I bought a frozen turkey because I wanted to save money. It is a lot less expensive than a fresh turkey. Here are my issues:
It does not have the weight. All frozen turkeys are priced the same. The weight section on the package is blank as were the rest of the turkeys at the store. On the back it give a cooking guideline for 16-18 pounds and 18-20 pounds. I tried to get the smallest one possible, so I am hoping it is 16 pounds, but not certain.
How long would you defrost it?
Do I have enough time before thanksgiving?
Should i put it in cold water Wednesday night?
How long would you cook it?
Should I just waste money and get a fresh one with weight listed?
Do you have a bathroom scale? Just put it on that scale and see how much it weighs so you know what you're dealing with.
Start thawing it now in your fridge and if it's more than 12-14 lbs, then you can do the cold water thaw on Wednesday to finish it off.
I would keep it in the fridge. On Wednesday morning, put it in a pot with cold water and about 2 cups of coarse kosher salt. Wash off the bird in the morning and cook. It thaws the turkey and keeps it moist when cooking.
I use oven bags, turkey size. In there you will have time directions for stuffed and unstuffed. A 16-20lb unstuffed is 2 1/2- 3 hrs. Easy peasy, been doing this all my married life of 34 yrs.
Weigh on scale, as below. Thaw in fridge until Thursday morning. If it's not fully thawed, just add to the cooking time. Just be sure to take out the bag of turkey parts that are stuffed inside before you pop it in the oven!
I just drop my turkey in the tub overnight full of cold water. Thawed by morning. I've never had a problem at all. I usually thaw on Tuesday so I can inject it full of yummy cajun butter and let it marinate until Thursday. YUMMY!
You should be fine. I always buy Butterball frozen. We prefer the Butterball frozen over the fresh because it is more moist. Costwise, they are about the same at my market.
I currently have an 18# Butterball in a large bowl with a towel around it in my fridge thawing. I started this on Sunday. It just slowly thaws in the fridge. IF it is not thawed as much as I feel it's needed, I will put it in some cold water in an ice chest by Wednesday. Your defrost time should be fine.
I stuff my turkey early on Thanksgiving morning and slow roast on about 300 for a couple of hours, then according to my thermometer (which is a great one and spot on with temps, has an alarm to alert me if temp gets to a temp I program it to go to so I won't overcook) I slow cook for several hours and then about an hour before we want o eat, I remove he foil tent, baste it well and blast it to get it nicely browned. THEN, it sits for about 15-20 minutes (continues to cook) before we slice it.
I never go by the cooking instructions, I follow my routine and rely on my thermometer. We prefer slow roasted on very low for several hours for moist and juicy turkey.
No don't throw it out. You can guess the weight and manage it. Take it to the grocery store and have them weigh it if it makes you feel better.
Now I have seen some cheapo no name brands at .79/# frozen but I am loyal to Butterball. I've not screwed one up yet!
Happy roasting!
Put it on your bathroom scale and weigh it. Then you will know for sure. You cook it until it is done - the desired temperature. It depends on a lot of things - how accurate your oven is, the size of your bird, the starting temperature of your bird. The recommended cooking time is just a guideline to help you plan. then the bird needs 20-30 minutes to sit once it is cooked. You need 1 day to thaw per 4 lbs of bird according to the Butterball website. I am including the link. Also - they have turkey consultants available for questions.
http://www.butterball.com/how-tos/thaw-a-turkey
did you buy it at safeway? is there a number on the tag in parenthesis like (1360)? If yes then your Turkey is 13.6 pounds. The butcher explained this to me at Tom Thumb.
1 day per 4 pounds for in fridge defrost. I don't like to water defrost unless absolutely necessary, it affects texture. If you ever watch Hulu, Good Eats has a good tutorial on defrosting, brining, and roasting turkey. Bathroom scale is a good idea to get the weight.
http://www.butterball.com/calculators-and-conversions
this website will answer questions about how long to thaw out your turkey, etc.
Thaw the turkey in cold water. Keep it in the original packaging while you thaw it. You need to change the water every 30-45 minutes, but you can thaw it in about 4-6 hours this way. Cook your turkey the way you normally do. You can tell when it's done because the legs move easily. Turn your oven off and let it sit up to an hour before you carve it. This will help seal in the juices.
STOP! I have ALWAYS cooked my turkey frozen here's how..........get up around 4am , turn oven on to broil and back to bed for an hour. at 5am take turkey put in roasting pan cover tight with tin foil put in oven leave oven on broil for about 1-1.5 hours. Then turn oven down to 375 and let turkey steam ALL day keep wrapped. Serve around 4pm it will be YUMMY!!!
Google preparing frozen turkey or even just turkey. You will find all the answers. Our newspaper gave this info in the food section. You might look in your newspaper. Do not get a fresh turkey. You can manage this one.
Put it in the fridge right now. It might be thawed by Wednesday evening. I'd put it in the over on a lower temp and cook it overnight. That way it would be ready by Thursday noon.
You can get the information online as to what temp to cook it on and for suggested hours.
