Check your turkey!!

[phred52]

I put our turkey into the refrigerator last Sunday morning. It was supposed to thaw in there. This morning it was still frozen solid as a brick. I put it on the counter and am giving it a poke every hour or so. Its starting to thaw now. Sooo glad I discovered it this morning instead of tomorrow!

 

[Jedana]

Yep, mine is in a large tub in the bathtub, with cold running water constantly into the large tub. Soon as it thaws, I have to get it in the brine!

 

[bettymae1121]

With turkeys (or any large "chunks" of frozen meat) you should place them on the counter for an hour or two before letting them defrost in the fridge the rest of the way. If you put them straight into the fridge, they are so cold that they just keep themselves frozen, even though the fridge's temp is higher than freezing. By putting them on the counter, the defrost process gets started and keeps going once in the fridge. The trick is not to leave it out on the counter too long, you don't want the outside of the bird to get too warm or you could have food safety issues.

 

[phred52]

The trick is not to leave it out on the counter too long, you don't want the outside of the bird to get too warm or you could have food safety issues.

Guess its back into the fridge for Mr. Turkey. He is definitely starting to 'give' a little. If he's still mostly frozen tonight I'm going to pop him into the tub...

 

[MickeyManiac]

Mine spent the night in a cold water bath. It feels thawed now. It's been in the fridge since last Saturday and was still solid yesterday.

 

[Donnainnj]

This is why I started buying fresh turkeys. I donate the frozen one I get free and hit up Costco for a 99 cent a pound fresh one.
Donna

 

[Green Tea]

Posts like this make me glad I'm still at the kid's table, despite being mid 40's.

 

[dreamin_disney]

Thanks for this info. I usually go to MIL house for thanksgiving but this year I bought a small turkey to make during winter break.

 

[girli565]

Yep, mine is in a large tub in the bathtub, with cold running water constantly into the large tub. Soon as it thaws, I have to get it in the brine!

If you're going to brine it, I would just put in the brine even if it's still frozen. The brine needs to be cold anyway so the turkey will serve that purpose and once it is thawed you can keep the brine cold with ice or keep it in the fridge.

 

[tinkmom2]

I had to defrost both our turkeys in the sink this AM for a few hours and then we injected both of them. (The DH is frying them tomorrow.)One has Pesto and the other has a Gran Marnier mixture. When I get home tonight I have to start on the sides.

 

[Gigi22]

Just did a quick search on Google for how to defrost a turkey. The recommendation was to defrost a turkey in the refrigerator for a period of 24 hrs. for every 5 lbs. of weight. This sounds like what I remember (I buy fresh turkey every chance I get). A good sized frozen turkey takes days to defrost in the refrigerator.

 

[fromscratchmom]

I had to defrost both our turkeys in the sink this AM for a few hours and then we injected both of them. (The DH is frying them tomorrow.)One has Pesto and the other has a Gran Marnier mixture. When I get home tonight I have to start on the sides.

Do you have "from scratch" recipes for your injection mixtures? And would you be willing to share them?

 

[Shanna-like-Banana]

Ya'll I started using this technique a few years ago and it has been a Godsend.

I swear I saw if on the F Word.

Take the turkey, and slide your hands around the skin over hanging the neck area. start with your finger and make a small pocket with your finger between the skin and meat. Do not break the skin.

As the pocket forms, start to increase the size of the pocket by making a circle motion with your finger, then you will be able to slide another finger in and then evetually your entire hand, seperate as much meat as you can from the skin without breaking the skin.

I use a stick of soften butter and add my garlic, onions, salt, pepper, herbs, etc to the butter, fill a piping bag or ziploc bag, cut the tip

Insert the bag as far in the pocket as possible and start pipping the butter blend in between the skin and meat. re-position the bag as needed, to coat as much as possible. slowly work your way around the bird.

Once the entire bag is empty, i work out any lumpy spots and kinda move the butter around to other places.

