Golden delicious: Choose the right turkey and cook it well with Xanthe’s help
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What’s on the table for Christmas this year? For most of us it looks like it will be turkey, even if family gatherings are likely to be smaller than usual. Turkey suppliers such as Copas and KellyBronze are reporting healthy sales – no doubt boosted by some of the four million-plus Britons who would usually be abroad on Dec 25, and will now be staying at home instead.
But having plumped for the festive bird, which turkey will it be?
Not so long ago, a turkey was a bog-standard bird, probably a broad- breasted white, the kind favoured by large-scale turkey farmers and supermarkets. Extremely fast-growing, it offers great value, and mild (some say bland) flavour with a very high ratio of popular breast meat to leg.
Native breed turkeys healthier and more tender , study says
14 December 2020 |
Farmers are being urged consider the commercial advantages of choosing native breeds
Native breed turkeys have stronger leg health and more tender breast meat than commercial breeds, a new study suggests.
Eight native breed turkeys - Norfolk Black and Slate breeds - were compared to a test set of 20 commercial birds as part of the study.
Measurements were taken at 12 and 18 weeks for the commercial strains in order to benchmark meat quality in the native breeds.
Tenderness was measured as the force exerted on the sample in order to elicit a representative change in tension.