Time To Thaw The Turkey

If you have not done so yet and you plan on having Turkey for Thanksgiving dinner then you had better get to doing this very important task. The amount of time that you will need to defrost your turkey will depend on how the job is done and how big your turkey is. For the old thaw in the fridge it will take at least 24 hours to defrost per every 5 lbs of turkey.

Defrost Turkey in Fridge (considered the best method) takes 24 hours per 5 lbs of meat which means that a 10 lb turkey will take 2 days to safely thaw.
Keeping the turkey in the original packaging and on the lowest shelf of the refrigerator thaw the turkey. The reason the lowest shelf is important is to safeguard  that the turkey does not drip in any other food. As the turkey begins to thaw you should expect that the packaging should drip and leak. It is best to keep the turkey on a tray that will help catch any juice that leaks out.

Cold Water Method of thawing your turkey takes less time about 30 minutes per lb.
If you did not start thawing your bird in the fridge soon enough then this method would be your best.
Do not remove original packaging from the turkey and place turkey in a leak proof package to make sure water does not seep into turkey. Fill sink with cold water and place bag with turkey water. It is important that the water is changed every 30 minutes and that it stays cold. After thawing immediately cook turkey

Microwave Thawing is not recommended as it tends to dry out the turkey.
To thaw in the microwave remove turkey from packaging both inside and out. The turkey packaging as well as your microwave may be able to tell you how long to defrost turkey.

Few things to check to be sure turkey is completely defrosted:
check the inside of the turkey to remove giblets and check for any ice crystals that may be present.

Poke the thicker portion of turkey with a fork if it gives then the turkey is thawed but if it is hard then it needs to thaw further.