Well we moved the turkey from the freezer to the fridge for thawing, 24 hours later the turkey is still frozen hard as a brick. Thawing turkey in the fridge never works, maybe 4 weeks later.
Our fridge runs at 36 degrees and it would take WEEKS with a temperature that cold. Thinking about setting out on the counter two hours at a time until it starts thawing.
Is your whole fridge 36? Mine varies a bit from top shelf to bottom. But if it is that cold, I'd put it in a big bucket and trickle cold water over it in the sink. That should be safe (assuming the cold water is ~40F). I never like setting things out on the counter because the surface is getting dangerously warm.
Turkeys seem to take like 4 days to thaw in the fridge. But if it was in a deep freeze, e.g. at 0F it will take awhile for it to even come up to 32F. But it IS warming it's just warming through temps that still leave it frozen.
Our fridge is the side by side whirlpool and the refrigerated air enters in the top of the fridge. I’ve heard the bottom of a fridge is colder, but not in our fridge, the top shelf will freeze faster than the bottom shelf. The top and bottom temperatures will probably stay
nearly the same with the door closed throughout the night.
Ghawtho I can attest to the top of my side-by-side being colder than the bottom as well. I've even seen jars of dill pickles freeze up next to that air inlet on the top shelf!
Jerod Broussard
I watched Alton Brown’s Good Eats on thawing and cooking Thanksgiving turkey. His process really surprised me. After Thawing the bird he spatchcock and let it set 4 DAYS! in the fridge to dry brine. Before cooking Alton Brown let’s the Turkey come to room temperature on the counter before placing in the oven.
You should be able to watch the program “On Demand” titled - Alton’s Countdown to T-Day
Like me, I said during watching- I can’t believe he’s doing that way!
I had the same experience, so I have a cooler, put in the turkey, fill with water to start the thaw. Then drain and replace the water ever so often. the cooler is in my garage. Has taken a day or three depending on the size of the bird, air temp in the garage, etc.
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When I thaw in cold water I put the item in a trash bag in a cooler, the trash bag is in case freezing popped a pinhole in the item's wrapper. I put the cooler in the bathtub and fill with water. Easy peasey for mesey.
Thanks for the thawing tips. I’ll probably use the cold water bath using our Yeti cooler.
I’ll probably set the cooler in the garage. Friday 11/18 we are going to be 23 -29 degrees all day. It’s supposed to warm back up next Tuesday. Clovis can be colder than Flagstaff Arizona with the windchill.
Good point. I can't tell you how many turkeys I've thawed in the fridge that leaked fluid from the plastic they are in once they started thawing. I only do it in pan now - usually a large disposable foil pan. If I go in the cooler this time I'll be sure to use a trash bag.
I've also got a picture somewhere of two frozen turkeys bobbing around in a bathtub full of water...
Not as many of those available this year. Many of the stores I usually can find "fresh" at don't have them this time around, due to the bird flu epidemic earlier this year.
I have gone by the 1-day for every 4-5-lbs guidance, plus thawed time. For example, 1 16-lb turkey takes 4 days to thaw and is safe 1-2 days after that. So to cook it on Thanksgiving Day I would take it out of the freezer and put it in some sort of pan in the fridge on Friday, November 18, in the morning (4 days = FRI, SAT, SUN, MON then 2 days in fridge TUE, WED and cook it on Thursday). It is usually still partially frozen after the 4 days, but even if it is, you still just cook it to temperature (although it may take a little longer).
It always seems rock hard for at least 3 days before it looks like it is even starting to thaw.
I strongly agree. To my mind, there's nothing safer than in-fridge thawing, especially for a large spherical object with a bag of gizzards, etc pushed inside of it as well. Just give it time. It thaws.
Sounds good. I’m smoking our 16.75 pound turkey on pecan and post oak at 325 degrees next Wednesday, wife wants me to smoke it early. I’m not sure yet but am probably NOT smoking over a pan for broth / gravy. I wasn’t that impressed with the broth when my chicken was smoked. Might use a water pan for moisture but not sure about that either.
If not cooking outdoors, I am cooking on the stovetop with my 14" carbon steel wok, 12" CI skillet, or in the oven with my two Lodge CI pizza pans, or two dutch ovens. I've also got a nifty Lodge carbon steel grill pan that rocks for veggies outdoors.
I just bought a 20 pounder tonight, frozen, and will likely put it in the fridge tomorrow night. It should be thawed enough by Wednesday to prep for a Thursday morning cook.
I had originally wanted to get two smaller 10-12 pound birds, but the digital coupon and sale price that got me the turkey for 49 cents per pound was only good for ONE turkey with purchase of $25 in other groceries. So I bought beer, stuff to make chili in the next couple of days, and a 20 pound turkey...
I just pulled mine out of the ice chest - after about 24 hours frozen in the ice chest, no water, there is no discernable change - it is still a giant 20-lb lump. I moved it back to the fridge, where I'll let it sit until probably Monday. If it hasn't notably thawed, I'll likely throw it in water to thaw the rest of the way, then try to wet brine for a day, then pull out and spatchcock to dry out a couple days before the cook on Thursday.
I watched Alton Brown’s Good Eats on thawing and cooking Thanksgiving turkey. His process really surprised me. After Thawing the bird he spatchcock and let it set 4 DAYS! in the fridge to dry brine. Before cooking Alton Brown let’s the Turkey come to room temperature on the counter before placing in the oven.
You should be able to watch the program “On Demand” titled - Alton’s Countdown to T-Day
Like me, I said during watching- I can’t believe he’s doing it that way!
Last edited by Ghawtho; November 18, 2022, 09:51 AM.
Just pulled our 16-pounder (7.2kg) out of the chestie and into the fridge. I'm sure it'll be just fine. My lovely bride's in-the-kitchen Thanksgiving dinner is just sublimely good, so there isn't any point in trying any outdoor style variation. But I've got a 6lb/2.7kg bone-in, skin-on breast out there too, and will pull that out for some kind of smoked/grilled experiment at some future point, maybe over the Xmas break...
We'll likely dry brine for a day before she does her usual thing. It's our longstanding, inviolable policy to veg all the way out on the day after Thanksgiving, just totally lie around all day, with turkey sandwiches for lunch and aNOTHER Thanksgivin' dinner that couldn't be beat that evening. (This was born of our former hosting tradition, which always left us absolutely knackered the next day.) Love me some turkey sandwiches...!
Last edited by DaveD; November 18, 2022, 02:51 PM.
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