A Question about Turkey

[hawkchick11]

My family is having our Thanksgiving tomorrow (Wednesday). I have the pleasure of deep frying one of the turkeys. Its been sitting in the refridgerator for the past 2 days and is still hard as a rock. Actually, both of the turkeys are still rocks. What is a way to defrost the turkey faster? I'm afraid its still going to be like a rock tomorrow.

[Seanette]

One method is to put it in a container of cold water (use a big enough container to submerge the bird), changing the water periodically. The classic countertop method is frowned on these days, due to food safety concerns (I personally think that if you cook the bird thoroughly enough that you'll be OK, but then I'm not the "live in fear of ever coming near a micro-organism" type).

I do NOT recommend microwaving. Even if yours is big enough, you'll get partial cooking in spots and it really doesn't work well, IMO.

[Crazyredhead]

Yeah, my turkey is still a frozen rock. I've had it in the fridge since Saturday night. I just took it out of the fridge. I'm going to unwrap it and pull out some of the ice inside. I'm going to loosely wrap it in some freezer wrap and put it back in the fridge. I don't know how well this will work but I am going to try. I won't put it into some cold water until Thanksgiving eve, and leave it over night. It should be okay the next morning. I'm not worried about salmonella since I am constantly giving it a good scrub.

[Greenday]

One method is to put it in a container of cold water (use a big enough container to submerge the bird), changing the water periodically. The classic countertop method is frowned on these days, due to food safety concerns (I personally think that if you cook the bird thoroughly enough that you'll be OK, but then I'm not the "live in fear of ever coming near a micro-organism" type).

I was talking about that with my grandparents last time I saw them. My grandmother was telling me how before people started saying that, they ALWAYS had it on the counter defrosting, and not once did they ever have problems. Personally, I think it's all those chemicals they put in our foods these days.

[Barefootgirl]

Do most people get their turkeys frozen at Thanksgiving? Are fresh turkeys hard to find in the shops? I know over here at Christmas the shops are full of frozen turkeys, but they're not that big and to be honest, I have never seen anyone buying one. The main supermarkets always have plenty of fresh birds near the day itself and in this area there are plenty of farms that sell turkeys, geese and not-capons-really.

[Seanette]

Frozen are usually less expensive. ;)

[Spiffy McMoron]

The oil goes everywhere. I'm not sure why, I think it reacts badly with ice or something.

VERY badly-when the ice touches the hot oil, the heat flash-boils the ice. The steam has to go somewhere, and it can't be in the same spot as the oil-leading to a very angry, boiling, bubbling, spitting mess. Very dangerous as well.

[Cia]

Always deep fry the turkey outside on the driveway or concrete patio - don't do it inside or on a wooden deck. Many fires are caused by deep frying turkeys every year.

I wanna try a turducken.

[NightAngel]

I put my bird in the refridgerator to thaw nearly a week ago.

We ate it already... well, there's leftovers...
We WERE going to eat it tomorrow but hey, it smelled awesome all day and we were hungry and I was going to be damned if I was going to cook MORE today just to save the bird for tomorrow! :lol:

[BlakeMP]

So how did it go, Hawkchick?

[Tanasi]

Always deep fry the turkey outside on the driveway or concrete patio - don't do it inside or on a wooden deck. Many fires are caused by deep frying turkeys every year.

I wanna try a turducken.

Don't do it on concrete either oil spreads like crazy and while I don't believe it I've been told the concrete could explode from the heat. I would suggest in the yard with a fire-extingisher handy.

I have a turkey and a prime-rib roast in the smoker right now, it smells so good, I can hardly wait.

To thaw the turkey I would suggest using cold water in the sink. The water and the metal sink act as a heat-sink (like the heat-sink on you cpu) and will wick away the heat. If you're going to fry it don't worry about salmonella for some reason I don't think the germs or whatever will survive the oil.
Make sure the bird is dry before you put it in the oil and be very careful about a boil over.

[Crazyredhead]

Isn't fried unhealthy. I'm been told and have read that fried chicken, pork chops, etc are not a healthy way to eat. Just wondering.

[Melxb]

Depending on how big your turkey is, you can either put it in the sink or tub in cold water. And you should change the water every half an hour until the turkey is completely defrosted.
I've seen what happens when a partially frozen turkey is submerged in a deep fryer. It wasn't pretty and we had only ham that year. :eek:

[Seanette]

Memo to self for next turkey: if intending to cook 20-lb. Birdzilla on Thursday, move said bird from freezer to fridge earlier than Sunday evening.

Even with that half-hour power outage a couple of days ago, it's still nicely frozen (SO much fun sticking a hand into all that ice to retrieve giblets and neck).

[hawkchick11]

So how did it go, Hawkchick?



It went better than the last time I fried one, I didn't let my dad go near it :D

Luckily, I got it defrosted in time too.