turkey thawing

B

birgey

Knows what a fatty is.
Joined
Nov 5, 2012
Location
glasgow,KY
Who else has put their bird in the fridge to start defrosting? Figured a week to thaw, then 2 days brining, then overnight in the fridge. Getting anxious!
 
What size is your turkey? You only need 1 day in the refrigerator for every 5 pounds of turkey or about 2 1/2 hours under running water if you're in a hurry/ not completely thawed. I cook 15 pound turkeys and give myself 3 1/2 days to thaw. Never had a problem.
 
based on my previous experience(using 13-15 pounders), 3 days in my fridge is not enough(always had them still partially frozen and had to speed it up using water or open air thawing). not sure if my fridge is too cold or what. already have the bird(13ish pounder frozen) in the freezer. gonna put it in the fridge this Friday or Saturday. hopefully, it'll thaw out in fridge by Tuesday or Wednesday to where I can inject and give it at least a day for the injection to marinate it and skin dry out before slapping on the smoker Thursday. the previous birds have all cooked very well, but I had to use quick thaw methods because 3days in the fridge wasn't enough. also, in the past, my best results have come using a Cajun butter injection and using the left over fluid for basting while cooking. this year, I'm gonna try a home made injection of melted (real)butter, apple juice and dissolvable spices(garlic/onion powder..etc) and wet rub of melted butter and non-dissolvable spices(rosemary, oregano...etc) on the skin and see how it goes.
 
2 15lber's went in the refrigerator tonight, they have to be thawed by next Tuesday, then in the brine overnight, let 'em rest on Wednesday to get ready for the big day.

I'm another one who has never had a turkey thaw out in 3 days. It always seems it takes closer to a week.
 
I took mine out of the fridge this evening after being in the fridge for 4 days, and there was still ice in the cavity. Had a hard time removing the neck and the bag of giblets. She weighed 17 lbs. Next time I will give myself another day for good measure.

I put it in the brining bag with the solution this evening, and will pull it in the AM and dry it and back in the fridge until about 2pm when I plan to put it on the kettle for a finish time targeted for 6 to 6:30. :pray:

Hope it times out right as the high temp for here is going to be about 32* at 3 PM tomorrow. I do have a wind break against the N - NW winds for the kettle. Planing on trying for a temp around 350 if possible, with some cherry chunks for smoke flavor. :help: :hungry:

Blessings,

Omar
 
I smoked one on Sunday and when I got it on Tuesday it was frozen. Put it in the fridge and Thursday it was still pretty solid. Since I needed to get it into a brine Saturday around noon I put the 17lb'er in a sink with cold water (on Thursday) to jump start. Left it in for about 4hrs and that got it about half thawed. Back in the fridge and on Saturday it was just about thawed. A little ice in the cavity, but ready for brine.
 
newtwoq said:
Omar, you do Thanksgiving a week ahead of schedule?
Click to expand...

No, actually this is for a small group at my church that is meeting tonight at my house, and celebrating Thanksgiving early. There will be about 9 people in all attending.

We ( me, wife, and daughter ) are going to have a ham for the real Thanksgiving day. My daughter does not care for Turkey. ( her loss, not mine! ) So, I get to enjoy the best of both worlds. Lucky me!! :becky: :clap2:

Blessings,

Omar
 
I usually defrost in bucket of water left out overnight.

I bought a 12 lb turkey Friday night. Stuck in bucket with cold water and left it in the sink overnight. Next morning checked water temp with thermopop and it registered 40 degrees. Place bucket in fridge until I took it out to brine that afternoon. Inside cavity still had an ice ball when I took it out of the packaging. Placed in bucket with brine and figured that would complete any thawing needed. Back in fridge until sunday morning.

Put turkey in PBC at 11:00 Sunday and was ready by 2:00. Probably should have pulled 15 minutes earlier but still a delicious turkey.
 
I've always thaw mine in a cooler of cold water the day before. If it gets thawed too early, I just put a bag of ice on it. That way the fridge is free for the other goodies being made ahead.
 
Ive got a basement fridge, it takes a good week to unthaw and then Ive still have ice in the cavity.

Ive got a turkey and a 20lb brisket to thaw. I was thinking this thursday for the meal next friday but I might go tonight/wednesday morning. the nice thing about the fridge is even if it does fully thaw earlier, its still never going to see 40 degrees or higher untill Im ready to brine
 
Untraceable said:
Ive got a basement fridge, it takes a good week to unthaw and then Ive still have ice in the cavity.

Ive got a turkey and a 20lb brisket to thaw. I was thinking this thursday for the meal next friday but I might go tonight/wednesday morning. the nice thing about the fridge is even if it does fully thaw earlier, its still never going to see 40 degrees or higher untill Im ready to brine
Click to expand...

Me too...I took mine out yesterday, that frig stays around 35*.
 
You guys brining, are you using "natural" birds if so where are you finding them frozen? I have had no luck this year.
 
Ill brine any bird

You can find the natural birds at higher end stores. Ill be honest with you, if you only care about the end product, natural doesnt nessisarily mean better. There is a reason butterball/jenny-o whoever inject the heck out of them. And also why we will take it to that next level as well.

The nice thing about natural birds is that you know what your brine and injection is. Cook a natural bird with just salt and pepper and prepare to be disapointed
 
We did a natural last year using my brine and it was amazing, just wasn't happy about paying that much (was a "fresh never frozen" natural bird) and everywhere I have seen I have found enhanced birds. Have heard from many places to brine with a natural bird as yes you can brine an enhanced bird but it may not accept all that good flavor I'm trying to put in.
 
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