Thawing a Turkey ...

Why is thawing a turkey necessary? A turkey is sold "ready to cook." No butchering and little if any feather removal is necessary. But because the standard is to deliver at least a "chilled," if not a "frozen" product, your bird will require some defrosting.

When thawing a "fresh" turkey it won't take as long to defrost it as a solidly frozen bird. But it can slow you down, if you are in a hurry.

Methods for Defrosting a Turkey:

If you are planning ahead, and you are getting a frozen turkey ask your butcher or grocer to defrost it for you. Once you have this bird at home, if it hasn't been enhanced, consider brining it.

If you already have the frozen product in your freezer, or you just picked up a frozen bird at your grocer, you need to defrost it.

Thawing a Turkey in the Refrigerator:

The preferred method of thawing a turkey is in the refrigerator. This takes up a lot of refrigerator space and it takes a lot of time. The larger your bird the more time it takes. With a very big turkey this can take days.

While thawing a turkey, leave your bird in its original wrap and place it on a tray in the refrigerator. Make sure the thawing turkey doesn't drip on other food items and contaminate them.

One of the good things about using the refrigerator method is that you can keep the defrosted bird in the refrigerator for an extra day or two until it's time to cook it.

Thawing a Turkey in Cold Water:

The next best method of defrosting is to thaw the bird in cold water. Keep the turkey in its wrapper and place it in a tub or sink full of cold water. Change the water every half hour.

The general rule is that defrosting takes 5 hours per lb. in the refrigerator or 30 min per lb. in cold water.

Even though the refrigerator defrosting times listed in the chart above seem long, many people find that at the end of this period the turkey is still not totally defrosted. If you find that your bird is not completely thawed when needed, you can finish defrosting it in cold water before brining or cooking it.

How to Roast a Turkey without Defrosting:

Cooking a frozen turkey is possible. The drawback to this method is that the bird must remain in the oven longer than normal, giving it more time to dry out. But, some cooks have found that because the legs defrost more quickly than the breast they begin cooking sooner. So, the whole turkey gets done closer to the same time. (With a defrosted commercial turkey, the breast cooks faster and reaches temperature before the legs are done cooking.)

This method is ONLY for ROASTING - never grill or deep fry a frozen bird.

To use this method of thawing a turkey, simply place the frozen turkey in the oven on a rack over a roasting pan. Take the amount of time the turkey would usually take to cook and add an extra fifty percent. If a turkey was to take four hours if thawed, it will take about six hours if cooked from the frozen state.

Remember to remove the giblet packet when the turkey is thawed enough to get it out. This is especially important if the packet is plastic. If a plastic packet deforms or melts, chemicals may leech into the giblets and the surrounding turkey meat. Neither the giblets nor the turkey should be eaten in this case. If the plastic packet is intact the meat should be okay. If the giblet packet is paper there is no harm in leaving the packet in the bird during the cooking process - but you probably want the giblets in advance for making the gravy.

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