Put the 16 pounder in the fridge last Saturday night. Thought it would be plenty of time to thaw...not yet it ain’t. Good grief I don’t want to have to do the water thaw tomorrow.

Saw tonight at the store that they had thawed birds for sale.


Never seen that before.

Leave it out overnight?

We always buy fresh birds,not frozen.

Brine that sucker!

Always works at our house.

I’ve done the water finish-thaw in a cooler full of water with a little ice, leaving no air room and closing the lid tight. Let it sit overnight on back patio and it was thawed next day but still fairly cold. Can alway add a little ice part way through to keep things cold enough.

Big knife
Wooden mallet
Cut in half and lay cut sides down.
Cook the sucker.
Done in around 2 hours.

Cooler is a great idea...sink ain’t deep enough to completely submerge.

I’ve thawed them out every way possible including the “forgetting it on the counter overnight” method and I’ve never been sick. I’ve left many of them in the sink to thaw and then cooked them the next day. Mom always did the long thaw in the fridge or the water drip method but I’m too impatient.

Good luck and happy Thanksgiving.

just pulled our 16 pounder out of it's water bath in the kitchen sink, where it had been for six hours. Back in the fridge overnight. No biggie.

Just deep fry it tomorrow, it should cook up just fine....

I can push in on it some...but it’s still frozen. Just frustrates the crap outta me cause one more thing to babysit tomorrow. Done it before, but I thought I gave it plenty of time to thaw. Guess I was wrong. Still has overnight in the fridge...time will tell in the morning.

I understand.

Its really nice to have beer and a gallon of milk right about 33 degrees......32.5 even.

Not so good for thawing a bird.

Wrap it in a couple bath towels, and leave it in the sink overnight..... you might have to run some water through the inside in the morning to finish thawing and get the giblet bag out.
I bought a 'fresh turkey" Monday afternoon at Costco....hard as a brick 1/4" in! Put it in a small cooler by itself Tuesday morning, left in the garage.....it's almost completely thawed now!!

We always buy ours fresh and it now sits in a brine for the night.

Exactly

There are two and only two possible scenarios when it comes time to cook the bird.
#1 The damned thing still isn't thawed.
#2 The damned thing is thawed, but has it been thawed too long?

I happened to be in Costco, Monday when they brought out turkeys in boxes and put them in the freezer. I grabbed one, and we put it in the refer and didn't have to worry about it this year. First time in years.

Don't have that problem here.

We quit having turkey years ago. Prime rib here for all holiday meals, especially Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Ours has been in a cooler on water since Monday late.

You lucked out. Head to Furrs for TG.

Why thaw?

Been cooking a totally frozen turkey for over 25 yrs. Use a convention oven. Now there are articles on the subject.

https://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-cook-a-completely-frozen-turkey-for-thanksgiving-225796

https://www.thespruceeats.com/cook-a-frozen-turkey-483280

Use a digital thermometer to check portions of turkey when it gets close to being done.



AND you can cook the turkey upside down! We did it for half the time and the breast was not as dry as usual.

https://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-roast-a-turkey-upside-down-237555

https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/holidays/thanksgiving-ideas/a26165/turkey-upside-down/

An oven bag speeds up the cooking a lot.

yes, we have been using bags for a few years now,and also never-frozen birds

We always use bags as well,but we have been talking about switching to rib also.

You can let it sit out so long as you periodically touch it to make sure the exterior temp is at least equally cool as things in your refrigerator.

Now, just say a turkey does spoil some. Would cooking for the time needed at say 350 kill any bacteria?

Brine is the only way to roll.

And this is THE way to do a turkey.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.fo...ood-eats-roast-turkey-recipe-1950271.amp

I deep fry mine...that’s why it must be completely thawed.

come on over..........

have a 20# bird & plenty extra !

I bet you that 90 percent of turkeys are over cooked.


They say the best thing you can do is to schit can that pop up thermometer and get an accurate thermometer.

My wife put ours in the refrigerator Sunday to thaw, still not totally thawed Wednesday night. In the sink for about four hours, then back in the refrigerator overnight. Good to go this morning.

I use a roasting bag...........always down just right........

be the first bird on my new Weber grill.......

pics later..............

That’s how defrost pretty much everything. Put it in the sink before bed, put it in the fridge when I get up.

Use a bag on the grill?


That Weber was made for the job. Mine cooks better than my indoor oven.

My lovely bride has a pretty bad cold right now. She insisted on cooking Thanksgiving dinner today. She got up early to put the bird on. Came back 2 hours later and noticed she had not turned the oven on.

There were a few birds in the field across from the house this AM. Nothing a 223 couldn't fix for ya.

Happy Thanksgiving.

I just read a frantic article about the evils of washing a turkey before you cook it. Apparently they're all swimming in bacteria. The bugs will be killed during cooking, of course, but while washing it, the bugs will splash all over the counter, infecting the salad, pumpkin pie, and cranberry sauce. The hospitals are putting on extra staff tomorrow to deal with the myriad cases of gut bugs we'll all injest today. We're dead men, guys, and it's all because we washed our turkeys.

Wild turkeys are cleaner.

Maybe do food prep the Kramer way.....

roasting bag. thawed in mudroom 24 hrs, 60 degrees. 4 hours at 325. no stuffing in bird (separate pan)

thats the plan