You don't need to thaw turkey before roasting

Several years ago I wrote that you can cook a frozen turkey and have it come out edible.

As we're nearing Thanksgiving, I've gotten a few requests from those who want the directions again. The original advice came from Charlotte Brennand, Utah State University Extension's food safety specialist.

Just to make sure it worked, I tried it myself on Sunday — I placed a solidly frozen turkey in a roasting pan and didn't do anything except take off the plastic wrapper. (This bird didn't come with its legs trussed together in a plastic ring, so I didn't have to worry about that.)

I just covered it with a foil tent, set the oven at 325 degrees, and let it cook. The turkey tasted fine — my family didn't notice any difference from the other turkeys I've thawed before cooking.

But I noticed one difference — the plastic bags that hold the neck and gizzards. I removed them before anyone else saw them and lost their appetite.

Brennand's directions said it's not necessary to fish the bags out before cooking, and it's impossible to do it when the turkey is frozen solid. My suggestion is to wait several hours into the cooking time — so the turkey is thawed — and use a pair of tongs to pull them out of the neck and main cavity. This would also be the time to sprinkle on seasonings before popping the turkey back in the oven.

Yes, your turkey has to be in the oven a few hours longer, but that's a minor inconvenience compared to tying up your refrigerator for several days to let your turkey thaw.

In a project funded by a poultry company about 14 years ago, Brennand and a colleague conducted cooking experiments with frozen turkeys to see if there were easier ways of preparing them. They cooked 132 birds in all, using four different methods, and let a group of panelists taste them.

Birds tented loosely with foil and placed in the oven while completely frozen came out comparable with those cooked the regular way. Microwaved turkeys fared the worst.

But what about food poisoning? Some of the turkeys (not those tasted by the panelists) were dipped in a broth containing a high salmonella concentration before cooking. The microbe testing came out as safe, with either no salmonella or a trivial amount left, Brennand said.

Turkey hot lines usually advise against cooking a frozen turkey, "because the bacteria is in the incubation zone longer," Brennand said. "But, it's also in the death period longer."

If you try this, it's important not to deviate from the directions (such as partially cooking the turkey and then letting it sit) and to promptly refrigerate leftovers after the meal, because other organisms, such as c. perfringens, can survive cooking and wreak havoc.