How to safely defrost your turkey and how long it takes to thaw – Wales Online
December 23, 2021
No Comments
You might have opted for a frozen turkey this year instead of buying a fresh one.
Christmas can already be a stressful time without the added worry of your meats being undercooked.
A frozen turkey requires just as much attention as a fresh turkey.
One that hasn’t properly defrosted might cause illness such as food poisoning.
The NHS has a handy guide on how to safely defrost your turkey.
Defrosting checklist:
- Work out defrosting time in advance, so you know how much time to allow – it can take at least a couple of days for a large turkey to thaw.
- When you start defrosting, take the turkey out of its packaging, put it on a large dish and cover. The dish will hold the liquid that comes out of the thawing turkey.
- Remove the giblets and the neck as soon as possible to speed up the thawing process. Wash your hands thoroughly after handling raw turkey, giblets or any other raw meat.
- Before cooking, make sure there aren’t any ice crystals in the cavity. Test the thicker parts of the turkey with a fork to tell whether the meat feels frozen.
- Turkey (and any other poultry) is best defrosted in a covered dish at the bottom of the fridge so that it can’t drip onto other foods.
- Pour away the liquid that comes out of the turkey as it is defrosting regularly – this stops it overflowing and spreading bacteria. Be careful not to splash the liquid onto work tops, dishes, cloths or other food.
- Bear in mind what else you have stored in the fridge. Cooked meats need to be covered and stored higher up.
- If the bird is too big for the fridge, put it somewhere out of reach from animals and children where it won’t touch other foods. A cool room, shed or garage are all good places.
- If you’re not using the fridge, watch out for sudden changes in room temperature, as they could prevent the turkey from thawing evenly.
Read More
Related Articles
Read More
Related Articles
<reach-adyoulike class="ad-placeholder ad-placeholder–adyoulike ad-placeholder–in-article ad-placeholder–below-embed" data-ad-unit="…….
Source: https://www.walesonline.co.uk/whats-on/food-drink-news/how-safely-defrost-your-turkey-22556199