How to cook a half frozen turkey

Have you ever gotten up on a Thanksgiving or holiday morning to find your turkey isn’t completely thawed, or worse yet, you forgot to take it out of the freezer? As you sit there wondering how you can get the turkey thawed out in time, one thought will surely cross your mind, because it’s crossed all of ours when we’re in this situation: Can I cook it frozen?

The simple answer is YES. Keep reading to find out how to roast a frozen turkey.

The first thing you have to realize is that at this moment you are in damage control mode, so don’t even begin to think about how to inject your secret seasoning blend into it or figure out how to stuff it with grandma’s cornbread stuffing. Remember, this isn’t about putting the best turkey you’ve ever eaten on the table, it’s about getting a delicious, cooked turkey on the table.

Roasting a Frozen Turkey: How to Do It

All times listed below are calculated using a frozen 12-pound turkey. For other sizes, a good guideline is to plan for the roasting time to be 50 percent longer than a fresh or thawed bird. So if it would normally take four hours to roast an unstuffed turkey, then it will take approximately six hours if it’s frozen.

Step #1: Stick it in the oven.

Preheat your oven to 325ºF. Unwrap the turkey and place it on a rack in a shallow roasting pan or a baking sheet. You want a pan that has low sides so you can get good air circulation around the turkey. Place the turkey in the oven for two hours—and don’t peek.  You want to keep as much heat in the oven as possible.

Cleaning Tip

To help with clean up later, try lining the pan with foil or a silpat. Since the turkey is basically a block of ice at this point, don’t worry about getting the bag of giblets and the neck out of the cavity.  We’ll take them out a little later on. Also, don’t worry about seasoning the outside of the turkey with salt and pepper or brushing it with butter or oil.  We’ll do this a little later as well.

Step #2: Take your first temperature.

After two hours, 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 you’d like to, you can brush the outside with butter or oil and season with salt and pepper.

Often when a turkey is packaged, they will put the bag of giblets not in the cavity but in the neck area of the bird. By this point that area of the turkey should be thawed enough to remove it.  The cavity should still be partially frozen so if a bag is in there don’t try to pull it out yet. There may also be liquid in the cavity you will want to remove with a baster.  Don’t pour it over the turkey, though; just reserve it in a glass bowl or measuring cup and use it to make gravy.

Before you put the turkey back in the oven, brush the outside with butter or oil and season with salt and pepper, if desired. Return turkey to the oven and roast another hour.

WARNING!

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.

Step #3: Remove the giblets and neck.

After three hours, the cavity should be thawed enough to remove the bag of giblets and the neck. (See the warning above.) Remove any liquid or ice chunks that are in the cavity.

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.

Step #4: Check progress.

4 1/2-5 hours after you start, the turkey should be close to being done.  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, or you risk contaminating the rest of the bird when you carve it.

Step #5: Let it rest.

As with any turkey or large cut of meat, you should let it rest after it’s done roasting.  This will allow the juices to redistribute through the turkey.  The amount of resting time depends on how large it is.  I like to let my turkeys rest at least 30-45 minutes before carving.  Don’t worry—it will still be hot, but you’ll find the slices will be much juicier and easier to cut.

Since whole turkeys are so large, it can be difficult to predict how long they might take to thaw. Even when you do your best, there might still be patches of ice throughout—or worse, portions of the bird that are still frozen solid.

Assuming your bird didn’t have time to fully defrost, can you cook a partially frozen turkey? Let’s find out.

Contents (Jump to Topic) show

1 Can You Cook a Partially Frozen Turkey?

2 Why It’s Important

3 How To Safely Defrost Turkey

4 Can You Defrost Turkey in the Microwave?

5 Can You Defrost Turkey in a Cooler?

6 Can You Defrost Turkey at Room Temperature?

7 Can You Cook a Partially Frozen Turkey?

8 Can You Refreeze a Defrosted Turkey?

9 Can You Brine a Partially Frozen Turkey?

10 How To Smoke Frozen Turkey Breast

10.1 Ingredients

10.2 Directions

11 The Bottom Line

Can You Cook a Partially Frozen Turkey?

It’s safe to cook a partially frozen turkey as long as the meat doesn’t linger in the danger zone between 40 and 140 degrees for an extended amount of time. Since smoking meat from a frozen state can increase the cooking time by 50 percent, it might be quicker to thaw the turkey in a cold water bath.

Why It’s Important

For a long time, we thought it was dangerous to cook meat without thawing it first. While the practice can cause issues if it’s not done properly, the key is to ensure that the meat spends as little time as possible in the “danger zone.”

The danger zone is the span between 40 and 140 degrees Fahrenheit. Within this window, the bacteria that cause food poisoning are able to thrive and multiply. That’s why you need to refrigerate leftovers within a 2-hour window.

It’s best if the meat cooks to a temperature beyond the danger zone within the same time frame. If you put it in the oven or smoker from a frozen state, it’s defrosting as it cooks, which could increase the amount of time it spends between 40 and 140 degrees.

For this reason, it’s always preferable to thaw the turkey at least partway before you attempt to cook it. Fortunately, it’s possible to do this even if you don’t have a lot of time to spare.

How To Safely Defrost Turkey

The safest way to defrost a turkey is to keep it in the refrigerator. That way, you can be sure that the meat remains at a temperature below 40 degrees as it thaws.

Although it can be tough to predict with accuracy, meat typically defrosts at a rate of 24 hours for every 5 pounds in the fridge. Use this as a guideline when making your plans.

