Turkey might be the staple of the Christmas table, but if not prepared safely, it can also cause health problems. If the turkey is still frozen, “harmful bacteria” could survive the cooking process.
According to the Food Standards Agency (FSA), there are an estimated 1 million cases of food poisoning in the UK each Christmas, so it’s important that you know how to cook and keep your food properly.
Defrosting should be done in the fridge or somewhere else that is cool if you’re running out of space.
When you start defrosting, take the turkey out of its packaging, put it on a large dish and cover. The dish will hold the liquid that comes out of the thawing turkey.
Remove the giblets and the neck as soon as possible as this will help to speed up the thawing process.
Turkey is best defrosted in a covered dish at the bottom of the fridge so that it can’t drip onto other foods.
Pour away the liquid that comes out of the turkey as it is defrosting regularly – this stops it overflowing and spreading bacteria. Be careful not to splash the liquid onto work tops, dishes, cloths or other food.
Standard advice from the NHS is that, if you are using a fridge, you should allow 10 to 12 hours per kilogram.
For example, if you turkey is 4kg, it would take around 44 hours – or two days – to defrost in the fridge.
If your turkey is too big for the fridge, or you just have no space and you are defrosting the bird in a cool room (which may be below 17.5C) allow around three to four hours per kilogram.
So, if you turkey is 4kg, it would take around 16 hours hours to defrost.
Once fully defrosted, remember to put the turkey back in the fridge if you’re not cooking straight away.
