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

 

[OmCheeto]

Just bought my 15 lb turkey and forgot how to defrost it, so I came here.
Butterball, mathematically, says I put it in the fridge too soon: Days = weight/4

But given that I know my 'fridge' temperature is not like that of an average fridge, I'll ignore them.

 

[DaveC426913]

Just bought my 15 lb turkey and forgot how to defrost it, so I came here.
Butterball, mathematically, says I put it in the fridge too soon: Days = weight/4

But given that I know my 'fridge' temperature is not like that of an average fridge, I'll ignore them.

A turkey will always take longer than expected to thaw.
A turkey will always take longer than expected to cook.
This is the way.


Hofstadter’s law: “It always takes longer than you expect, even when you take into account Hofstadter’s law*.”

* Hofstadter’s law: “It always takes longer than you expect, even when you take into account Hofstadter’s law**.”

** Hofstadter’s law: “It always takes longer than you expect, even when you take into account Hofstadter’s law***.”

*** Hofstadter’s law: “It always takes longer than you expect, even when you take into account Hofstadter’s law****.”

**** Hofstadter’s law: “It always takes longer than you expect, even when you take into account Hofstadter’s law.”

 

[BWV]

Spatchcock it, cooks much faster and uniformly crisps the skin

 

[OmCheeto]

Spatchcock it, cooks much faster and uniformly crisps the skin

So rather than sphericalize your turkey, you took the lame route, and made it two dimensional.

Shame on you!

 

[NTL2009]

Just bought my 15 lb turkey and forgot how to defrost it, so I came here.
Butterball, mathematically, says I put it in the fridge too soon: Days = weight/4

But given that I know my 'fridge' temperature is not like that of an average fridge, I'll ignore them.

Funny to see this thread pop up again. We just put our two ~ 12~14# birds in the cooler. This thread has better notes than the ones I kept! So I should plan on a final water defrost on Thursday. Check.

 

[gmax137]

I don't think I saw this thread the first time thru. Today I learned what "spatchcock" means. As an aside, I have a friend who grew up working in his family's Chinese restaurant. He uses a cleaver to de-bone an uncooked turkey while keeping it intact. Now that's something to see. He trusses it up around the stuffing so it looks like a turkey; at the table everyone gets a slice.

 

[mcastillo356]

Have a nice Thanksgiving Day!

 

[OmCheeto]

It's been 5 days since I put my bird in the fridge and the surface temperature is only up to 34°F.

Anyone know the sigmoidal equation for unfreezing a turkey? I'm guessing there's still, as always, a chunk of ice in its core, and it will still be there tomorrow, when I prepare to start cooking the bird.

These are the sigmoidal equations I've collected over the past few years:

 

[gmax137]

Assume a spherical, homogeneous turkey...

 

[DaveC426913]

In a vacuum...

 

[OmCheeto]

I'm starting to regret restarting this thread....

Where is MIH when you need her?

 

[BWV]

Can always buy a fresh turkey

 

[OmCheeto]

I'm starting to regret restarting this thread....

Where is MIH when you need her?

0115 https://physics.stackexchange.com/q...chicken-breast-and-the-laws-of-thermodynamics

time = 1/b * ln[ (T_final - T_water)/(T_chicken - T_water) ]

b = ( h * A_s ) / ( rho * C_p * V )

h: heat transfer coefficient of water to bird
A_s: surface area of bird
rho: density of bird raw turkey: 1050 kg/m^3
C_p: specific heat of bird
V: volume of bird 0.053 m³

weight of my turkey 14.46 lb = 6.56 kg

∴ the volume = 5.56 kg /(1050 kg / m^3) = 0.0053 m³
Volume of a sphere = (4/3)πr^3
r = [(0.0053 m^3)(3/4)/π]^(1/3)=0.10815 m

Surface area = 4πr²

................

er mehr gerd.........

 

[BWV]

You can always call out the fire department for an emergency fast defrost

 

[NTL2009]

It's been 5 days since I put my bird in the fridge and the surface temperature is only up to 34°F.

Anyone know the sigmoidal equation for unfreezing a turkey? ...

There's also the phase change factor. I mentioned we put our 2 birds in a cooler in our ~ 50F garage Sunday evening. Had two thermometer probes in the air, one near the top, one near the bottom.

Mon_ AM @ 29/31,
Tues AM @ 32/35,
Wed_ AM @ 35/39. I covered with a blanket for a few hours, and temps dropped a few degrees, so I took the blanket off, feared they'd slow the thaw too much. Had been turning the birds once each day.

From past years, I knew they really would not be fully thawed on Thursday AM, so the plan was to water soak them for a 2~3 hours for the last part. Someone above mentioned handling the birds outside to avoid contamination in the kitchen, great idea! I got three 6 gallon buckets (from the grape juice I buy each fall to make wine), put each of the birds in a bucket, and covered with tap water. Came back later, used the third bucket to strip off wrapping and get the parts/neck out. Still chunks of ice inside with the parts. Birds and parts went into big SS bowls, and into the house. I dumped the water/turkey juice out away from the house, and will clean/sanitize the buckets later. It was nice to not have any of that splashing going on in the house. And the garage is a pretty comfy 50F.

Turkeys turned out well.