coming back to us on the 27th she bought two crowns for 4 adults and 2 small children. One was more than enough and was moist and tender. It was from Waitrose but I am sure from any reliable supermarket or butcher would be fine.

If no-one likes dark meat and you don't want leftovers then it is the best option

We have had a crown for years because nobody wanted dark meat or turkey curry. I started by buying two, just in case there wasn't enough, but it was always frozen and we had the second one for Easter. TBH I have never seen the point in paying twice as much for a fresh one, but foodie grans might disagree.
In the early days there were five adults with large appetites, but I always made lots of sausagemeat and sage stuffing balls which were very popular and filled plates more. They are good sliced cold into sandwiches too. Go for it Atqui, you won't have to get up before dawn to cook it and there will be lots of room for roast potatoes and even vegetarian options in the oven too.

I'm not cooking this year anyway

We've had a turkey crown for several years now. No one in the family wants the legs or wings, so it's much more economical and probably lasts as long as a whole turkey would, meal-wise.

I'd say a decent sized one would certainly do two meals for five adults. The best thing is that it actually fits in the fridge without too much trouble!