Defrost a Turkey

It's the stuff of turkey nightmares: Thanksgiving is here, and you've forgotten to defrost your turkey. Or you started defrosting it too late, and it will never be ready to roast for your holiday dinner. Don't worry. This article will teach you to cook your turkey without defrosting it, if needed, and then will teach you safe defrosting using your refrigerator or a sink full of cold water.

Steps

Defrost a Turkey in the Refrigerator

  1. Place the wrapped frozen turkey into a container. The container should catch any juices that may seep from the package as the turkey thaws.
  2. Put the container on the bottom shelf of your refrigerator.
  3. Make sure that your refrigerator temperature is 40 F (4.5 C) or below so that the turkey stays at a safe temperature. Check your refrigerator temperature with a thermometer or use the thermometer that came with the unit.
  4. Allow 4 to 5 hours of defrosting time for each pound (0.5 kg) of turkey. A turkey weighing 4 to 12 pounds (2 to 6 kg) will take about 1 to 3 days to defrost.

Defrost a Turkey in Cold Water

  1. Remove the plastic wrapper from your turkey and place the turkey inside a large, leakproof plastic bag. Doing this will keep the juices from leaking out of the turkey into the water, and it will also keep the turkey from absorbing water and swelling.
  2. Submerge the turkey into a sink full of cold tap water .
  3. Drain the old water and add new water every 30 minutes.
    • An alternative is to use a bucket, cover plastic wrapped turkey with water and add a few ice cubes to keep water cold. Add more when the first ones melt. Putting bucket in deep sink (like a laundry sink) or bathtub makes it easy to dump out the water and carry turkey to the oven.
  4. Budget 30 minutes for each pound of turkey. For example, a turkey weighing between 4 and 12 pounds (2 and 6 kg) will defrost in 2 to 6 hours.

Culinary Emergency: Cook Your Turkey Without Defrosting It

  1. Preheat your oven to 325 F (165 C).
  2. Dig out the frozen giblets from the cavity of your turkey. You can rinse them with cold water to thaw the ice somewhat.
  3. Place your turkey in a roasting pan. Cook the turkey until the meat begins to soften.
  4. Insert a meat thermometer into the turkey breast at its thickest point when the meat is soft enough. You'll want to cook the bird until it reaches an internal temperature of 170 F (77 C).
  5. Remove the turkey from the oven when it reaches a temperature of about 100 F (38 C). Liberally salt and pepper the turkey to give it at least some seasoning.
  6. Monitor the skin of your turkey. If the skin begins to brown long before the meat is done, then remove the roasting pan from the oven. Place a tent of foil over the top of the turkey to slow down the browning process.
  7. Add 50 percent to the bird's expected roasting time and time your other dinner preparations accordingly. For example, if the bird would normally cook in 6 hours, expect that cooking a frozen turkey will take about 9 hours.



Tips

  • Turkey thawed in the refrigerator can stay refrigerated for 1 to 2 days before you prepare the meat. Turkey defrosted by other methods should be cooked immediately.
  • Sometimes the fridge is chock full, so a 20 pound turkey won't fit with all of your other holiday food. Place your turkey inside a leak-proof plastic bag. Lower the bag into a cooler and surround it with ice or frozen vegetables. Just keep an eye on the cooler's temperature. You don't want the temperature to go above 40 F (4.5 C)

Warnings

  • Always cook a turkey with a meat thermometer. Undercooking the meat could cause foodborne illness--and a very unhappy Thanksgiving.

Things You'll Need

  • Turkey
  • Roasting pan
  • Meat thermometer
  • Salt and pepper
  • Plastic container or bucket
  • Refrigerator thermometer
  • Leak-proof plastic bag

Related Articles

Sources and Citations

Retrieved from "https://kipkis.com/index.php?title=Defrost_a_Turkey&oldid=353435"