I have gotten a rep as a "turkey guy." I now have more frozen birds than ever before. I used to thaw my turks by hanging them with the head and neck in a cooler with ice, so those areas dont slip. This is obviously playing with fire. I now have a spare fridge to thaw in. If I thaw a bird in palstic, how long will it take at say 40 degrees. I would like to get myself on a decent work schedule, rather than saying "Well cant work today, big bird is still rock hard" I know some folks just hang birds until they are ready to skin. I think this is asking for slippage. A little advice from the turkey pros would be appreciated. By the way- I did check the archives and didnt find a good answer except that thawing in plastic seems the best method for fridge thawing.
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Most of the turkeys I get in are usally fresh killed, so I go ahead and skin them out, they take up a lot less room in the freezer that way also. When I do get in frozen turkeys I like to go ahead and let them thaw so I can look at them and let the customer know if there is anything wrong with thier bird right then not six months down the road. It usually takes a turkey a day and a half to two days to thaw, I will hang them up by the feet and keep an eye on them, when the head thaws I will go ahead and cut it off if it is worth saving and then let the rest of it thaw then skin the next day. I have had very few birds slip around the neck or anywhere else for that matter, the only exception would be with a bird that was not frozen fresh or taken care of very well before I got it. If you want to thaw them faster you can go ahead and cut the tail off and submerge the rest of the bird in water, put him in the water in the morning and you can skin by that afternoon. Same goes for ducks and geese.
My birds usually come in frozen. Partly becouse I tell my customers to freeze specimens immediately. I have one client who screws likes to toos stuff in a truck for an afternoon or freeze things in dog food bags or innothing at all. He is a good friend so I get to chew him out for poor handling. He is a perfect bad example, so everyone one that knows him or I has learned how to care for stuff correctly. I figure its a lot better to freeze that May turkey and thaw it under controlled conditions, rather than haul it around in 70 degree heat and let it sit in a fridge for a day or two. I skin fresh kills as soon as they come in. But for those popcicle birds, looking for some tips on how you guys thaw em out. Am I wrong to think that putting them in a fridge to thaw is better?
We do a bunch of turkeys and almost all of them come in frozen. Take them out 2 days prior to skin and flesh day, put them in a cooler with the lid partially open and they will be ready in two days to work on..I do however take off the head after one day in the box. After fleshing we wash, tan, deoderize (liqua cure) for 4 hours, rinse, bag and freeze until ready to mount. This works best for us.
I thought it was when the little red button popped out?/Drrrrrrrrrrrr