For example, let’s say you want to smoke your turkey on a Saturday. If the turkey weighs 10 pounds, you should take it out of the freezer on Thursday morning. For 20-pound turkeys, start the defrosting process on the Tuesday before.

After defrosting, a turkey should keep in the fridge for 1 to 2 days. Don’t attempt to wait any longer without cooking or refreezing it, or the quality will start to deteriorate.

If you’ve waited too long and want to cook the turkey today, you can thaw it more quickly using a cold water bath. Find a container that’s large enough to hold the turkey comfortably, then fill it with cold water and submerge the wrapped bird inside.

After 30 minutes, swap out the cold water for a fresh batch so that it doesn’t warm up to room temperature. Repeat for about 30 minutes per pound—5 hours for a 10-pound turkey. At this point, the bird should be thawed enough to cook through in a reasonable time frame.

Be aware that when you defrost meat this way, you need to cook it promptly. It’s against food safety protocol to hold or refreeze the meat after it’s been thawed by any means other than the refrigerator.

Can You Defrost Turkey in the Microwave?

It’s considered acceptable to thaw a whole turkey in the microwave, assuming that your unit has a defrost setting. That said, we try to avoid it whenever possible.

It’s problematic to thaw large cuts like turkey in the microwave because the technique heats the meat unevenly. Some portions of the bird might be frozen solid while others have actually begun to cook.

A proper defrost setting can offset this danger, but it’s still preferable to use the fridge or a cold water bath. If you must use the microwave, be sure to rotate the bird after every 6 minutes and cook it off as soon as it’s fully defrosted.

Can You Defrost Turkey in a Cooler?

Using a cooler isn’t that different from enlisting a water bath, as long as you follow our advice and immerse the turkey in cold water. If you put the turkey in the cooler without adding water, it might stray into the danger zone for too long.

A regular cooler will thaw the turkey at a rate of about 30 minutes per pound. If you purchase a specialty cooler for this very purpose, the bird might take up to 24 hours to thaw in the water bath.

Can You Defrost Turkey at Room Temperature?

No. Never attempt to thaw meat at room temperature. This will put it squarely within the danger zone, and the whole bird won’t have a chance to thaw within a couple of hours. Therefore, the meat will be unsafe to eat, even if you cook it afterwards.

Can You Cook a Partially Frozen Turkey?

If the bird is still frozen in the cavity—or in other patches—you can go ahead and start cooking it anyway. It might take a little bit longer to cook, but it’s fine to do so as long as the meat cooks to a safe temperature.

Cuts of meat that are still partially frozen may take 25 percent more time to cook. So if your estimated time for a thawed turkey was 4 hours, expect a partially frozen one to take about 5 hours.

When the meat is still completely frozen, you should add another 50 percent to the planned cooking time. With large cuts, this may pose a problem because they take so long to cook anyway. That’s why it’s better to defrost the bird at least partway first.

Can You Refreeze a Defrosted Turkey?

As long as you defrosted the turkey in the refrigerator, it’s safe to refreeze it without cooking it. Just pop it back in the freezer, even if it’s partly or mostly thawed.

When stored in the freezer, turkey should keep indefinitely. However, for optimum texture, try to defrost and cook it within a year.

Turkey that’s been thawed and refrozen might be a bit drier and chalkier than it would have been otherwise. To offset this, try smoking it at a lower temperature. 250 to 275 degrees Fahrenheit should work.

Can You Brine a Partially Frozen Turkey?

A turkey that’s still frozen solid won’t take well to a brine because the meat will be thawing in the water solution instead of soaking it in. If the meat is mostly thawed, however, you can go ahead and brine it as planned.

Pro Tip: Make sure the brine is very cold before you submerge the turkey. If necessary, add a few ice cubes to keep the mixture from warming up to room temperature.

How To Smoke Frozen Turkey Breast

When smoking turkey breast from a frozen state, try setting the smoker to 250 degrees. That way, the meat will have a chance to cook to a safe temp without drying out.

Ingredients

• 1 whole bone-in turkey breast (about 6 pounds)

For the Spice Rub:

• 3 tablespoons kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon rubbed sage
• 1 tablespoon dried rosemary
• 1 tablespoon dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions

1. Make the spice rub. Combine all ingredients in a small bowl and set aside. If you have a mortar and pestle, use that to ensure that the spices are well blended.

2. Preheat the smoker to 250 degrees. Apple wood is a nice choice with this seasoning blend, but you can use whatever type of wood you prefer.

3. Season the turkey breast with the spice rub. You might need to apply a layer of cooking oil to help the spices adhere to the frozen meat.

4. When the smoker has reached the set temperature, place the prepared turkey on the cooking grate with the meatier side facing up.

5. Close the lid of the smoker and cook until the meat reaches an internal temperature of 160 degrees. This should take 5 to 6 hours if the turkey breast was still completely frozen when you put it on the smoker.

6. When the turkey is done, remove it from the heat and tent it loosely with foil. Let it rest for 10 to 15 minutes before carving it into neat slices.

The Bottom Line

Bear in mind that it might be faster to defrost the turkey using the cold water method than to stick it on the smoker while it’s still frozen. It depends on how long the turkey has already thawed—or if it had a chance to thaw at all.

In general, we would suggest thawing the turkey in cold water for as long as time allows. If you’re smoking a turkey breast and not the whole bird, the meat could be defrosted within 3 hours.

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