Heather says:
Remember if you are using a frozen turkey you will have to thaw your turkey for 24 hours for every five pounds. Always err on the safe side and never thaw a bird at room temperature. If you must quickly thaw a turkey you can immerse it, in its packaging, in tepid water. You should change the water every thirty minutes to prevent bacterial growth. Since you have plenty of time play it safe and make room in the fridge.
If you are planning on a fresh turkey you must wait until Tuesday at the earliest to purchase it. You can call your grocer to see if they will hold one for you. Fresh turkey is highly perishable.
If you arrived here trying to figure out how much turkey you will need, check this post.
Ivy says:
People have asked about The Great Food Poisoning Incident Of 2001. This very issue is what happened. The day before Thanksgiving, my husband asked me why the turkey wasn’t in the refrigerator yet. I didn’t know you had to thaw it out several days beforehand. So I pulled out the turkey about 24 hours before the big day. It was still frozen when I got up at 5 AM to cook the turkey, so I went with the water method.
Apparently, parts of it were still frozen and when the turkey cooked, although it did temp out like it was supposed to, parts were still under done. It did not turn out well. Half my family got food poisoning and I am never allowed to host Thanksgiving dinner at my house again.
Learn from my mistakes! Pull out the turkey in time! As my mama always says, “If you can’t be the good example, at least serve as the horrible warning.” That’s me, the horrible warning.
