ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

How to Cook a Frozen Turkey Without Defrosting it First

Updated on April 3, 2015

Don't Worry. Your Holiday is Safe!

It's happened to just about every one of us: you wake up on Thanksgiving or Christmas or Easter morning, and you realize that you completely forgot to defrost the turkey, and it is still rock-solid in your freezer! Never fear, there's no need to call up and order Chinese takeout: the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued clear guidelines on how to safely cook an undefrosted turkey. In fact, not only is it safer to cook your bird from the frozen state, but you will run much less risk of contaminating your refrigerator and kitchen with harmful bacteria by leaving it frozen until you are ready to cook it.

Carving White Meat of Roast Turkey, by Steve Lupton
Carving White Meat of Roast Turkey, by Steve Lupton | Source

Steps to Cooking a Frozen Turkey

  1. Preheat your oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Place your rack in the roasting pan.
  2. Remove the wrapping. Rinse the turkey. Don't worry about the package for the neck, giblets, etc. right now. Just leave it inside and you can get it later on in the process.
  3. Place the turkey on the rack.
  4. Wash your hands and then put the pan in the oven. This way you can easily avoid any transfer of bacteria to the roasting pan.
  5. Wash out the sink where you rinsed the turkey to remove harmful bacteria.
  6. Prepare your stuffing, if desired.
  7. After two hours, the legs and thighs will be approximately 100 degrees Fahrenheit. The breast will still be frozen. Season the meat at this stage, if desired.
  8. After about three and a half hours, the legs and thighs will be 150 degrees Fahrenheit. The breast will be around 50 degrees Fahrenheit. Now is the time to use some tongs and draw out the neck and giblets.
  9. If you want to stuff your bird, now is the time to do it. Don't use your bare hands to stuff it--it will be very hot! Instead, use a spoon to put stuffing inside and pack it in. Don't overstuff.
  10. After four and one-half or five hours of cooking, the legs and thighs should be about 175 degrees Fahrenheit and the breast at 160 degrees Fahrenheit. This is a safe temperature and at that point the bird can rest for slicing. (Meat needs to rest for ten to fifteen minutes after being cooked, and before slicing, to reabsorb the juices.) If you need to hold it hot, do so at above 130 degrees Fahrenheit. After you remove the turkey from the oven, you will have about four hours to eat it safely without reheating or refrigeration.

Whole Roast Turkey on Silver Platter, by Jon Edwards
Whole Roast Turkey on Silver Platter, by Jon Edwards | Source

By following these directions, you will have a wonderful roast turkey, with delicious moist breast meat, cooked without risk of bacteria all over your refrigerator and kitchen! Your holiday has been saved, and nobody need be any the wiser about your forgetfulness. So breathe a sigh of relief, bookmark this page for your next holiday disaster, and enjoy your time together with family and friends without guilt. They never need to know your little secret!

working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)