Your Oster® Roaster may feature a unique Defrost setting. The Defrost setting is convenient for when you have forgotten to defrost your frozen turkey ahead of time or did not allow yourself enough time to fully defrost it in time to roast it. With this unique and innovative Defrost setting, you can to take your turkey from frozen to roasted in hours – not days!
It’s easy to use; just follow these few simple steps:
- NOTE: In order to plan your day accordingly, when roasting a turkey from frozen you can estimate it will take around twice the time it would normally take to roast an already defrosted turkey in your roaster.
- 1. Turn temperature knob to “DEFROST.” Preheat roaster for about 15-20 minutes.
- 2. Unwrap your frozen turkey and place it on the roasting rack inside of roaster and place lid on top. Defrosting process begins.
- Make sure to have a good meat thermometer to check defrosting temperatures from time to time; however, try not to open the lid too many times as it is important to keep as much heat as possible in the roaster while defrosting.
- 3. Check that legs and thighs have reached between 90°F and 100°F before basting. Once they do, brush the outside of the turkey with butter or oil and season with salt and pepper.
- 4. Continue cooking in the Defrost Setting until the thighs and legs reach at least 130°F to 150°F and the breast reaches at least 50°F to 60°F. Once desired temperatures have been met, use a baster to remove any excess liquid or ice chunks remaining in the cavity. Then, using tongs, remove the bag of giblets and neck. Once removed, brush the outside with additional butter or oil.
- NOTE: If the giblets and neck are hard to remove at this time, let the turkey defrost slightly longer checking about every 10 – 15 minutes until they can be removed relatively easily.
- 5. Now you are ready to start roasting. Turn the temperature knob to 325°F and roast your turkey (see chart below for estimated times). The turkey will be done roasting when the temperature of the breast reaches at least 165°F and the legs and thighs reach at least 175°F. The other important temperature to take is inside the cavity - it also needs to reach at least 165°F or you risk contaminating the rest of the bird when you carve it.
- NOTE: To check doneness of the turkey it is important to take temperature readings in different areas of the turkey to make sure it is all completely done. If any of the areas have not reached the temperatures noted above, let it roast for a little longer until they are reached, checking about every 10 - 15 minutes.