I took my turkey out of the freezer on Saturday, placed it (still in the wrapper) on a pan on the bottom shelf of my fridge. When I checked it today, it still feels VERY frozen. It's only 15 pounds, and I expected it to feel a little "squishier" today than it does. There are many spots where it feels 100% frozen solid. This is my third Thanksgiving turkey & I don't remember the others taking so long to thaw (I've always used the same size). Any suggestions for speeding up this thawing process? I'd like to get it prepped/cleaned tomorrow night, so want it to be 100% thawed by then. Please help, thanks!
@Patty, I don't understand your comment - per Butterball, it SHOULD take the better part of 4 days to thaw. So why wouldn't you cook it the next morning?
Thanks all for your advice! If it still feels really frozen tomorrow evening, I'll soak it in the sink with some water before I "prep" it. Happy Thanksgiving everybody!
Put it in a cooler with something under it so it doesn't rest on the bottom then add an inch of ice. Shut the cooler and it will be thawed in 24 hours with no risk of microbes going nuts. We did this for a 20 pound turkey.
I have a 17lb one this year. It was in the tub all day yesterday lol
If it's not thawed by tomorrow afternoon, place it in a sink of cold water (keep it in the wrapper), rotate it, change the water frequently. Shouldnt take more than a couple of hours to get it plyable enough to get the plastic wrapped doodads out of the neck and belly.
Put it in a sink of cold water for several hours (still in the wrapper).
Put it in a large pan tonight with salt water/brine. Throw it back in the fridge until tomorrow night. Helps thaw it out, and makes for a great tasting turkey! Hope this helps.
I usually take it out of the fridge the day before, and speed up the thawing by putting it a sink of running water for a while.... then I go ahead and open up the bag, and clean it out, taking out the neck and giblets. Once I rinse it, it is usually much closer to being thawed. I then put it in one of the oven roaster bags (the big turkey cooking bags) to put it back in the fridge until I cook it the next day.
I'm getting ready to do all of that...we are having our Thanksgiving tomorrow instead of Thursday, so it needs to be more thawed tonight.
You and your bird are fine. A turkey can actually be roasted from a partially frozen state. If it's still frozen in places the meat is good. Just remove the turkey from your frig about 2 hours before stuffing or roasting. Rinse in cool water and add about 30 minutes to your cooking time if still solid in places.
GL! and Happy Thanksgiving!
Personally, if it has been out since Saturday I am not sure I would cook it.
