Help! Turkey defrost advice needed, 2.70kg bird

ciderwithrosie_2

I was planning on getting ours out tomorrow morning and defrosting on the countertop, it is a big one! I never even thought it might give us food poisoning :eek: Do you think it'll be ok or should I put it in the shed?

wallbash

ciderwithrosie wrote: »

I was planning on getting ours out tomorrow morning and defrosting on the countertop, it is a big one! I never even thought it might give us food poisoning :eek: Do you think it'll be ok or should I put it in the shed?

Correctly defrosted and correctly cooked , won't .

Counter top / shed ?? My vote is still the shed or garage, looking at a defrosting bird for 48 hours, would not get me in the festive mood.

Here in the S.E. the temp for the next 48 hours NEVER falls below 5 degrees. Ideal.

PS those who read this advice late , remove the legs, would help to defrost.

PPS as I am cooking for the normal eleven on Xmas day , this year have got a Crown in a bag ! This will be collected from Waitrose, tomorrow morning,and will never see the inside of the fridge.

ciderwithrosie_2

Thanks wallbash - shed it is then. I wish I'd reserved a blummin fresh one now! My mum and dad usually buy a fresh one from their local butcher for us all, but it's expensive for them, and they have to make a special trip over with it on Christmas Eve, so I said not to worry, I'd buy it this year. I've got a meat thermometer so will definitely be making use of that!

wallbash

I've got a meat thermometer so will definitely be making use of that!

Great device.

elsien

For future reference Lidl do fresh free range turkeys and turkey crowns if butchers prices are a bit much. Bought on Saturday and in date till 26th.

Stephb1986_2

Just_be wrote: »

Pigpen, I plan on doing mine in slow cooker too, not from frozen though (I'm having similar defrosting dilemmas!) but how long are you going to slow cook for? I read a recipe saying 7hours on low but I'm thinking to give it 9 on low to be safe? To do this I will have to get up at 3 am to put it in! Which I don't want to do! Any ideas?!

If you have a timer you could set it to make your slow cooker come on at 3am and just leave it in there overnight and it will start cooking at what ever time you've set it to?

Saves getting up at 3am!

prettyflamingo

the food poisoning issue only comes up if you dont defrost it properly and then try to cook it, you arent going to get food poisoning from a turkey left out defrosting on the side as long as you put it somewhere that isnt tropically heated, as suggested above pop it in an outhouse or garage it's going to be cold enough everywhere in the country for most places to be a similar temp to your fridge anyway!

pretzelnut

As long as the whole turkey hits a minimum temperature during the cooking process you will NOT get food poisoning.

You will only get it if the turkey isn't defrosted enough ad the turkey won't get hot enough to kill the bacteria, or if you don't cook the turkey thoroughly.

Follow basic food hygiene procedures, wash your hands, preparation boards, utensils etc to stop the spread of PRE cooked turkey bacteria.

http://www.foodsafety.gov/keep/charts/mintemp.html

chrisb1357

I have the same sort of issue as am not sure how long to defrost for. I have a aldi crown which is 2.25kg frozen and on packet says defrost around 24hrs before in fridge.

I have checked online defrost calculaters which say 27hrs in the fridge.

So I decided to put in fridge tonight at 11pm and plan on cooking it from 12noon on Xmas day

Will this be ok putting it in fridge tonight instead of mid day on Xmas eve?