Defrosting Turkey in an Ice Chest

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Something you usually use just for picnics can do double duty as a mini-refrigerator. Anna María Pérez-Wright has a tip for safe turkey thawing.

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It takes several days to defrost turkey safely in the refrigerator and it's hard to find refrigerator space as holiday time approaches. Food and nutrition specialist Martha Archuleta with New Mexico State University's Cooperative Extension Service says if you're serving turkey for Christmas, you can save precious refrigerator space by defrosting it in an ice chest.

"Put some ice with it. What I usually use is ice frozen in a milk jug. Also put a thermometer in there so you can gauge the temperature. Make sure the temperature doesn't go above 40 degrees. What you've created is a little mini refrigerator and a similar environment to allow the turkey to thaw and not get too warm."

After the turkey thaws, Archuleta recommends cleaning the ice chest first with hot, soapy water, then with a mixture of a teaspoon of bleach to a quart of water. For N-M-S-U's College of Agriculture and Home Economics, I'm Anna María Pérez-Wright.