One of these Thanksgivings......


 
I hear ya, Todd. That's why, like Richard, I suck it up and buy fresh. Hopefully, your bird is ready for ya tomorrow.
 
Fortunately I have 2, a primary and a fall back with one 12 lb and the other 13 lb. I put one in the fridge last Friday and the other on Saturday. They're mostly thawed, but still have quite a bit of ice and the thighs and back were still quite frozen. Original plan was to cook one today and the other tomorrow morning. Now they're both going on tomorrow morning. I spatchcocked one (not so easy cutting through a frozen backbone) so I'm confident it'll be ready. The other one? Well, it's going in the oven thawed or not. You guys have the right idea.....next year it's going to be a fresh turkey.
 
Ok, I remembered this lesson from last year but I think I had my wife take the turkey out a little too early this time. It was only an 11 pound bird (just four of us) and she took it out last Thursday. I'm thinking it was mostly defrosted by Sunday - probably some ice remaining in the cavity as usual. This would result in a fridge-hold time of 4 days before hitting the WSM. What say you turkey experts - too long in the fridge to be safe to eat? My perusal online shows the significant majority of sites say only hold 1-2 days.
 
I think it was butterball or one of those help line sites that said a fully defrosted bird should be cooked within 4 days.
I've had both my birds in since thursday. 23# & 15#.
 
I think it was butterball or one of those help line sites that said a fully defrosted bird should be cooked within 4 days.
I've had both my birds in since thursday. 23# & 15#.

So your 15# is pretty close to my situation. Butterball's website now says cook within 1-2 days. I'm thinking my turkey should be fine, but Thursday morning is not the time for me to find out otherwise. Might try to find a fresh one tomorrow🤞.
 
Post #8 question withdrawn. It probably would have been okay, but I'm eliminating any risk of making the family sick and picked up a fresh 14#'r at the local Harris Teeter. I've read about possible turkey shortages this year, but it's certainly not evident in the Piedmont Triad area of NC. Stores have plenty of fresh and frozen and I've seen a fair number of trucks on the highway with live turkeys the last few weeks.
 

 

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