Kitchen

[gardenman]

Today's a good day to move the gobbler from the freezer to the fridge if you haven't already. It takes a while for a frozen turkey to defrost for cooking. Mine made the move this morning.

[Skyegirl21]

Great reminder! I can't count the number of Thanksgivings at my house, where the turkey wasn't done on time  because it was not drefrosted early enough!! It's the going family joke! 

[JeanLouiseFinch]

For some, they're already late and may have to do the cold water bath to finish the thawing process.  It's just the two of us this year so I'm doing a turkey breast.  Moved it today.  🦃 

[ScrapHappy]

I took mine out of the freezer on Saturday.  

[SoCal Bred]

Our freezer is somewhat small so I usually buy a frozen 18 pounder on the Sat before Thanksgiving and leave it in the fridge to defrost before the big day.

[Carmie]

My turkey is 20 lbs.  I brought mine home and put it directly the fridge on Saturday.  It was free with my grocery bonus points.  

There is no room in my freezers for a bird that big.

[sunshine45]

i took mine out of the freezer on saturday and moved it to the fridge. it is 22 pounds.

[Pooky1]

When I worked in a restaurant back in the 90s the chef needed a frozen turkey to cook it. he actually turned off the soup dispenser and put the frozen turkey still in its package covering and put the turkey into the dishwasher and let hot water spray on it until it was thawed and we took the turkey out of its packaging and put it in the oven .it w.came out good. Dishwasher industrial dishwasher.

[gardenman]

Former TV personality Nancy Glass used to tell the story of her first year cooking Thanksgiving for her and her new husband's now combined families. Her husband had gotten up Thanksgiving morning and was heading down to get her a cup of coffee. He asked if she wanted anything else. She said, "Oh, set the turkey out to thaw while you're down there." He stopped and stared at her for a few seconds before realizing she was serious. He then informed her that wasn't how you thawed a turkey. She thought you could thaw one and cook it much like a steak or roast. Nope. 

One of my uncles had a family member who owned a restaurant back in the 50s/60s, and they boiled turkeys in heavily salted water, then painted on a glaze to make them look roasted. People loved their turkey and swore it was the juiciest they'd ever had. Well, yeah. If you cook something in water, it tends not to dry out.

[PinkyPetunia]

In the past when I've left the thawing too late, I've put the turkey in the garage (unheated).  It's cold in NJ.   It thawed enough to successfully cook.  Last time I did this there was a big ice ball in the cavity which I removed.  

You need at least 48 hours for this. Also depends on size of bird. I don't get a big one.  Maybe 12-15 lbs. max.