Christmas Tips From Experienced Irish Butchers

Don’t forget to pick up the ingredients for a delicious traditional family breakfast over Christmas!!  You should try our award winning sausages, we make them in store every day!  Also rashers, puddings, eggs and stuffed mushrooms.  We have turkey sausages available if you’re looking for something a little different.

Get organised and order it now!

Turkey

We understand that some people are expert at choosing and cooking the right Turkey but it’s not that easy for everyone!! Sometimes it’s hard to get your head around what’s right for you and your family.  You can choose from Turkey breast, Turkey crown, Boned and Rolled Turkey, Full Turkey, Free Range Turkey or Bronze Turkey! It can be very confusing so please ask if you need some help choosing!

All of our Turkeys can be ordered with or without Gleeson’s famous homemade stuffing.

All Gleeson’s boneless turkeys come in handy cooking bags so they’re very easy to cook and carve with no mess.

Ham

Delicious, award winning hams are available in a size to suit you and yours.  Our traditional hams include full ham, boned & rolled ham, smoked ham, just ask our team. Growing in popularity is our award winning, delicious home cured ham, it comes in a cooking bag and is cooked by simply baking it in the oven! We also have a honey and brown sugar option.

Because people have been ordering their Turkey and Ham together for years, we offer Hampers so customers can get what’s right for their family and make some savings too!

Don’t forget to order enough for delicious Turkey & Ham sandwiches later!!

We have lots of options available in Gleesons including our homemade stuffing, vegetables and potatoes and other Christmas favourites like cranberry sauce, ham glaze, goose fat and sausage meat!

To make sure your meat is prepared, stored and cooked properly this Christmas we have pulled together some hints and tips.

• Fresh foods should be put in the fridge as soon as possible after purchasing. The temperature of your fridge should be 0°C – 5°C.
• Raw meat must be kept separate from cooked or ready-to-eat food, it is best to store raw meat on the bottom shelf of your fridge.
• It’s not recommended to wash a turkey in running water as it may splash bacteria around your kitchen.  Instead use wet kitchen towel to wipe the turkey, dispose of it immediately and wash your hands afterwards.
• Follow the cooking instructions on this or another reputable website.  To ensure that meat is cooked thoroughly, the core temperature should be 75°C. This will kill any bacteria present. The core is taken as the thickest part of the meat. You could invest in a good food thermometer for this purpose.  .
• As a general guideline for turkey, we recommend 50-60 minutes per kilo plus 20 minutes extra at 180C.
• If your turkey is stuffed, make sure that the centre of the stuffing has reached a temperature of 75ºC or above.
• Following cooking, leftover food should be cooled as quickly as possible, refrigerated and used within 2-3 days. Don’t overload the fridge with warm food as this will raise the temperature of the fridge.
• Leftovers can be reheated as long as they are piping hot before serving. Leftovers should only be reheated once.  You can find more information at www.fsai.ie