Can You Defrost a Turkey in 36 Hours?

[DVC2004]

Grrr. My husband brought home a frozen solid 16 pound turkey today. He is to defrost it and deep fry it Saturday (yes this Saturday) morning to bring to his work for a feast. Uh, OK. I always buy a fresh turkey so I have no idea what to do with this thing. Is this even possible. Nothing like the last minute.:mad:

[SallyMcQueen]

You can defrost it in even less time that 36 hours. Put the turkey, still in the plastic wrap/package in came in, in the bath tub overed in cool water. Flip the bird and replace the water every hour or so. I do this every Thanksgiving. My DD6 came out of the bathroom last year and asked why the Turkey was getting a bath.

[CanadianWDWFan]

We had a fresh turkey one year, and when we opened it I was knocked over by the smell!!:ack: It had gone bad in the one day since we bought it and opened it.

The only thing that we could do was go down and get a frozen turkey that we had in the freezer and we cooked it frozen. We put it in at 8 in the morning and cooked it until around three in the afternoon. We checked it with a meat thermometer to make sure everything was well cooked. It worked for us.

I would defrost it in a brine. The brine soak helps the cooking process and adds flavour to the meat

[MNNHFLTX]

Yes, you can defrost it using the cold water method mentioned above. If he is going to fry it though, make sure it is totally thawed out. Any ice crystals (especially in the turkey's cavity) will make it sputter and splatter horribly.

[WishingStar2006]

That's what I was going to say....MAKE SURE IT IS FULLY DEFROSTED if you are frying it. Ice crystal make for a messy and dangerous experience!!! The brine idea is great!!!! Keeps the meat moist!

[SurferStitch]

The brine solution also helps draw out any blood that may still be in the turkey. You'll find the brine will turn pink from the blood that is drawn out of the turkey (at least it does when my mom does it).

We always get fresh turkeys (my former company always gave each employee an 18-21 pound turkey every Thanksgiving from Jandl's turkey farm), but for the first time in 13 years we have to buy our own this year. Even with a fresh turkey, my mom would soak it overnight in salt water (brine) to draw the blood out, and every morning after the water was pink. Works perfectly.

[Disney4us2]

One Thanksgiving I spent in Hawaii with a friend. She soaked the turkey in a large cooler with water and Hawaiian salt. She washed off all of the salt before cooking. It came out so juicy and tender that you could just pull it off of the bone. Course or Kosher salt can be used in place of Hawaiian salt. The PP's are right. The water will turn pink.

[beksy]

My DD6 came out of the bathroom last year and asked why the Turkey was getting a bath.

I don't know much about fixing a turkey but this is so funny! LOL :funny:

[brownie]

The quickest way is to put it under running cool water. You want to minimize the amount of time the turkey is in the danger zone (the internal temperature of the turkey is above 40 degrees F and below 165 degrees F.) You don't want to use hot or warm water since this will make the outside thaw too quickly. Standing cool water will adjust to the temperature of the turkey, so it will take longer.

Good luck!

[missymouseworld]

Happened to catch an episode last night about cooking turkey, it was on the Food Network and it was Alton Brown's show...you could go online to the site and search for his show. It showed how to defrost a turkey in a brine...salt and brown sugar and water and then ice cubes in a cooler type thing. I never did it, but it was informative. He also fried a turkey and gave some good advice.

Good Luck.

[Disneymom4ever]

Just wanted to add that every year, for the last 15 years or so, I have done the method of putting my turkey in the bathtub the night before. I soak in tub in cold water (I put towels over the turkey to keep it fully submerged). The rule is- 30 minutes for each pound. I have always had fully defrosted, wonderful turkeys! :thumbsup:

[magicofdisney]

I've never heard of this bathtub method for defrosting. Thanks for the tips! :thumbsup:

[thrillme]

I'm "thinking" about making a turkey for just my family. We never used "brine" before.

Can someone tell me how to make this. I guess it's just salt water but how much salt? I figured out the salt part by reading a few of the posts...If I didn't do that I'd be at the fish store buying some of those tiny shrimp eggs (aka brine shrimp also known as "sea monkeys")...

[SallyMcQueen]

I'm "thinking" about making a turkey for just my family. We never used "brine" before.

