Preparing to cook the Thanksgiving meal starts well ahead of the big day. There is menu planning, guests list, and shopping that must take place. If you are doing the cooking, the bird is the star of the show, and it must be ready when mealtime comes around.
With just over a week before Thanksgiving, the menu and guest lists are probably done and shopping may be partially complete.
If you already have the turkey, it is likely frozen. That means thawing. Sue Smith from the Butterball Turkey Hotline says there are two acceptable methods of thawing. The first is the slow defrost.
Thawing a 12-pound bird will take at least three days
If you are low on space in the fridge, you didn’t remember to get your turkey out in time, or maybe plans changed at the last minute, you can still thaw the bird using the quick thaw method.
For that 12-pound bird, it will take about 6 hours.
If you chose to thaw in the refrigerator and you find your bird is still a little frozen on Thanksgiving morning. Put it in the sink for about 30 – 45 minutes with some cold water to complete the thawing process.
If you have questions, call the Turkey Talk line at 1-800 Butterball or the USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline at 888-674-6854.
Later this week, we will talk about the roasting of your Thanksgiving turkey.