Then I slather the outside of the bird with about another 1/2 stick of butter, and all the seasonings also.

This way the flavor roasts into the bird and keeps it so moist with that entire stick of butter inside of it.

I'm actually going to prep my turkey tonight, as we have T-day lunch rather then dinner. Will post pics later .

 

[LoriKutchey]

Guess its back into the fridge for Mr. Turkey. He is definitely starting to 'give' a little. If he's still mostly frozen tonight I'm going to pop him into the tub...

When you put it back in the frig, put it onto a cookie sheet, I don't know why but it seems to thaw it faster.

 

[AlwaysMoving]

Just did a quick search on Google for how to defrost a turkey. The recommendation was to defrost a turkey in the refrigerator for a period of 24 hrs. for every 5 lbs. of weight. This sounds like what I remember (I buy fresh turkey every chance I get). A good sized frozen turkey takes days to defrost in the refrigerator.

I must just keep my fridge too cold, because that has never worked for us. Every year I place 18 pound turkey in the fridge on a Sunday and it is still somewhat frozen on Thanksgiving morning to the point I can't even pull the legs free. This year I am only doing a 7 pound roaster chicken. It was in the freezer and I placed it in the fridge on Monday morning. This evening it was frozen solid. 48 hours for 7 pounds and still frozen. It is in a cold water bath right now.

I did see someone say you need to give it a start thaw on the counter for a few hours before placing it in the fridge, so in the future I will try that.

 

[ekatiel]

Just checked ours. It's been in the fridge since FRIDAY, and it's only a 14 pounder. It is still slightly frozen on the bottom. I just put it on the counter. DH will brine it when he gets home. I can't believe ours isn't defrosted yet ! --Katie

 

[Sandy321]

I meant to quote the poster who talked about seperating the skin from the meat to throw the herb butter -

slice some lemons really thin, and add fresh sage (if you can find it!) and put under that skin -it gives a slightly lemony flavor, and it looks so cool to see it come out of the oven!

Listening to radio talk show people talk to Butterball hotline - they say that's their number one question so far - how to thaw a turkey, or turkeys been in fridge since Sat still frozen

the lady said a turkey can remain in the fridge thawed for 3 days too - so dont worry about moving it out of the freezer too soon (OK but I dont have room in my fridge for 3 - 7 days for the turkey!

 

[tinkmom2]

Do you have "from scratch" recipes for your injection mixtures? And would you be willing to share them?

The pesto I used Classico from a jar (I have also used Italian dressing) but the recipe I used for the Grand Marnier injection is a follows:
1/2 stick butter
1/4 c worchestchire sauce
1/2 c hot sauce
1/2 c Gran Marnier or orange flavored liqour
1 tsp pepper
1TBSP salt
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp oregeno

We also sprinkle Emerils' Essence on top of the turkey both before and after we fry it.

Heat all the ingredients on low heat and drain through a mesh strainer. Cool down for about 10 minutes and inject into turkey. Let rest over night. We put the turkeys in trash bags and then in a metal pan so it doesn't leak all over the fridge.

The turkey has a spiral pattern from the marinade when cut. I will share pics tomorrow.

 

[MineMail]

We bought a fresh turkey from Harris-Teeter on Sunday. Today, I pulled it out to brine and found that it was a little frozen in one spot! I think it was that way when we bought it, but the fridge kept it cold. Not a big deal - the brine will finish defrosting it.

I had a brainstorm this year - it's a small turkey (< 12 lbs.) so I used one of the blue Ziplock handled bags to brine the turkey. I put the whole thing in a big tupperware, just in case it leaks.

Can't wait to start cooking tomorrow!

 

[BABY_EINSTEIN'S_MOM]

We discovered TODAY that our turkey was still in the freezer, and we need it tomorrow! So I got on Butterball's website and it said to submerge it in very cold water and change the water every 30 minutes. It had a chart saying how long it should take based on the weight, and ours was something like 6-8 hours.