How Long Does It Take to Thaw a Frozen Turkey?

We’ve all made mistakes when it comes to Thanksgiving dinner. Perhaps you’ve dealt with gluey mashed potatoes, a mushy green bean casserole, or lumpy gravy. But the turkey is often the biggest problem area for a home cook, whether it’s dry and overcooked or dangerously pink and undercooked. My aunt famously roasted a whole turkey with the giblets — including the gizzards, neck, and organ meat — still wrapped in plastic in the cavity of the bird.

Before you even start to concern yourself with those delicious gravy-making bits, you need to cross the first Thanksgiving dinner challenge off your list: thawing a frozen turkey. Andrea Baletiwicz,a Butterball Turkey Talk-Line supervisor, told us that the majority of calls to the hotline are related to thawing a turkey. That’s not surprising, since many home cooks can underestimate how long the larger turkey takes to thaw compared to a smaller chicken. 

What’s more, the majority of turkeys sold for Thanksgiving are frozen, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. That’s because there is simply too much demand for turkeys during the holidays, so producers begin freezing birds at the end of each holiday season to be ready for the following year. Typically, frozen turkey inventories hit their peak by August or September, right before turkey consumption skyrockets in November.

If you’re one of the millions of Americans purchasing a frozen turkey this year, here’s everything you need to know about thawing your bird safely. 

How to thaw a frozen turkey in the refrigerator

Butterball and most professionals recommend thawing a frozen turkey in the refrigerator. This can take several days or up to a week, depending on the weight of the bird. Importantly, the meat is still good for four days after the turkey thaws, Baletizicz says. You can factor about one full day in the refrigerator per four pounds of frozen turkey. That means you should start thawing a 12-pound turkey about three days before the big day, and so on. Here’s a chart:

Butcher and chef Steve Sabicer — who writes a weekly newsletter, Enlightened Omnivore, on sustainability and food with a focus on meat — notes that the refrigerator method also allows you to dry-brine the turkey while it thaws.

“If you have the time, I recommend thawing the turkey in the fridge while you dry-brine it,” he says. Remove the bird from its packaging while it’s still frozen and place it on a baking sheet. When it has thawed enough for you to access the cavity, apply one tablespoon kosher salt for every five pounds of bird. Put half the salt in the cavity and half the salt all over the outside of the bird. Then wrap and seal the turkey in a garbage bag, place it on a baking sheet, and thaw it in the refrigerator for a week, flipping the bird over every day. “The bird will thaw perfectly and be fantastically seasoned,” Sabicer says.

How to thaw a frozen turkey with cold water

But what happens if you forgot to thaw your turkey the week before? If you’re short on time, you can thaw your frozen bird in cold water in a matter of hours, Baletizicz says.

This is the method we often used to thaw shrimp quickly when I was a line cook in restaurants. Even today at home, I like to thaw portions of fish, ground beef, or chicken in the sink under cold running water. But there is a distinct challenge with using your kitchen sink to thaw your turkey — it’s typically not big enough.

Sabicer sums it up like this: “Sinks aren’t often deep enough to submerge the whole bird, resulting in uneven thawing and exposure to bacteria. And you end up monopolizing the kitchen sink during one of the busiest cooking times of the year.”

Instead of the sink, Sabicer likes to use a large food-storage container (like a cooler or an ice chest). Leave the turkey in its original packaging. If there are any holes in the packaging, place it in a small garbage bag to avoid leakage. Fill the container halfway with water, then add the turkey, ensuring it’s submerged in the water. 

Keep the container near the sink to change out the water if it dips below 40°F. Baletiwicz recommends refreshing the cold water every 30 minutes. If you follow this method, you can typically thaw one pound of frozen turkey every 30 minutes. That means you should plan on about six to 10 hours to thaw a turkey in cold water.

What to avoid when thawing a frozen turkey

When it comes to cooking your Thanksgiving bird, there are some important things to consider to ensure your frozen turkey is delicious and safe to serve:

• Do not try to rush thawing your frozen turkey under hot or even warm water. This will encourage bacteria growth under the warm water while the rest of the bird is still frozen solid.
• Cooking a turkey that hasn’t been thawed properly makes it much more challenging to cook your turkey to a safe resting temperature, either producing a dangerously undercooked bird or overcooked and dry meat.
• Your bird will cook unevenly if not thawed properly, which will often be most noticeable in the joints and darker meat.
• No matter your technique for thawing your bird, be sure to sanitize your workspace well to avoid any cross-contamination issues.

And, if you are really behind on thawing your turkey, consider buying a fresh bird at the store.