Bernard Matthews Golden Norfolk, 3.6kg-4.4kg, £24
Frozen turkey, whether cheap or not, is a huge waste of money. Flabby-skinned and ghostly white, this bird disturbed me from the moment I unwrapped it. The breast skin failed to bronze up at all and the meat was dry, granular and sawdusty; leg meat was tough and dry. Roasting juices were fatty. Horrible.
Rating: 0/5
Lidl frozen whole bird, 4kg, £8.19
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Like the Bernard Matthews, this is a so-called self-basting bird, which meant that it had an unpleasant, fatty smell uncooked. The skin didn’t crisp up and the leg meat pulled away from the bone, which may be because it had been frozen. Dry and tasteless, like a desiccated factory chicken.
Rating: 0/5
Tesco Finest Bronze, 4.4kg-6kg, £30
Looked promising but didn’t behave well in the oven. The leg meat shrank away from the bones, resulting in a “barren” taste. The breast meat was dry and “chalky”. The skin was OK and the roasting juices were generous and tasty.
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Rating: 1/5
Sainsbury’s Free Range Norfolk Black, £8.99/kg
The breast meat was dry and had little flavour. The leg meat cooked nicely but had a bitter, almost bloody taste, possibly because of a short hanging time or the polythene packaging. The skin had a similar, bitter tone, and on the breast it was split by the time the bird had roasted. Roasting juices were fatty and bland.
Rating: 2/5
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Co-op Elmwood frozen extra-small bird, 2kg-3.59kg, £9.19
Arrived tightly packaged, like a turkey in Spandex, so the skin did not crisp up well. But it had a very good flavour, with beautifully juicy breast meat and nice brown meat. The roasting juices weren’t quite there, hence the three stars.
Rating: 3/5
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M&S (Free Range) Devon Bronze, £6.39/kg
A bit flabby-skinned, which was a shame because it was a good-looking bird. Taste wise, it lacked oomph and flavour, although both breast and leg meat were juicy and had a good texture. Excellent roasting juices for making gravy.
Rating: 3/5
Waitrose Bronze Feathered Free Range, 4kg-5kg, £8.99/kg
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A very nice-looking bird that came loosely wrapped, which is always the best way to buy your meat. Flavour was very good, with excellent brown meat and nice crispy skin. But it was let down slightly by dry breast meat. Decent roasting juices too, so nothing to complain about come Christmas Day.
Rating: 4/5
Asda British White medium bird, about £25
Many people claim that the White turkey lacks the flavour of the Norfolk Black or Bronze. But this behaved better than all its supermarket competitors. The breast meat was juicy and flavoursome; the skin was nice and crispy all over. The leg meat, however, was a little disappointing and the roasting juices were not as generous as you might hope.
Rating: 4/5