Oh pshaw, on Thu 23 Nov 2006 08:02:42a, Mitch meant to say...

> I have an 18lb Butterball turkey. I moved it from the freezer to the
> fridge last Sunday.
>
> I was going to start roasting it about 45 minutes from now. I
> unwrapped it and found it's still frozen in the middle! I can't even
> get the bag of giblets out because they are frozen to the cavity.
>
> What should I do?
>

Submerse it in a sink full of cool tap water. Change the water every 15
minutes or so. Make sure that water gets into the cavity and gradually work
everything loose.

--
Wayne Boatwright
__________________________________________________

Useless Invention: Solar powered night light.

I have an 18lb Butterball turkey. I moved it from the freezer to the
fridge last Sunday.

I was going to start roasting it about 45 minutes from now. I
unwrapped it and found it's still frozen in the middle! I can't even
get the bag of giblets out because they are frozen to the cavity.

What should I do?

"Mitch" > wrote in message
...
>I have an 18lb Butterball turkey. I moved it from the freezer to the
> fridge last Sunday.
>
> I was going to start roasting it about 45 minutes from now. I
> unwrapped it and found it's still frozen in the middle! I can't even
> get the bag of giblets out because they are frozen to the cavity.
>
> What should I do?

Stand the bird butt end up in the corner of the sink or a bowl and turn the
cold water faucet on low and let the water run into the cavity. You should
be good to go in 15-30 minutes.
Janet

Mitch wrote:
> I have an 18lb Butterball turkey. I moved it from the freezer to the
> fridge last Sunday.
>
> I was going to start roasting it about 45 minutes from now. I
> unwrapped it and found it's still frozen in the middle! I can't even
> get the bag of giblets out because they are frozen to the cavity.
>
> What should I do?

Quickly, move the bird to the sink. Set it up on its end so the
abdominal cavity opening is up, and run cold water from the tap
liberally into the bird, letting it spill over and run down the outside.
Be sure that it's cold water. This may take a little time, but it is a
perfectly safe way to finish thawing your bird.

You'll know when the bird is thawed all the way through because you'll
feel the temperature and meat texture in the cavity with your hand.
Just thawing until the giblet package comes out will not be enough.
Don't stop until the meat is flexible and the temperature is not
remarkably "cold."

Not to worry. These things happen. Your dinner might be delayed a little
bit, but it won't be a massive delay.

<and it will give you more time to jaw with your family and friends>

Thanks...I took the advice. The neck was frozen solid, so I couldn't
get it out of the opening until it started to soften. Once I got rid
of that, running water thawed the cavity pretty quickly.

Phew...I've never had a bad turkey, didn't want to start now.

We cooked a frozen butterball turkey right from the freezer. It just takes a
bit longer.
I recently read that you can put an ustuffed frozen turkey in the oven and a
couple of hours later remove the giblet bag with no big problem. It sounded
like it actually workes better than thawed. Apparently the legs and thigh
aren't as large as the breast so that the the dark meat and the white meat
come out better than usual. Usually, the breast cooks too fast and when it's
ready the dark meat isn't cooked and when the dark meat is cooked the breast
is overdone and dry

Wayne