topic Re: Turkey dethaw question - can you help? in Kitchen

Turkey dethaw question - can you help?

Wacissakid — Thu, 22 Nov 2018 01:56:50 GMT

Well, stupid me may have ruined the turkey. My wife asked me to put the semi-frozen turkey in the sink and fill it with water. I assumed she meant hot water. Wrong. She meant cold water. It was in there aboout two hours when she came home and discovered it. She's afraid it is now ruined.

Is it ruined or is it safe? Can anyone give an opinion on this? Can we still cook it tomorrow or should we go buy another turkey. In case it matters, it was a 15 pound turkey.

Re: Turkey dethaw question - can you help?

leeleeB — Thu, 22 Nov 2018 01:59:42 GMT

I would say cook it tonight! It should be just fine

Re: Turkey dethaw question - can you help?

ECBG — Thu, 22 Nov 2018 01:59:44 GMT

There's an 800 number for Butterball but personally, having taught Foods and Adv Foods, I wouldn't use it.

Re: Turkey dethaw question - can you help?

ECBG — Thu, 22 Nov 2018 02:02:30 GMT

To cook it tonight you'd be carving at 2am.

I wouldn't beat yourself up too much. Thawing is always done in cold.

Re: Turkey dethaw question - can you help?

IdahoGram — Thu, 22 Nov 2018 02:01:23 GMT

I would call or Google the Butterball Hot Line with this question. Calling with the explain ation would probably be best. Good Luck

Re: Turkey dethaw question - can you help?

kittyloo — Thu, 22 Nov 2018 02:01:55 GMT

is it still a little frozen inside. me personally, i would cook it.

i always thaw mine in the fridge for about 5 days.

i like to live dangerously

Re: Turkey dethaw question - can you help?

skittles2 — Thu, 22 Nov 2018 15:16:08 GMT

@Wacissakid

It's ok, you can still find turkey.

I would never chance that, I'm a RN, have seen too much...

the partially thawed areas, which you said were before putting into hot water, are not safe from the hot water, - the partially thawed areas were beginning to cook from the hot water, and being in the water for for that time is well beyond a fully cooked safe time period, so uncooked partially thawed sitting around is multiplying the ecoli that is already present in all animal protein and plants from the soil.

It may taste ok, because you don't taste ecoli, but you don't want to be sick or cause anyone else, especially children or eldery to be hospitalized.

Go buy another, get a ( or a few) whole fresh breasts if no fresh whole trukeys are available, even spilt breasts, just buy as many as you need, they cook quickly.

Good luck

------------

11/22

Adding-

Tuesday I purchased spilt breasts from Wegmans, I finished my shopping, was there for 1 1/2 hours AFTER I put the turkey in my cart. I really had no idea I was at Wegmans that long until I perused my receipt upon returning home.

I knew at once the turkey was now a bacteria-laden problem. I had to discard the breasts, return to Wegmans and buy 2 more spilt breasts. I didn't want to lose the money...

BUT... I for sure didn't want to kill someone either.

Wegmans had plenty in stock of honey brined splits, or vacuumed sealed, both will only take about an hour to cook.

It will work out

Happy Thanksgiving

Re: Turkey dethaw question - can you help?

RedTop — Thu, 22 Nov 2018 02:09:36 GMT

You only ruined it in terms of the fact that once you start thawing in water, the turkey cannot be refrigerated for cooking later. It needs to be cooked soon.

Re: Turkey dethaw question - can you help?

Flashgordon22 — Thu, 22 Nov 2018 02:15:16 GMT

The turkey is fine. Just continue to defrost in the cold water changing the water every so often. Some people defrost in hot water not cold anyway. Next time take it ouy yje freezer a couple days ahead and put in fridge to defrost.

Re: Turkey dethaw question - can you help?

stevieb — Thu, 22 Nov 2018 02:23:09 GMT

And... a website on the WRONG ways to defrost a turkey says...

To thaw the turkey, submerge the bag in cold tap water — never use warm or hot water, as that can cause the outer layer of the food to heat up to a temperature where harmful bacteria begins to multiply. Change the water every 30 minutes, to ensure that it stays cold enough.

Personally, I wouldn't risk it...

Re: Turkey dethaw question - can you help?

Toppers3 — Thu, 22 Nov 2018 02:29:32 GMT

@Wacissakid wrote:
Well, stupid me may have ruined the turkey. My wife asked me to put the semi-frozen turkey in the sink and fill it with water. I assumed she meant hot water. Wrong. She meant cold water. It was in there aboout two hours when she came home and discovered it. She's afraid it is now ruined.

Is it ruined or is it safe? Can anyone give an opinion on this? Can we still cook it tomorrow or should we go buy another turkey. In case it matters, it was a 15 pound turkey.

You only want to do a water thaw if you intend to cook it right after thawing it.

Otherwise, you leave it in your fridge until you're ready to roast it and you thaw it then in cool/cold water if it's still frozen.

Once it's thawed out in the cool water, you roast it right away.

This is what I have always done if the large turkey breast or turkey that I've been going to roast is still a bit frozen.

Like others have already mentioned, I would call the Butterball hotline and ask them what to do.

Re: Turkey dethaw question - can you help?

Wacissakid — Thu, 22 Nov 2018 03:59:07 GMT

Thank you all for your quick responses, but I guess they weren't really needed because my wife threw it out and then went out and bought a fresh one, along with a couple bottles of wine ( I guess for commiseration!). C'est la vie!

Re: Turkey dethaw question - can you help?

ValuSkr — Thu, 22 Nov 2018 12:37:32 GMT

Thank you for sharing your experience, @Wacissakid. I learned something new!

Re: Turkey dethaw question - can you help?

skittles2 — Thu, 22 Nov 2018 15:19:38 GMT

@Wacissakid

It's ok, you can still find turkey.

I would never chance that, I'm a RN, have seen too much...

It may taste ok, because you don't taste ecoli, but you don't want to be sick or cause anyone else, especially children or eldery to be hospitalized.

Go buy another, get a ( or a few) whole fresh breasts if no fresh whole trukeys are available, even spilt breasts, just buy as many as you need, they cook quickly.

Good luck

------------

11/22

Adding-

I knew at once the turkey was now a bacteria-laden problem. I had to discard the breasts, return to Wegmans and buy 2 more spilt breasts. I didn't want to lose the money...

BUT... I for sure didn't want to kill someone either.

Wegmans had plenty in stock of honey brined splits, or vacuumed sealed, both will only take about an hour to cook.

It will work out

Happy Thanksgiving

Re: Turkey dethaw question - can you help?

skittles2 — Thu, 22 Nov 2018 15:25:09 GMT

@Wacissakid wrote:
Thank you all for your quick responses, but I guess they weren't really needed because my wife threw it out and then went out and bought a fresh one, along with a couple bottles of wine ( I guess for commiseration!). C'est la vie!

Just saw your post, After my experience Tuesday.. I forgot the wine...thanks for the reminder!

This thing happens frequently, you've just joined the club.....there's also a club for cooks who forgot/ or had no idea- that there's a bag of parts inside the cavity....and cook turkey with it inside....

Re: Turkey dethaw question - can you help?

Fressa — Thu, 22 Nov 2018 17:01:56 GMT

I won't use it!

Re: Turkey dethaw question - can you help?

depglass — Fri, 23 Nov 2018 15:18:54 GMT

Putting a rock hard fozen turkey into a sinkful of hot water would have reduced the temperature quickly and you would have been fine. If you kept the hot water running for hours, that's a different story. Alton Brown of Food Network once showed an experiment thawing something in hot water and the same thing in cold water. The item in cold water thawed first.