You Must Thaw Your Frozen Turkey Before Roasting: True or False?

Published on Sunday, November 13, 2011, by CHOW Video Team / Edit Post

Bruce Weinstein, coauthor of Lobsters Scream When You Boil Them, shows that you can actually cook a frozen turkey for Thanksgiving and it will turn out just as well as a thawed bird.

CHOW Tips are the shared wisdom of our community. If you’ve figured out some piece of food, drink, or cooking wisdom that you’d like to share on video (and you can be in San Francisco), email Blake Smith and tell us what you’ve got in mind.

ALLCHOW Tip
POST A COMMENT |4 Comments

COMMENT

  • I couldn't view this video, but know from experience that putting the turkey, either in its store wrapper or in a plastic bag, into cool tap water will thaw it remarkably fast. I too am concerned that cooking the still-frozen bird would mean a tough, dry exterior before the inside is done.

  • This is scary! The problem is not that the turkey won't get cooked, but that it will stay at a temperature that allows bacteria to grow for more than 2 hours. Even if you don't make everyone sick, I can't imagine that this turkey won't be overcooked and dry on the outside. Just roast a couple of chickens and forget the turkey!!

  • This series continues to offer some of the looniest advice in the history of cooking, and that's saying something.

  • In this situation, wouldn't it be easier and faster to put the turkey in the microwave under the "defrost" feature? If you don't have a big enough microwave, then Weinstein is technicaly correct, but what he's realy saying is it's going to take 50% of your original cooking time to defrost the turkey in a conventional oven. That could be an extra two to four hours - not exactyly "crisis averted."