Are Conventional Turkey Thawing Instructions Backwards?

[NTL2009]

Change water every 30 minutes to keep surface of turkey cold.

I think 'attempted' clarified wording would have either confused a lot of people, or been too verbose. I'm fairly certain that they meant for us to not change the water more frequently than every 30 minutes.

See what i mean?

On one hand, I agree that other wording could cause confusion or be too verbose (or is just 'verbose' verbose enough? :) ) - but no, I don't know what you mean about them implying not to change it more often than 30 minutes?

They could just say - "Change water every 30 minutes to maintain proper thawing conditions". That seems straightforward, and it sidesteps possible confusion (it confused me!) by avoiding the whole temperature reference (just do as we say!), and, one fewer word used.

 

[OmCheeto]

... - but no, I don't know what you mean about them implying not to change it more often than 30 minutes?
...

I rest my case.

 

[NTL2009]

As a follow up - the two 12.5# turkeys were in a cooler in the garage (~ 50~55F) from Sunday noon to Thursday AM. I had a remote thermometer in there, and rotated the birds once a day for more even thawing. The temps stayed right around 35~38F, and I did add a couple ice packs the last day.

Since thawing is somewhat unpredictable, I decided to play it safe and take the birds out a couple hours early to check. They were still frosty inside with a lump of frozen bird-juice in the center. So I soaked them in 60F tap water for two hours, and changed it just once, as I wasn't worried about anything going bad in just two hours. The water got down to ~ 50F in that time. All turned out well.

I really would like to spatchcock the birds, and my wife mentioned that she read that the pros cur the bird up and cook the parts separately. I like that, as you can fit the pieces in the pan better, and pull the white and dark meat out when the reach temperature (which often happens at different times). However, even though we don't bring the bird to the table whole like a Normal Rockwell painting, for some reason my wife doesn't want the bird cut up before cooking. "It's just not how you do it!". Sigh.

Oh, and if our friends outside the US aren't familiar with the Norman Rockwell reference, here it is:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_from_Want