Turkey fails are sitcom gold. Followers of New Woman would possibly bear in mind the unorthodox means Jessica Day tried to thaw a frozen turkey in that present’s first season. “I put it on everlasting press,” she explains as her roommates watch the Thanksgiving chicken banging round of their dryer. Though we haven’t seen the dryer technique in motion, we’ve heard of loads of wacky strategies for shortly defrosting a turkey.

Listed below are a number of the strangest, grossest, and downright most hilarious methods individuals have tried — and failed — to thaw a turkey. 

Wrapping it in an electrical blanket

A Butterball Turkey Speak-Line consultant revealed {that a} caller as soon as tried to defrost her chicken by wrapping it in an electrical blanket. Whereas many electrical blankets can attain a most temperature starting from 100°F to 115°F, sadly the one factor you’re cooking up with this technique is a possible hearth hazard.

Placing it in a jacuzzi

In line with one other Butterball Hotline consultant, a person as soon as requested if he might thaw a frozen turkey in his jacuzzi, with the jets flowing. This technique is the right instance of fine intentions with a foul method. When you can shortly defrost a turkey by submerging it in water, the water must be chilly (a most of 40°F per the U.S. Division of Agriculture, or USDA) and adjusted each half hour. Sizzling water solely promotes bacterial progress, resulting in foodborne sickness. Keep on with soaking your self in a sizzling tub, not your Thanksgiving dinner.

Utilizing an electrical hair dryer

A blow dryer could also be your go-to resolution for a moist head of hair (or for crisping up roast rooster), but it surely’s positively not for defrosting a turkey. You’ll convey your turkey into the temperature hazard zone (between 40 and 140°F), an open door for dangerous micro organism to flourish in your meals and make you sick. All you’re actually doing is overworking your dryer — and possibly giving these micro organism a blowout.

Leaving it on the kitchen counter

Ah sure, the previous “let meat sit out at room temperature for completely even cooking” technique. This would possibly work for a small reduce of meat, however positively not for a 16-pound chicken that’s frozen stable and as onerous as a brick. Leaving any perishable merchandise out at room temperature for over two hours makes it weak to dangerous micro organism because it enters the temperature hazard zone. And apart from, a totally frozen chicken would take a lengthy time to thaw completely. 

Utilizing a tub

We’ve seen solutions to thaw a turkey within the bathtub, and whereas this technique would possibly sound icky, it’s based mostly on a official technique to shortly defrost a turkey, aka the cold-water technique. Most house sinks aren’t giant sufficient to include a 12-pound-plus chicken, so many cooks will decide to make use of a food-safe container like a cooler. A bath is solely a bigger model of this. 

To make use of the bath technique, place your turkey, nonetheless wrapped, in a clear (that is essential!) bathtub. Cowl it with chilly water, and alter the water each half hour to forestall bacterial progress. It takes about half-hour per pound to thaw, so a 16-pound turkey will want roughly eight hours to totally defrost.

The cold-water technique is quicker than thawing within the fridge (which might take a number of days), and it helps hold the meat at a protected temperature, stopping dangerous bacterial progress because it defrosts.

The actual technique to thaw a turkey

There’s just one tried-and-true technique to defrost your turkey: plan forward. The perfect technique, which additionally aligns with USDA suggestions, is thawing it within the fridge. Relying on the scale of your chicken, it ought to thaw for someday for each 4 to 5 kilos, so a 16-pound turkey will take about 4 to 5 days to thaw. Make sure you place your turkey on a big roasting pan or baking sheet to catch any juices. 

As famous above, you can even thaw your turkey utilizing chilly water in a food-safe container, refreshing the water each half-hour, which can take six to 10 hours. And, whereas we don’t suggest this technique, the USDA says you can even safely defrost your turkey within the microwave in below two hours. However in case you’re actually crunched for time, simply go purchase a contemporary turkey!