Guidelines on how to Defrost a Turkey Fleet—Without Getting Everyone Sick

This year, I took on the enormous accountability of hosting Friendsgiving. But between juggling work and prepping for company, I made the preferrred rookie mistake—I forgot to thaw the rooster. So, I did what a total bunch 20-somethings could perchance carry out in this derive 22 situation: I opened TikTok and sought for advice on defrost a turkey mercurial.

The clips, even supposing, gave the affect just a diminutive of…suspect, especially from a food security level of view. That made me wonder: What’s the quickest manner to thaw a turkey that won’t derive your total company sick? Here’s what which that it’s doubtless you’ll mute know if you happen to hunt down your self in a identical time crunch.

Some defrosting suggestions will doubtless be quick, nonetheless they’re risky.

While you thaw your meat incorrectly, you magnify your possibilities of getting sick from gnarly foodborne diseases, thanks to bacteria treasure salmonella or Campylobacter in your turkey, Meredith Carothers, MPH, a shopper education specialist on the United States Division of Agriculture (USDA), tells SELF. These bugs, which dawdle dormant when frozen, launch to multiply as the temperature rises. “The hotter your frozen turkey gets, the more impulsively bacteria will develop,” Carothers says.

That’s why it’s no longer a upright recommendation to thaw your rooster in a shower or sink stuffed with heat water, she explains. (The identical goes for valid letting it dangle out in your counter.) Obvious, it’ll defrost, nonetheless you furthermore mght could well spoil the turkey. “In the extinguish, [these methods will] procedure your poultry in unsafe temperatures the build bacteria can multiply,” Carothers says. That’s what’s is opinion as the “threat zone”—between 40 °F and 140 °F.

Although you happen to cook the turkey completely to 165 °F, Carothers says which that it’s doubtless you’ll mute derive sick if you happen to be conscious these defrosting suggestions. Some germs can create heat-resistant toxins, so the roasting task won’t basically abolish them.

Is there a manner to defrost a turkey mercurial and safely?

In an preferrred world, you’d give your self ample time to prep your rooster the USDA-sanctioned manner: by defrosting your turkey in the fridge for at some point per four to 5 kilos of meat. But every now and then lifestyles gets demanding and to boot you’re caught with rock-proper poultry and company arriving in much less than 24 hours. Restful, you’re no longer basically screwed if you happen to forgot to thaw your turkey main up to your dinner. Listed below are some quick defrosting tips that Carothers recommends if you happen to’re in a pinch:

Submerge your turkey in frigid water and trade it every 30 minutes.

This selection prevents bacteria from multiplying since you by no manner let it enter that threat zone, Carothers says. Retain the meat in its fashioned packaging and put it in an overwhelming basin stuffed with cool water, she explains. Use a thermometer to be sure it stays below 40 °F. Comely don’t seek info from this to be dapper quick: It’ll take about 30 minutes per pound, so if you happen to could perchance indulge in a 12-pound rooster, you’ll indulge in to spare six hours for thawing, according to the USDA. Restful, this kind is doubtless going to be your most spicy wager, since you’ll be ready to brine, season, and roast your turkey with out compromising flavor or texture.

Microwave your turkey.

This one comes with some caveats. For one, your rooster could perchance valid be too mountainous to suit into your microwave. And even though it would possibly perchance perchance perchance squeeze in, you’ll indulge in to take away the plastic packaging beforehand, which gets tricky whereas you’re facing a frozen product, Ted McCall, EdD, a food security professor at Johnson and Wales College in Providence, Rhode Island, tells SELF.