https://www.thespruceeats.com/how-not-to-thaw-a-frozen-turkey-996023
I’d like to cook my thanksgiving turkey quickly. I’m considering liquid oxygen. Anyone try that?
and here I thought it was a dressage joke
5 Likes
That article was stupid.
Well, not all of it was stupid, but the thing about changing the water every thirty minutes was.
Water in a bath will only heat up every thirty minutes if all the conditions are perfect. Otherwise, it will heat up slower, faster or not at all. Some of the variables include the air temperature, the volume of water, the size of the turkey, the temperature of the water when you first add it, and even the shape of the container – and I’m probably forgetting factors which some of you science or math buffs could add. Just to give a ridiculously extreme but accurate example of these variables, imagine submerging a turkey in a 40º ocean; air temperature and turkey size would not affect the water temperature at all so you would never have to change the water. If you put the turkey in a water bath and set the container out on the porch where it is 50º outside, it will take a long time for the water to heat up, especially if the container is large.
And the article doesn’t say why the water needs to be changed; is it to introduce clean water? If it is just to maintain the temperature, you could throw in a few ice cubes rather than change the water.
It would have been helpful to give alternate options, such as, turning up the refrigerator to 38º and defrosting the turkey in water in the refrigerator.
Another question (which was not addressed in the article) is what type of bacteria gets in a turkey if that water gets to say, 45º? Is it bacteria which is killed with cooking or is it something more nefarious which leaves poisonous byproducts when the bacteria is killed?
1 Like
Changing the water isn’t particularly important if you want something to thaw rapidly, but making the water move will accelerate things tremendously. Otherwise a static layer of relatively cold water forms against the thing, decreasing the heat transfer into the thing because the gradient isn’t as sharp. If you put the thing in a bowl or sink full of water and have the tap run at a drip to introduce motion, the layer of cold water is dispersed, the gradient between the water and the frozen thing remains high, and heat transfer continues apace.
Same principle, in reverse, as cooling off a horse rapidly by hosing or sponging it down, scraping the water off to remove the layer of now-hot water, replacing it with a fresh dosed of cool water, scraping that off, etc. Much faster cooldown than hosing them off and letting it sit, or even taking them for a dip in a stationary pond. Probably even faster than taking the horse for a dip in a deep stream, I imagine the haircoat will trap water and/or air and maintain a relatively hot layer that the current would not effect (unless you scraped them while they were standing in the stream or something to push out the hot water and air and let it be replaced by cold.
1 Like
Why thaw??? You can slow cook a frozen turkey overnight…just make sure to remove the giblets bag.
Aaand all this has to do with dressage how?
4 Likes
I think she’s been hacked and we are all now infected.
3 Likes
Most likely by Clostridium perfringens
Here is the CDC’s advice on Thanksgiving turkey
https://www.cdc.gov/features/turkeytime/index.html
1 Like
The CDC recommendations are that the turkey meat reach 165F in order to be safe to consume the meat.
The 2nd law of thermodynamics says that energy will flow from an area of low temperature to an area of high temperature.
So…a frozen turkey at 32F… (eg., at a low temperature) will tend to warm up and reach the appropriate temperature of the hot oven if that oven temperature is above the requisite 165F.
If you cook the turkey at 200F to 225F overnight, I guarantee that the bird will be thawed and have an internal temp above 165F by the next day.
And this has to do with dressage because who has time to sit there and babysit a turkey in the oven when one could be out riding on a nice fall day. So throw the bird in the oven the night before and come home to Thanksgiving dinner the next day.
The time it takes to defrost depends upon the level at which the turkey has been training . A Grand Prix bird will take a little longer to warm up.
6 Likes
Okay, wait. Pluvinel, how do you remove giblet bags from a frozen turkey?
I will accept that you could cook a frozen turkey with the method described upthread, but yuck, if it is a store-bought turkey I like to clean it first and get out the pin feathers that are inevitably left, not to mention the mysterious factory juice that has been left on and in the bird.
Having said that, I wonder what a turkey cooked like that would taste like? It seems like it would be tough.
You buy a frozen turkey breast instead - the package is on the outside. 
1 Like
Actually, my Mom used to do turkey overnight – but thawed first. She’d put it in the roaster on high (like 500 degrees) for the first hour, then turn it down low for overnight. It always turned out great – fall off the bone tender and juicy!
Agree, I’d much rather ride than babysit a turkey in the oven.
The method for extracting giblets from a frozen turkey is to run cold water in the cavity long enough to loosen up the bag with the innards…which I toss anyways, so I don’t care if I mangle it.
Or, as 4LeafCloverFarm suggests get a boneless turkey breast…which is great if you don’t want to deal with a turkey carcass.
In either case, rinse the exterior, oil up with EVOO, salt & pepper…& pop in oven.
Or for another level of sophistication, do as 3-Figs’ mom did with high temp first, then overnight. Might depend on size of bird…I don’t like big birds.
And yes…the chemical reactions of slow cooking over long periods at low temps produce a fall-off-the-bone meat.
If you don’t do the initial high temp, you can rest the bird over thickly sliced onions. They will melt/caramelize and provide a great base for gravy.
Go ride the morning of Turkey Day…
Then come back to a great smelling house…and while you get cleaned up, toss the prepared pans with stuffing, and mashed potatoes in the oven to heat up…pour the wine and enjoy a great dins.
The pies for dessert warm up in the oven while the guests feast on your bird.
1 Like
See post #11.
2 Likes
Ooh, I like that idea of resting the bird on thickly sliced onions, Pluvinel! Yum Yum!
