brining a frozen turkey

[bigtim665]

I am going to buy a turkey friday i wont to brine it for a dinner sunday. I am worried it will be frozen when i buy it. It is kind of hard to buy a fresh or thawed turkey here. Can i do the brine when i get home friday and brine it from friday till sunday morning. Also whats the chance it will thaw and brine through the breast.

[travcoman45]

Put that bird in yer sink with a slow runin cool water, will thaw it the quickest. Then Brine it.

[Gunslinger]

It will have to be thawed for osmosis to work correctly. Check Craig's list for a fresh turkey. Lots of people list this type of stuff there. Or find a poultry producer nearby. Otherwise, you better buy that frozen bird tomorrow, and get it thawing. Maybe instead of 1 large bird, you might try 2 small ones. A small one will thaw faster in water.

[Richtee]

Or..if you keep an eye on temp of the brine...dump it in frozen. It will be about 6 or so hours (depending on weight) before it actually starts to brine, but on the plus side- you won't have to keep in the fridge...just insulated. You must keep the temp of the brine at 40° or below however. Expect 12 or so hours for total time.

I do not recommend this for beginners however.

On edit...never mind... thaw it first.

[Seboke]

Yeah, you can bet your butt any turkey you get at the grocery will be frozen. If I remember right, you need to defrost a frozen bird in the fridge for 4 days. But if you do it in the sink, completely submerged, changing the water every time you even think it is getting warmer than ice cold (or what Guns said) it should take a day.

Brining, you should only need about 8 hours, and yeah, only if it is thawed through. Basing that solely on it taking about 4 hours to brine a chicken. If you don't have the fridge room to keep the gobbler in the container, I have used a cooler. Mix up the brine with about a gallon less water than normal, then get a good 4 inches of ice on top of it.

Ain't gonna preach about poultry safety, but don't let that sucker get warm till it's you applying the heat!

Good luck!

[Richtee]

Ain't gonna preach about poultry safety, but don't let that sucker get warm till it's you applying the heat!

Truer words were never spoken.

[roadrunr]

Not to hijack the thread er nothin, but while the subject is here bout brining with frozen stuff. Rich, ya ever hear back from the meatman...lol

[Richtee]

Well... as I finish up the BBB from the frozen 1 month butt... Hmm no...weird eh?

[roadrunr]

think ya skeered em

[Richtee]

think ya skeered em

Honestly I prolly skeer alot of folks

[curious aardvark]

lmao - for a given definition of: 'skeer'

[Vlap]

Put that bird in yer sink with a slow runin cool water, will thaw it the quickest. Then Brine it.

What he said! I would stand it up and get the water going inside of it as well...

[SMOKE FREAK]

Brining wont take from friday till sunday... overnight will be enough...and that should give you plenty of time to thaw it out properly...dont take chances...a turkey is a terrible thing to waste!