Time to Thaw a Frozen Turkey

The Thawing a Frozen Turkey calculator computes the time to thaw a frozen turkey in water or in a refrigerator based on the weight of the turkey.

INSTRUCTIONS: Choose units and enter the following:

• (W) Weight of the Turkey

Turkey Thaw Time (T): The calculator returns the thaw time for the turkey in both the refrigerator and in cold water in hours.

The Math / Science

There are 2 methods generally used for thawing frozen meat: refrigerator thawing and cold water thawing.
Photo by Tim Sackton
With refrigerator thawing you simply place the frozen meat in the refrigerator and leave it until it thaws. For larger portions of meat, including turkeys, this will take days.
With cold water thawing you submerge the meat in a container of cold water, changing the water approximately every 30 minutes. The cold water method is much faster than the refrigerator method.

According to Butterball, thawing a turkey in the refrigerator takes about 24 hours per 4 pounds of turkey or 6 hours per pound. The cold water method takes about 30 minutes per pound. These ratios will not apply to all types and portion sizes of meat. Obviously 4 one pound cuts of meat will thaw more quickly than one single 4 pound portion.

Butterball: How to Thaw a Turkey

Fry a Turkey Calculators

• How big of a turkey do we need?
• Time to Deep Fry a Turkey
• Time to Thaw a Frozen Turkey
• Time to thaw a turkey in water
• Time to thaw a turkey in a refrigerator
• Oil Displaced by a Turkey
• Volume of a Bird Fryer
• Volume of a Rectangular Fryer
• Volume of a Circular Fryer
• Oil needed for Turkey Fryer
• Convert Kitchen Units This helps you use different measuring cups in the kitchen to correctly add up to the prescribed volume.