My turkey wasn't thawing out.


 
JohnTak

JohnTak

TVWBB Pro
After 3 days in the refrigerator my turkey was still hard as a rock. I found an article that said to put the wrapped turkey in a bucket of water and leave it in the refrigerator for 3-6 hours. I will brine it tonight and stop sweating about my frozen bird.:)
 
I had the same problem.... 3 days in fridge, went to unwrap, still frozen... I quartered it and stuck in the brine, but only after I got turkey goo on every hard to clean item and every countertop in my kitchen (my bad, but still frustrating). I'd rather trim 4 briskets than mess with 1 frozen turkey! I think the fact there's frickin' ice berg in the center of every frozen 14 lb frozen turkey means it'll NEVER THAW in the fridge, in original wrapper, in < 3 days maybe 6 or 7 days... then again, maybe I'll do a brisket for Thanksgiving next year or let my Mother-in-law have the honor of cooking the bird. Even the fresh bird I bought last year was partially frozen.

On the brightside, I may have gotten the inside track on some KILLER fresh deboned whole turkey breast, if I can score one, that'll be a game changer because I do love texas style BBQ turkey breast.
 
I don't say this to act like I knew something you didn't previously know but we live in somewhat a remote area, so it is not uncommon for many of our home-cooked meals to begin from the freezer-to-thaw-to-cooker. I came across the USDA site years ago and have since done cold water thaws quite commonly and they have worked well for us. It is the biggest reason I bought The Briner a few years ago, using it to thaw meat much more often than using it to brine.

https://www.fsis.usda.gov/food-safe...afety-basics/big-thaw-safe-defrosting-methods

Good luck and Happy Thanksgiving!
 
I think there's a good eats episode where Alton uses an aquarium pump/silicone tube to keep the cold water circulating in a cooler containing 40 degree water and he adds ice water when temperature hits over 40F.... then he tells us to eschew unitaskers.... I suppose if you're using the cold water thaw method 4 or 5 times a year it would be an often-enough tasker?? I'm also a messy dude in the kitchen and dealing with all that turkey water gives me the heebeegeebees... Next year I'm getting a breaking bad edition tyvek suit and a side kick to help me with my dirty work 🤣
 
After doing the cold water thaw I’m okay with it. You need refrigerator space but I brine my turkey so I clear the space anyway. I found out that the difference between a ”fresh turkey“ and frozen is the frozen was stored at 0 degrees and fresh was stored at 26 degrees. Once turkey is thawed it has a short shelf life 2-3 days. That was news to me but makes sense. I bought my turkey at Trader Joe’s a week early because of everyone saying they might run out. So I froze it then got scared because it was taking longer than I thought to thaw. I will post pictures if I can remember to take some on turkey day. My oven is broken so the bbq is going to do double duty. Good luck and Happy Thanksgiving to everyone.
 
The sous vide idea makes a lot of sense and it not a uni-tasker. I guess there are models that you can turn on the pump and turn off the heat?
 
Division of labor is common among us married folk, generally speaking, I do the cooking, mowing, weedeating, and other manly stuff, she does most of the shopping, laundry and cleaning, and has a few things she likes to cook... She makes a mean lasagna.... she also likes to pull weeds and is a heckuva tag team partner for leaf raking/bagging. She finally caught the interior decorating bug again after a long hiatus and did a super nice job redecorating our living room.

If Mrs Dollar has a recommendation for a sous-vide that can be used for steaks and thawing frozen foods, I'm all ears.
 
Wait wait what. Division of labor? I do the cooking (praise the plate), the laundry, the cleaning, all outdoor stuff, and all repairs. She, well she has "nothing to do and plenty of time to do it"... ugghh. It never ends.

Oh wait she does make all the money and .... yeah no complaints
 
I couldn't get a temp on the sous vide from her on thawing turkey. I would suggest a google .

I smoke meats on the patio, but I'm only in the kitchen with her permission. I felt like I made a big stride, when she gave me a drawer in the kitchen for my barbecue tools.
 
Bought a 14lb. frozen bird Saturday and put in right in the fridge to thaw. Checked it this morning and things looked good, there was a little bit of ice yet in the cavity so I got that out and removed the neck/ giblets. It’s all trussed up and ready for dry brining. I’ll be using the rotisserie on the Performer, using Mike Vrobel’s Cajun rub recipe.



8EA8620D-D6C5-407D-A77E-B1AD5167FFA3.jpg

https://www.dadcooksdinner.com/rotisserie-turkey-with-cajun-dry-brine/
 
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Well, some people's refrigerators are 40° and some people's are 34.

Mine's the later normally. Milk keeps longer.

When I go to put something in there to let it thaw out I raise the temperature for a few days

But if I need to thaw a turkey or something more quickly I usually put it in a bucket of ice water and just keep adding ice occasdionally with a thermometer in the water... It'll thaw out in several hours.

Ain't got sick yet

Parents just did it on the counter for several days , several hours a day, put back in the refrigerator in between never got sick then either
 
Who has enough room in the fridge to store a big bird for a week?

Cooler in the garage or on the shady back patio is my turkey defroster. The Smoke X monitors that it stays between 32 and 40 during the five day thaw. Always start on Saturday with a fully frozen bird. Frozen milk jugs are my preferred ice packs.

For a quick water bath thaw, a small cooler is the ticket. Holds enough temp so that it greatly reduces the amount of ice filling and monitoring needed. And keeps all that turkey water out of the house.

The perfect uni-tasker (which I do not have) for the turkey thaw (wet or dry or also for brining) is a Gatorade drink cooler. Fits the turkey shape nearly perfect. And the drink spout easily drains the warmer water from the bottom as you add ice on top.

I find the "fresh" birds trickier to thaw and store, since they are really partially frozen. I find the fully frozen Butterball much easier. You can buy it well in advance and keep it in the chest freezer. Into the garage cooler on Saturday and it is always good to go on Wed/Thurs.
 
I've had to "force" thaw a bird or two. For one I needed to cook same day, I put it in the sink and ran tap water on the package until it started to thaw, then opened it and ran it in the cavity. When it was getting reasonably thawed, I put it in a bucket of brine. Seems like I changed out water a couple times. As long as you cook it right away, any fast thaw method should be safe.
 
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