Frozen Turkey

aneres

I bought a fresh turkey last Christmas Eve and froze it, it has been languishing at the bottom of my chest freezer. Will it still be ok to defrost and cook?

On the packaging it says if frozen use with a month and my MIL says she wouldn't cook it.

What would you do?

trolleyrun

I'd defrost and cook. As long as it's defrosted properly and cooked thoroughly I don't see a problem. Then again I recently cooked a pork join that was 3 days out of date and I'm still alive

krlyr

If it's stayed frozen at the right temperature (i.e. freezer hasn't broken down or been left open), it's safe safe to eat. Long-term freezing tends to affect the flavour and texture of meats (the water in it expands on freezing, breaking the cells down), but cooked well you should be able to get it tender still, and seasoned well and served with gravy, stuffing, etc. I imagine the taste would be fine. Freezer burn can be an issue in open packs of meat but I imagine a well-sealed turkey should be fine.

Or at the very least, if you don't want to eat it yourself, see if you can donate to a local raw-feeding pet owner - I'd have it in a heartbeat for my dogs if it was just going to go to waste otherwise!

EllieWellie

According to these food safety guidelines, you should be okay.

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

It suggests up to 1 year in the freezer for whole chicken or turkey, but also says above the chart 'The guidelines for freezer storage are for quality only. Frozen foods remain safe indefinitely.'

Butterfly_Brain

It will be fine, I have done this for the last couple of years

aneres

Brilliant, thanks for your replies. I had every intention of cooking it till MIL started putting doubts in my head.

I'm doing a "practice" Christmas dinner on the 13th so going to use it for that. It's the first time I've done a Christmas dinner in 10 years so feeling a bit nervous hence the practice one for doing timings etc.

If there's anything wrong with it at least it'll only be and oh that gets ill (maybe I'll get out of doing xmas dinner if we are).

pigpen

I'd use it if it had been there 10 years.. I'd probably put it in the slowcooker frozen too.. I am yet to kill anyone.. with food (I'm a serial killer in my spare time)

My OH is utterly boring down to things having to be the 'right' temp in the oven.. I like to live life on the edge lol