Marymoose's childhood favourite! (Bernard Matthews Turkey Burgers)

Member Name: marymoose

Product:	Bernard Matthews Turkey Burgers
Date:	10/08/09 (177 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Nice as an occasional lazy comfort food meal

Disadvantages: Don't want to think about the turkeys or what's in the burgers!

---Intro---
As a child I was an extremely fussy eater. Thankfully my parents never forced me to eat anything I didn't want to, otherwise I'd still be a fussy eater now. Therefore it was a hugely stressful experience for me eating at other people's houses (I would much rather have not been given anything to eat), unless it was at close friends whose parents knew what I was like. And at one such friend's house I discovered the delights of Bernard Matthews turkey burgers!

Turkey burgers are something which my mum never bought me (probably for the sole reason that the Co-op didn't sell them), but they bring back happy childhood memories, and I do sometimes have them in the freezer for comfort food occasions. So, when I saw them on special offer in Tesco the other day (a pack of 4 for £1) I chucked a pack in the trolley!

I'm sure that for the birds involved, having a miserable life in a cramped barn followed by being thrown around by Bernard Matthews employees before being made into a burger....well, it's just not very good really. I do usually get my birds from the butchers, or at least free range from Tesco - I have to say I am not happy with the lack of free range chicken available in Tesco, but that's another rant. I am really not happy about the condition which chickens/turkeys are kept in, which does make me a complete hypocrite for what I'm about to say!


---My dinner - again---
Hubby's deserted me yet again, and it's time to bring out the turkey burgers. Tonight I'm having 2 Bernard Matthews Turkey burgers in burger buns with salad, and er....oven chips. Not a healthy meal at all, but I'm trying to justify it to myself by having extra salad...and it has been a pretty bad week after all!


---Packaging---
These burgers come in a plastic packaging rather than a box, with a picture of the burgers, claiming no artificial colours, preservatives or flavours.


--- Cooking---
Put under a hot grill for 8-10 minutes turning occasionally. Be careful to keep an eye on them, as they do go quickly from being cooked to being burnt!

Although I would generally write the nutritional side of the food in a review before actually eating it, this will not be possible today, as I really don't want to put myself off my burgers before I eat them.

So, I'm now going to go away, have my dinner, and come back later!



--- The Eating Experience---
There's something quite distinctive about Bernard Matthew's turkey burgers, they're very different from frozen chicken burgers, and the colour of the meat is a lot darker. I find it difficult to describe the taste. The smell is somewhat unusual too, but pleasant (to my nose anyway!)

The breadcrumbs are lovely and crispy with a distinct flavour - we just need to ignore the shininess of the fat on top of them. Actually it's a good idea to put them onto kitchen roll to absorb some of the fat before putting them in your burger buns!

The burgers don't really taste like turkey, just some sort of reformed bird (that expression does make me chuckle). I can imagine that that these aren't to everyone's tastes, and while they taste a bit different if you like chicken burgers then it can't hurt to give these a try.


---What's in them?---
I don't want to know....

Seriously though, turkey (48%), Breadcrumb, Batter, Vegetable Oil and Seasoning - the batter contains lots of things including E450 and E500 if people are bothered about E numbers (I'm not). For those with allergies, they contain gluten and soya. And it is possible that there might be some bones in the burgers - thankfully I haven't come across any yet, and when I do I'm sure I'll be put off them for a good few years!

In terms of nutrition, each burger contains 207 calories, 13.6g fat (5.1g saturates), 1.2g sugar and 0.8g salt. So these are not something you'll want to have every day!


---My concluding remarks---
At 25p a burger, the turkeys were never going to be happy.....but this is certainly lazy comfort food, and nice as an occasional meal!

Summary: If you like frozen burgers then give these a try.....