You lose some of benefits of having a fresh turkey, but at least it will be safe to eat. A thawed turkey can remain in the refrigerator for 1 to 2 days. Keep the turkey in its original wrapper. Refrigerator thawing is the number one most recommended way to thaw a turkey. If it stinks, its a goner. No point in wasting an entire turkey. Defrosting in the fridge is the safest way as there is a controlled temperature and you can leave it until it is completely thawed. You'll need to give yourself about 24 hours to thaw every 4 pounds of frozen turkey, so you might need to make room in the fridge a full week before Thanksgiving. Place it on a tray or in a pan to catch any juices that may leak. Yesterday I ate the last one after being in the fridge thawing for a week. Turkey left in fridge for a week. This is the safest method because the turkey will thaw at a consistent, safe temperature. Birds weighing 12 to 16 pounds should be in the fridge starting the Sunday of Thanksgiving week. Cooked turkey is safe in the fridge for up to three to four days, so you can get creative with some recipes over the next few days. FACT: Decades ago, when people plopped a hot turkey … Do not store thawed or poultry in the fridge for a week or more as the uncooked meat becomes unsafe for human consumption. You should allow a minimum of three days for a standard 12- to 15-pound bird to thaw. Cold Water Thawing If necessary, a turkey that has been properly thawed in the refrigerator may be refrozen. Hi my sister was supposed to cook the turkey for thanksgiving and I went by to take it out of the freezer because I figured she would forget. Plan to thaw the turkey in the water for an hour for every two pounds. Leave the turkey in its original packaging to avoid exposing it to bacteria. This is the quickest way that I know of to court disaster in the form of some nasty food borne illness. The USDA site below offers step by step instructions for thawing and cooking times. The best way is to smell and look at the ground turkey: signs of bad ground turkey are a sour smell, dull color and slimy texture; discard any ground turkey … Properly thawed frozen turkeys can be refrigerated in their original packaging from 1 to 5 days before cooking. If you’re in a hurry to thaw your turkey, there’s a faster method you can use. Store the turkey in the freezer within 2 days of it thawing. You can also freeze chicken that’s already been cooked, but they won’t last quite as long. The steak was frozen for a week, and was already cooked medium well. The breasts I've seen in the store all seem to have a "cook or freeze by" date of 12/27/17. I thawed about four of them in the fridge and ate three of them with in the next four or five days. Bacon can last seven days in the fridge and one month in the freezer. Open the package and smell. Thawed this way in cold water, estimate roughly 30 minutes for every pound of turkey. Thawing a turkey is a critical first step in roasting your Thanksgiving turkey. Thaw turkey breast side up, in an unopened wrapper on a tray in the fridge (40 degrees F or below). Use a food thermometer to make sure the turkey has reached a safe internal temperature of 165°F. Your turkey should be placed breast side up on the baking tray and allowed to thaw completely before cooking. Repeat the water-replacement cycle every 30 minutes until the turkey is thawed. For more information about thawing a turkey, go to Turkey Basics: Safe Thawing. Once the turkey is thawed, you can keep it in the refrigerator for 1 to 2 additional days before cooking. How long can a thawed Butterball Turkey stay in the fridge? It takes approximately 24 hours for every 4 to 5 pounds of whole turkey to thaw in the refrigerator. Personally, I like this method the best if my turkey has already done some thawing in the fridge but is still partially frozen. You want to allow 1 day in the fridge for every 4 pounds of turkey, so refrigerate a 12-pound bird for 3 days, a 20-pound bird for 5 days, and so on. A fridge-thawed turkey … Personally, I wouldn't be concerned about a turkey I kept refrigerated and planned to serve 2 days before the sell-by date (which still allows for more time before the bird is expected to be cooked), but that's just me. That was only 3 days ago. According to the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service, that means it needs to have been thawed in the refrigerator and it can't have been left out at room temperature for more than two hours at any time. Refrigerator Thawing (Recommended) The USDA recommends thawing your turkey in the refrigerator. Allow at least 1 day of thawing for every 4 lbs of turkey. For smaller birds - four to 12 pounds, you should start fridge thawing on Monday. For fans of giblets, the FDA claims those will also last a couple days in a fridge and three to four months in a freezer. A fully thawed turkey can stay in the fridge for up to two full days! In fact, it shouldn't be eaten at all. If raw frozen turkey is thawed in the refrigerator, the defrosted turkey can last in the fridge for 1–2 days before it needs to be cooked or refrozen. She had put it in the fridge from frozen last Friday. 2: You should cool your turkey to room temperature for a while before putting it in the fridge. If it's a local, unpackaged fresh turkey, you should only keep it 1-2 days in the fridge. Even the biggest turkey will be thawed in a few hours. Use turkey within 4 days after thawing. Well the Turkey was in the fridge and was fully thawed and soft. A thawed turkey, or a turkey purchased fresh (not frozen) needs to be stored in your refrigerator. Keep turkey in original wrapper and place on tray. MYTH No. A thawed turkey (uncooked) may be stored in the refrigerator for a maximum of two days before cooking. 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