As Christmas Day approaches, many of us will be considering which turkey we’ll be serving up our family and friends.
The birds have been a traditional part of the Yuletide feast since the 1500s, when it started out as a luxury item served to the likes of King Henry VIII.
And I felt just like the gluttonous Tudor monarch when I was tasked with trying not one but three frozen supermarket turkeys for the Mirror.
For our blind taste test, I was on a mission to find out which of the medium birds were a Christmas cracker, and which were a festive flop.
I had my very competent husband Pete and best pal Rachel on hand to make sure I didn’t know which one was which until after sampling thanks to their numbering system.
After defrosting them for 36 hours in the fridge, we removed the giblets, seasoned them with salt, pepper and olive oil, bunged them in the oven for two hours 45 minutes at 160 degrees fan, then let them rest for 30 minutes before I tasted.
But which one wins as the most delicious and best value for money this year? We reveal all below..
Budget supermarket
Braemoor Medium British Self-Basting Turkey with Giblets (serves 7-11), Lidl, £15.99
A real winner - it was juicy, succulent and the turkey melted in my mouth. Both the thigh and breast meat were flavoursome and I was very impressed - especially when I found out that it had come from a budget supermarket.
At £15.99, Lidl ’s offering is one of the cheapest on the market, but they’ve clearly not scrimped on quality. A worthy winner especially during the cost of living crisis when so many of us are watching our spending, this serves the most people and will also go far in terms of leftovers.
Rating out of five: 5/5 (WINNER)
Medium-range supermarket
British Frozen Medium Basted Whole Turkey Bird (serves 8-10), Tesco, £18
This browned a lot better in the oven than the others, seemingly cooking more quickly which gave it brownie points. However, the first thing I felt when biting into the thigh meat was disappointment.
Despite the seasoning, it was flavourless, dry and chewy - all the things I dislike about turkey - the breast was a bit nicer, but on the whole it was average.
Rating out of five: 3/5
Premium supermarket
Frozen Medium Free Range Turkey with Giblets (serves 8 minimum), Waitrose, £29
I was impressed with this turkey - both the breast and thigh meat were very tender and came off the bone easily, and they were moist and full of flavour.
Waitrose pride themselves on their turkey being free range and of a high quality. If you want, and have the means to, splash out this year to impress your loved ones on Christmas Day, you’d do well with this frozen offering, although it was slightly smaller than the others so won’t stretch as far.
Rating out of five: 4/5
