What's the best way to thaw a 16lb turkey?

Answer 1

put it in the refrigerator for 3-4 days

if you cant do that, put it in cold water overnight.

Answer 2

The very best way of all, leave plastic wrapper on, and in the kitchen sink , cover it or nearly cover it with ice cold tap water. Keep water cold, you may have to let some out and freshen it after a few hours, watch that the sink remains plugged securely. This cold water bath will thaw the turkey by the time you want to put it in the oven, allow a 16 lb bird to thaw for at least 8 hours in cold water. Drain water, and then unwrap and rinse and drain the bird, there will be icy fluid inside the bird in both cavities that must be drained. Use more icy water to rinse out the insides of those cavities and remove all giblets and neck, etc. from both cavities.
Rub inside the cavities with butter and sprinkle insides with salt.
Make your stuffing, stuff both cavities as usual, you can use toothpicks like pins to close the neck skin over the stuffing there and use any good twine to bind the legs at the tail. Put the bird into a deep large baking dish or roaster and add 2 cans of chicken soup broth and 2 cans of water. Bake for one hour at 400 degrees, uncovered. Turn oven down to 350, cover bird with tin foil , add one can of water, basting the bird every hour, and bake until pop up timer is up or 20 minutes per pound of bird. How do you know it's done? Wiggle the leg! If the turkey leg is very loose, its done. You can leave it in the oven a bit longer at 325 if waiting for guests. Stuffing should be removed as soon as possible from bird once it's out of the oven. Refrigerate all leftovers. Enjoy. Happy Holidays.

Answer 3

Put it in a bath of water unwrapped and leave for 3 days and check if it has at least thawed out completely. Or you could leave it in the kitchen room temperature for 3 days unwrapped king sure it is fully thawed out. Always check the neck of the Turkey and if the inside is still froze then leave it another day but make sure it is covered.

Answer 4

turkey brine 12-14 lbs turkey, washed and cleaned out 1 cup kosher salt or sea salt 1/4 cup table sugar or brown sugar 2 quarts water Combine 2 quarts of water in a 6 quart pot with salt and sugar, over high heat until dissolved. If wanted, add other seasonings at this time. Let come back to room temperature. You will need 2 gallon turkey size oven roasting bags. Place one roasting bag inside the other, roll down the edges of the bags to help them stay open. Put bags in a heavy roasting pan that will hold turkey. Place turkey breast side down, with legs facing you in the inner bag. Some help from another person at this point would be of help, they can hold the bags open for you as you pour the cooled brine into the cavity and over the turkey. Gather the inner bag as tightly as possible and secure with a twist tie. Secure outer bag with twist tie. Refrigerate in the roasting pan for 12-18 hours. Remove from bags, rinse very well, pat dry with paper towels. It's now ready for your favorite recipe.

Answer 5

The easiest and best way is to slowly thaw your turkey in the refrigerator, but this could take days. You can also thaw it in cold water, which will be faster, or in the microwave.

These sites explain the processes, and how to do them safely.

Answer 6

If you have the time, put it in the fridge for several days, otherwise, put it into a sinkfull of slowly running warm water until it thaws and that is much faster or for even faster, thaw in your microwave on the defrost setting.

Answer 7

In the fridge for 3 days. If you don't have that kinda time, immerse it in cool water in the fridge for about 1.5 days. DON'T LEAVE IT OUT AT ROOM TEMPERATURE!

One other thing that I've done that works: Put it in an ice chest (sans the ice) in the garage. It will cool faster than the fridge but still keep out of the potentially-hazardous temp zone. Still, water thawing is your best bet!

Answer 8

The easiest way is to allow it to thaw in water in your sink over night. Make sure the water is cold. Once it is thawed you have 48 hours till it is not good for cooking.

Answer 9

In the refrigerator. It'll take 2 or 3 days though. If you don't have time for that put it in water in the sink, but you'll have to change it every 30 min. or hour. They say not to do this but if you need it right away just leave it out on the sink, but make sure it doesn't get warm.
Good Luck!!!

Answer 10

You have to let it thaw for a minimum of four days in a fridge, then deep fry it for about 4mins a pound Luvvely Jubbely

Answer 11

24-48 hours in the fridge

Or in the sink w/ cold water that is changed every 30 mins