What to do if your Thanksgiving turkey is still frozen

Thanksgiving has arrived and it is time to get that turkey into the oven (or fryer), but when you check the bird it is still frozen. Now what?

Things happen and if you have ever gone to start the cooking for your Thanksgiving dinner only to realize that your turkey was still frozen, then you know the panic that sets in as you realize things are not going to plan. And that leaves us wondering what can we do? How can we save the day from the villain that is the still frozen turkey?

Luckily, we have some answers thanks to years of experience and of course experts in the turkey game. (I still have nightmares about frozen turkeys in the bathtub thawing on Thanksgiving morning and last minute cooking for a school dinner that led to dropping 10 pounds of mashed potatoes on my principal’s foot.)

How to handle a frozen turkey on Thanksgiving Day

Let’s talk about water baths for thawing first. According to Butterball themselves, depending on how much time you have there is an option to do a cold water thaw. Considering you need 30 minutes per pound of turkey, this might not work for everyone but it is an option.

In their step by step break down of how to make this happen they explain what you need to do:

"Thaw turkey breast side down, in an unopened wrapper, with enough cold water to cover your turkey completely.Change water every 30 minutes and if turkey cannot be completely covered, rotate every 30 minutes to keep the turkey chilled.You can expect 30 minutes of thawing per pound of turkey."

But what if this thaw method doesn’t work for you? Is there something else you can?

The answer is yes. You can actually roast a turkey that is still frozen! (Who knew?!) Thanks to the fine folks over at Williams Sonoma, we actually know exactly how to make magic happen with a frozen turkey, just remember that sometimes it is less about making things perfect and just doing what you need to do to actually get the bird cooked in time.

Going into this, you need to be mindful of the time. While it might normally take about four hours to cook up a bird that has been thawed, when you are going from frozen that nearly doubles the amount of time needed to seven hours, at least if your bird is between 14 to 18 pounds.

(For the below steps, these times are based on the idea of a bird that is around 12 pounds.)

The first thing you need to do is unwrap the turkey and get your oven preheated to 325 degrees. Place the bird on a cookie sheet or very shallow roasting pan to allow air to flow around the turkey. Put the turkey into the oven for two hours without opening the door (you need all the heat to stay in the oven in order to get that defrosting done).

At the two hour mark you will want to take the temperature of the bird. According to Williams Sonoma, “the legs and thighs should be nicely thawed and around 90 to 100 degrees. The breast will be thawed about an inch or more deep but will be cooler than the thighs.”

If the giblets bag is in the neck area, it should be thawed enough to remove them. If they are in the body of the bird, it is likely still too frozen to remove the giblets. But this is an important step and as they point out,

"If the bag holding the giblets is plastic you need to be sure to remove it long before it starts to melt.  If it does melt at all, you will need to throw the bag away as well as the turkey. Harmful chemicals will be released into the turkey if it melts."

Considering the turkey should be at least a bit defrosted at this point, this is a good time to salt and pepper the skin and maybe even add a little butter. If you usually use a liquid to baste your turkey, you will want to hold off on that for now.

You are going to want to return the bird to the oven and if the giblets are still in the cavity of the bird, you will wait another hour to remove it from the body. Make sure to remove any frozen bits from the cavity at the three hour mark and make sure to check the temperatures around your turkey. “The thighs and legs should be around 130-150ºF, and the breast will be around 50-60ºF degrees. Brush with additional butter or oil, or baste with pan drippings before returning to the oven for another 60-90 minutes.”

Once you reach about the five hour mark, your turkey should actually be close to done and the “breast should reach 165ºF and the legs and thighs should be 175ºF.  The other important temperature to take is inside the cavity. It also needs to reach 165ºF.”

At this point, it is all about getting to those final temperatures and then allowing the turkey to actually rest for up to 45 minutes to allow the bird to keep its juices and sit in the basting liquids, butter and seasoning for a bit longer.

Depending on how big your bird is, you may have to adjust the times accordingly, but it is as much about the timing as it is the temperatures. Making sure that the meat hits its temperature marks is the most important thing for a successful Thanksgiving.

While the idea of a still frozen turkey on Thanksgiving morning might be extremely stressful, luckily there are ways to save the day that don’t mean ditching the bird and ordering pizza delivery.