Can someone tell me how to make this. I guess it's just salt water but how much salt? I figured out the salt part by reading a few of the posts...If I didn't do that I'd be at the fish store buying some of those tiny shrimp eggs (aka brine shrimp also known as "sea monkeys")...

I've done this a couple of times before and have always used the Alton Brown recipe from food network. So I would look there for the exact amounts, but I want to say it was like a cup of kosher salt, but I could very well be wrong.

[Mickey'sGirl]

A basic brining recipe would include
2 gallons of water
1 cup of good salt (Kosher or Sea)
1/2 cup of sugar (brown is best)
some typical turkey spices, like sage, thyme, marjoram
and anytime you are soaking/stocking anything, some bay leaves.

If you use table salt (and you really should not) you would use half as much salt -- 1/2 cup.

For best results -- Don't add any Sea Monkeys!

[MNNHFLTX]

This is the recipe I've always used. The only thing I do differently is that I don't heat up the brine when making it, as the instructions say. It takes a while for the salt to dissolve, but that has never affected the taste of the turkey, IMO. And I use Kosher salt (I don't know if that's different than sea salt).

Ingredients
1 gallon vegetable broth
1 cup sea salt
1 tablespoon crushed dried rosemary
1 tablespoon dried sage
1 tablespoon dried thyme
1 tablespoon dried savory
1 gallon ice water

Directions
1.In a large stock pot, combine the vegetable broth, sea salt, rosemary, sage, thyme, and savory. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently to be sure salt is dissolved. Remove from heat, and let cool to room temperature.
2.When the broth mixture is cool, pour it into a clean 5 gallon bucket. Stir in the ice water.
3.Wash and dry your turkey. Make sure you have removed the innards. Place the turkey, breast down, into the brine. Make sure that the cavity gets filled. Place the bucket in the refrigerator overnight.
4.Remove the turkey carefully draining off the excess brine and pat dry. Discard excess brine.
5.Cook the turkey as desired reserving the drippings for gravy. Keep in mind that brined turkeys cook 20 to 30 minutes faster so watch the temperature gauge.

[Robert's Dad]

you can also add Ginger, white wine & Orange Juice to the brine.

[DVC2004]

Wow guys thanks for all the great tips!

[magicofdisney]

OK, this is all new to me. Every year we just buy a turkey and pop it in the oven for the recommended amount of time.

I always thought a brine was used for tenderizing meat. Since I've never used one I can't say I really know what it's for but it sounds like this is used to flavor the meat? If that's the case, I'm very interested because I've always found turkey to be somewhat bland.

I think I may actually use a brine this year. I have one question though; who has room in their fridge for a 5 gallon bucket?

[MNNHFLTX]

I always thought a brine was used for tenderizing meat. Since I've never used one I can't say I really know what it's for but it sounds like this is used to flavor the meat? If that's the case, I'm very interested because I've always found turkey to be somewhat bland.

I think I may actually use a brine this year. I have one question though; who has room in their fridge for a 5 gallon bucket?The brine does tenderize the meat. It also keeps it juicier as the salt pulls extra fluid into it. And yes, it is flavorful!

As far as the bucket, we luck out because we have an extra fridge out in our garage and there is room there. But some people use a large rectangular cooler to put the turkey and brine in (in a bag) and then pack ice around it to keep it cool. Of course you occasionally have to add new ice!

[thrillme]

OK, this is all new to me. Every year we just buy a turkey and pop it in the oven for the recommended amount of time.

I always thought a brine was used for tenderizing meat. Since I've never used one I can't say I really know what it's for but it sounds like this is used to flavor the meat? If that's the case, I'm very interested because I've always found turkey to be somewhat bland.

I think I may actually use a brine this year. I have one question though; who has room in their fridge for a 5 gallon bucket?

Mucho Thanks for the brine recipes (I will "omit" the sea monkeys :D)...I'm glad there is at least one other person in the world who just popped the turkey in the oven. That's all "I" ever knew to do. And yes...I have the fridge in the Garage that will have to house the bucket.

I'm feeling a little "guilty" because I'm not sure about inviting "relatives" over. I've not done this in YEARS and never really "right". I really want to try a turkey once but it's too late to practice.