Texans! Don’t Make This Thanksgiving Mistake. Act Now!

There is one bit of Thanksgiving prep that you need to take care of as soon as possible.

Be Prepared

At this point you've probably bought all of your Thanksgiving essentials. That's good, because many stores that were open in the past, now close for Thanksgiving. It may be a bit of a problem for people who don't prepare, but those people in the grocery business sure deserve a day off like the rest of us. So just in case, make your checklist: Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, rolls, and pecan pie ought to do it. Now that you're good with the ingredients, here's what you need to know.

Do This Simple Thing

It's time to take your turkey out of the freezer and move it to the refrigerator. While I can't officially say it's the biggest mistake people make, it's certainly up there. Having your turkey completely defrosted will make your cook times so much more accurate. So let's talk about actual defrost times. If your turkey is over 20 pounds, you're already late defrosting your bird. For birds 16-20 pounds 4-5 days is recommended, so you're right on the bubble. 3-4 days are required for average birds of 12-16 pounds, and 4-12 pound birds fall somewhere between 1-3 days (One really doesn't sound like enough to me).

If All Else Fails

There are ways around defrosting your turkey if you forget, but they are all very time consuming and cumbersome. The best thing you can do is take my advice and move the turkey over TODAY, then if you have any sense that it's still frozen in the middle, use one of those other procedures to get your bird ready. One simple thing you can do is to defrost your bird in COLD water, changing out the water every 30 minutes.