How long does it take to thaw a turkey?
Longer than you think.
Learn the ins and outs of safely thawing a whole turkey for your next big Thanksgiving celebration.
Alison Czinkota
Alison Czinkota
Whats one obstacle standing between you and a highly anticipated turkey feast?
We have the lowdown on proven methods, from safest yet slowest to oh snap.
Keep the turkey in its original wrapping.
It takesdays, and a turkey takes up valuable space in the fridge.
In the past Ive used (with permission) the nearly-empty refrigerator in my office break room.
How Long to Thaw Turkey in the Refrigerator
Allow 1 day for every 4 pounds.
By that logic, a 12-pound turkey will take 3 days to thaw in the fridge.
The bigger the bird, the longer the thawing time.
Weight of turkey 4 = Number of days takes to thaw in the refrigerator
Need another example?
Thawing a Turkey in Water
This works, but its not preferable.
One reason is you wind up with a big tub of salmonella-laced water to deal with.
Completely cover the turkey (in its original packaging) withcoldwater.
Dump the water every 30 minutes and add fresh cold water.
Itll take about 30 minutes per pound to defrost this way.
Lets say you have a 20-pound turkey.
It would take 600 minutes, which is 10 hours.
(Yes, thats a good chunk of time to be changing water out every half hour.)
For example, a 15-pound turkey would take 450 minutes.
Divide that by 60 and you get 7 1/2 hours.
Thawing a Turkey in the Microwave
Although its safe, we dont recommend thawing in the microwave.
Parts of the turkey may start to cook before others even defrost.
Besides, the turkey needs to fit in the microwave in the first place.
How to Cook a Totally Frozen Turkey
Last straw?
Panicked because your turkey is a giant ice cube?
you’ve got the option to cook the whole thing frozen.
It creates ideal conditions for dangerous bacteria to multiply.
Dont play crapshoot with the safety of those coming to your gathering.
Its safer to put a frozen turkey in the oven, as we describe above.
