Is a 23lb turkey enough for 15 people? How long should it stay in the refrigerator to defrost?

Answer 1

A 23 lb turkey will be plenty for 15 (they say 1 pound per person, so you should have enough). In our family we have so many side dishes that we may not eat as much turkey as some families. If it's frozen now you need to take it out today and put it in the fridge to get it thawed by Christmas. That's a large turkey and it will take many days to thaw it completely. If you're serving it on Monday be sure to check on it Sunday afternoon to see if it's thawed. If not you may need to run some warm water through it and put it back in the fridge. My family ran into that problem at Thanksgiving. The 20 lb turkey had been defrosting for 3 days and wasn't even close to thawed out when we got ready to put it in the oven. We had to run warm water though it and sit it in the sink to thaw. Needless to say our dinner was much later than expected.

Answer 2

Defrost the frozen turkey in the refrigerator.Allow 24 hours for every 5 pounds of turkey. Alternately, you could thaw the turkey in cold water, changing the water every 30 minutes. Make sure (this is very IMPORTANT) raw turkey juices DO NOT drip onto surrounding food while defrosting in the refrigerator.Aaaaaaaand cook the POOR defrosted turkey immediately :)

Answer 3

I have a 22 pound turkey for 9 people! You're not going to have any leftovers. LOL

I use fresh turkey, so I'm not sure about the defrosting part of your question. But I do know that you should NEVER defrost a turkey (or any meat) out of the refrigerator. You always defrost in the fridge to keep meat safe.

Answer 4

Beware of some of the answers in this string, they'd set you and your guests up for a delightful case of Christmas Salmonella.

If your 23lb turkey is frozen solid it will take approximately 4-5 days to thaw in a refrigerator at a normal setting. If it's still partially frozen inside on the day that you want to cook (try to pull out the giblet package) you can submerge it in cold water in a clean sink, changing the water about once per hour. Never use warm water for this and never leave poultry of any kind out overnight.

Answer 5

They say 2 pounds per person is the best idea. 4#s if you want leftovers. But a bird this size takes a long time to cook and also defrost. SO if you instead cook 2 smaller birds you can defrost faster and also cook them in much less time. Just a little trick I learned.

How long to defrost depends on the temp of your refrigerator mainly. Normally a couple of days though.

Hope that heps Merry Christmas!

Peace

Answer 6

While most articles say to judge 1 1/2 pounds of meat per person, I go with a MINIMUM of 2 pounds of meat per person...especially depending on the quantity of sides you're serving, your desire for leftover bird AND if the guests are big eaters or not.

And I never thaw it in the fridge completely. The day before I put it in the clean kitchen sink, put the stopper in, and fill it/cover the bird with cold water. That is a quick defrost method--keep letting out the water as it warms to room temp and adding fresh cold water. Should be defrogged in 4-5 hours this way, then put it back in the fridge.

NEVER EVER defrost it by leaving it on the counter--use my way or the fridge (will take a long time)---NEVER cook it frozen either. Yuck. It's called food poisoning, not a good way to end the holiday!

Answer 7

It should be unless they're really hearty eaters, you might think about a ham with it tho. To defrost that size of turkey you should take it out at least three days before you're going to cook it . Put in a large pan and fill it with not really cold but not hot water 3/4 full, change that water every 8 hours until you're going to cook it . Remember to take out the giblets bag and when it's defrosted, just before cooking rinse out the inside. You may want to pull out the neck also when you take out the giblet bag. Some people put the giblets in their stuffing , my mum didn't .

Merry Christmas.

Answer 8

Dont keep it in the fridge to defrost it'll take ages! Leave it out overnight if i were u, if it is still a little solid when u cook it it'll defrost completely :) 23lb should be big enough as it is pretty big, over 1lb of turkey each which is probably 2 slices.

Answer 9

I would either buy another small bird or a different meat like ham. So that people have a choice, or the ones who would prefer ham will fill up on that instead. Have lots of breads out too! Just in case lol.

Answer 10

5 DAYS !! (not 1 or 2)

Refrigerator Thawing Times
(Whole turkey)

8 to 12 pounds..........1 to 2 days
12 to 16 pounds..........2 to 3 days
16 to 20 pounds..........3 to 4 days
20 to 24 pounds..........4 to 5 days