My turkey is still frozen how to thaw out correctly?

[dreamin_disney]

I put my frozen turkey in the fridge Sunday evening. It’s an 11 lbs Butterball turkey. Today Tuesday afternoon I checked it and it was still frozen pretty good. I took it out to set on counter for an hour but fell asleep and 2-3 hours later I remembered Still kinda frozen but Not super solid But still frozen. I don’t think it will be thawed out completely by Thursday morning/noon. First time making a turkey. I left it in the reylar plastic and netted package or am I supposed to thaw out without it? Help

 

[Carol_]

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[focusondisney]

Here’s the butterball recommendations

https://www.butterball.com/how-to/thaw-a-turkey

 

[MarcIsMe]

I have had success with the cold water/ice method. Used a cooler since it was large enough to hold the turkey and slow the melting of the ice.

 

[Eastern]

Yes, take it out of the package. (I also take the plastic thing off that keeps the legs together and put it back on after I have thawed the turkey and removed the inside packaging.) Don't panic too soon your turkey is not that huge.

I clean out the sink, fill it with cold water, put turkey in there. Check in an hour or two. If there is packaging inside of the turkey cavity, try to pull that out and fill the cavity with more cold water. It should be fine by this afternoon or sooner.

For a 23 lb turkey which is around what I usually get, I allow 5 days in fridge, but the day before Thanksgiving I always take it out and put it in the sink and remove all giblets, neck, etc to make sure that the inside is not still frozen. Often I will pull out chunks of ice from the inside. You don't want to cook your turkey and find the inside still underdone so make sure you do this step.

When you feel the inside is thawed, rinse the whole turkey and then take it out, pat dry and put in your baking tray, cover with foil and put back in fridge so tomorrow you just have to season and bake.

I probably would have taken an 11 lb turkey out by Sunday morning but I think you're good if you soak today in cold water for a bit.

ps I've been cooking turkeys for decades and it seems like they always stay frozen until they suddenly thaw. I always think it's not going to be ready in time and then it is. You're way ahead of a lot of people who are thinking about defrosting their turkeys today.

 

[StephMK]

Thank you for asking this! I have the same issue and same size turkey. Glad to know we won't need to postpone dinner to Friday.

 

[DLgal]

Leave it in the package and submerge in cold water. Add ice occasionally. It will be defrosted within a couple hours.

 

[TwoMisfits]

I always do the submersion method b/c I can't leave space in my fridge for days on end...always works best...

 

[disney212]

In cold water it will take 30 minutes per pound of Turkey to thaw. So a 10 pound bird would thaw in 5 hours. Change the water at least hourly.