icing a turkey breast

skihorn

The Mad Max recipe (and I think some others) suggest putting bags of ice on the turkey breast prior to cooking. This it to cool them down and keep them from overcooking while letting the thighs get to 170.

Makes sense to me in theory but not in practice. When I did my Thanksgiving turkey it was at 41 deg coming out of the refridgerator. Does it really help that much to put a bag of 32 degree ice on it? Would it not make more sense to first soak the turkey (or at least the thighs) in room temp water to get the temp up and then use the ice to get a bigger differential? Is there a problem in doing that?

Freddie
League City, TX

mad max beyond eggdome

my turkey has usually been out of the fridge for a good hour prior to getting to this step (while i'm setting up my stock pot, prepping the butter paste, lighting my egg and stablizing it, etc), so while i've never actually checked the temps, i'm sure its 'warmer' than that when i actually apply the ice bags, and therefore the differential is a bit greater than that . ..regardless, i've been doing it for 20 years now, and it works for me :cheer:

Boilermaker Ben

Unless your kitchen is very cold, I'm guessing that the turkey's thighs warmed up while the ice kept the breasts nice and cool.

How long was your turkey in the fridge before you took it out? If it was really 41 degrees internally right after you took it out of the fridge, you have a problem with your fridge.

skihorn

Quick response from the expert himself! I had it out about 30 minutes when it checked in at 41. I will leave it out a little longer next time.

Freddie

skihorn

It had been out of the frige about 30 minutes. I was at my Colorado cabin so it is certainly colder in the kitchen. However, the fridge is set at 40 so 41 made sense to me. EDIT: I did say in the OP that it was 41 "coming out of the fridge." That was an error. It had been 30 minutes or so.

Freddie