I tried posting this to r.f.r, but I guess it wasn't recipe-
ish enough.
I saved a web page from the Utah State University's
Extension Food Safety office that Pastorio posted a few
months ago about cooking frozen turkeys straight from the
freezer. I tried it last night, and it works beautifully,
although my 12 pound turkey was done almost an hour early
(maybe because I cooked it in an electric roaster instead of
an oven.) I can't find the web page anymore, so here are the
instructions converted to plain text:
Best regards, Bob
Cooking a Frozen Turkey [11/27/2003] By Pauline
Williams, MPA RD CD
The following instructions on cooking a frozen turkey
are from USU Extension’s food safety specialist Dr.
Charlotte Brennand.
Steps for roasting a frozen turkey:
- Take turkey from freezer and remove plastic wrap.
- Put the frozen turkey in a shallow pan and cover with a
foil tent. The edge of the foil should just hang loosely
around the turkey.
- Put the frozen bird in the oven and turn the oven to
the desired temperature (see chart below). Note: the
giblets and neck will still be in the craw; these can
be removed halfway through the cooking if desired, or
just prior to serving.
- During the last 15-30 minutes of cooking, remove the foil
tent and turn the oven up to 400 degrees F.
The turkey CANNOT be stuffed using this method. Cook your
stuffing separately and serve on the side.
TIME AND TEMPERATURE CHART
You can choose from two oven temperatures, 250 or 325
degrees F. Both produce a good product. The best temperature
depends on the size of the turkey and the time you want to
eat. For example, to serve a 22-pound turkey at 1:00 p.m.
the bird would need to go in the oven around 3:30 a.m. if
using 325 degrees, or 7:30 p.m. the night before, if using
250 degrees.
Bird Size | Minutes per Pound Pounds | 250 degree oven | 325
degree oven 10 | 57 | 39 12 | 56 | 37 14 | 54 | 34 15 | 52 |
32 18 | 54 | 30 20 | 49 | 27 22 | 47 | 25 24 | 45 | 23
For safety, use a meat thermometer to assure the bird
reaches 170 degrees in the thickest part of the breast and
180 degrees in the thigh.