Need help thawing out large pieces of frozen meat (turkey, pork) how to do it right?

[Pappy]

How do you thaw out your meat?

I always have problems when I thaw a larger pieces of meat that has been in my freezer. For example, I pulled a package of 6 center cut, pork steaks out of the freezer and left them on the kitchen counter for at least 6 hours. Then put them back in the fridge. The next day I got them out to grill them and they were still frozen. I had to defrost in them in the microwave. This seem to happen a lot. I don't want to thaw on the counter too long and have the meat spoil and make someone sick. It seems like everytime I thaw a turkey the same thing happens and I end up thawing with warm water to get the ice out of the inside. They say to put the turkey in the fridge for a few days to let it thaw slowly on it's own. It never works. If I set a block of ice on the counter it would be gone in a few hours.

[NorthwestBBQ]

In a cooler filled with water.

[RevZiLLa]

3 days in the fridge ought to get it close

[Grillman]

Originally Posted by Pappy

How do you thaw out your meat?

They say to put the turkey in the fridge for a few days to let it thaw slowly on it's own. It never works.

This always works, for more than 30 years of doing this.
Depending on how big the Turkey is, it could take 3-6 days.

You don't want to thaw any large piece of meat in warm water as this
could put it in the danger zone for safety.

[danparker77]

You should thaw meat in the fridge. Turkeys are somewhere around 6 hours a pound IIRC. If you thaw anything in water, whether sink or cooler, you should change the water every hour (whoops, 30 min guess they changed some stuff). The last bit about water is from the USDA website.

http://www.fsis.usda.gov/Fact_Sheets/Big_Thaw/

[captndan]

I did read the FDA report. They are correct about cold water thawing but the rest of the report goes down hill rapidly.
Change the water every 30 minutes? BULL The water in the sink will be colder than the replacement water from the tap. Don't thaw on the counter basement car etc. etc. This is just plain STUPID. Where do they think you're supposed to thaw?

[Johnny_Crunch]

Put it in the fridge for 3-5 days and will work just fine.

[Kings over Queens]

In a pot, bucket or bowl, filled with water and have some water dripping (drip....drip....drip) every so slightly. The convection caused by the dripping is key. Do this in a sink or even the bath tub.

I take just about everything that the USDA says/writes/prints with a grain of salt. Danger zone my ass. Your gonna cook the damn thing, right?

Use some common sense and you are fine.

[jbcain]

Cold water is the best to thaw meat, draining and refilling as needed. I'm not gunna bull**** anyone, if I know it's an air tight seal, I'm tossing it in the pool.

[Pappy]

Originally Posted by danparker77

You should thaw meat in the fridge. Turkeys are somewhere around 6 hours a pound IIRC. If you thaw anything in water, whether sink or cooler, you should change the water every hour (whoops, 30 min guess they changed some stuff). The last bit about water is from the USDA website.

http://www.fsis.usda.gov/Fact_Sheets/Big_Thaw/

I'm going to thaw a 10.25 pound turkey. I want to smoke it 1 week from today
Today is Saturday so, I thought I would take it out Tuesday morning. That would be 4 days in the fridge, out of the freezer.