Some people do not really know how to defrosting ground turkey. According to the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service, you can thaw frozen ground turkey in 3 ways. You can defrost it in the fridge, cold water, or microwave. If you need to thaw your frozen ground turkey ASAP, using the microwave is the best way for quickly defrosting ground turkey. The USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service suggests to immediately cook any frozen food you have defrosted. Because the food will probably be warm enough to start cooking. This will bring the food to the danger zone, which is between 40ºF to 140ºF where bacteria start to breed.
So, if you prefer to use your microwave to defrost frozen ground turkey, make sure you pay close attention before it starts to cook.
How to Thaw Frozen Ground Turkey
First, you have to remove the frozen ground turkey from the package. Because most packaging materials are not resistant to heat so that they are not meant to be used at high temperatures. Instead, use a microwave-safe container and cover. Also, make sure your microwave has the defrost feature. You can use the feature based on the weight of the ground turkey or the time you want the cycle to run. You generally can defrost per pound of frozen ground turkey within 7 minutes to 8 minutes. It depends on how big and thick the meat is and your microwave’s watt.
What if your microwave is not equipped with a defrost feature? Do not be worried. You can still use your microwave for defrosting ground turkey by setting up the power level to 30 percent. This is what the defrost feature usually works. If your microwave does not keep turning the ground turkey during the defrosting process, you need to manually do it. Stop the microwave and turn the meat in the middle of the defrosting process so that the meat is evenly defrosted.
You can use ground turkey to replace ground beef in any recipes. But, you have to remember that red meat contains more saturated fats that can increase the cholesterol level and worsen heart disease, according to the American Heart Association. So, you are recommended not to consume more than 5.5 ounces of red meat per day for the sake of your health. You can also combine your ground turkey dishes with various vegetables for the balance. That is the way of defrosting ground turkey.
