I took out a 12 pound turkey to begin thawing in the refrigerator yesterday (Monday) morning. Today (Tuesday morning) I got a call from my friends saying they won’t be able to make it Thursday for Thanksgiving. We’d like to be able to postpone the meal to a later date.
Will I kill us all or ruin the turkey if I put it back in the freezer tonight?
Considering this site puts the thawing process down to 4 lb per day – you’ve already got 4lb worth of bird that you shouldn’t try refreezing. Main element seems to be loss of nutrients and taste, over the bacterial risk – but I’d say you’d better go ahead and cook the bird and have leftovers, or simply give it up as a bad investment.
<Sigh> That’s what I was afraid of. Thanks for the info Ice Wolf
Well, at least they didn’t call at noon on Thursday to say they wouldn’t be arriving, leaving you with a kitchen full of everything else in progress.
Let it continue to thaw in the fridge and once it’s thawed, cook it. Call other friends and say “Whatcha doin’ for Thanksgiving?” If you don’t have anyone to share it with, carve it up like a large chicken (ie: into brest, drumstick, thigh, etc) and wrap and freeze the pieces. The meat will store better in chunks rather than in thin slices.
I’d re-freeze it. I’ve thawed stuff a LOT smaller than a turkey and then re-froze them.
Just because a turkey thaws at 4lb/day doesn’t men 4lb of the turkey thaws each day.
By law (which is based on studies of turkeys), a turkey cannot be sold as a frozen turkey unless it’s 0 F (-18 C). That’s because turkey cells have lots of frozen electrolyte, proteins, etc. and have a freezing point LESS than the freezing point of water. The Dept of Agriculture wants a safety margin below that freezing point for sale, because it knows all the things that happen in shipping/handling.
If you only thawed a 13lb turket “4lbs worth” It’s still frozen, just a bit warmer. Under the skin, it’s probably still colder than your refrigerator, and might still be colder than some home freezers!
I’m gonna cook it. I have one friend who might still make it over and I’m gonna be dog-sitting for my sister so me, the dog, and my friend (if he makes it) will be eating turkey till we’re all in a tryptophan coma.
Beats the hell out of sitting around feeling sorry for myself with no feast to be had.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone. Thanks for the input!