Which Thawing Method Should Be Used. Plan ahead when thawing large items such as turkeys—they can take several days to thaw. 3) place the frozen meat in a microwave oven with no door and cook for 1 minute on high power.

Safe thawing can happen in the refrigerator, in cold water, or in the microwave. Thaw food in a refrigerator at 41˚f (5˚c) or lower to keep dangerous microorganisms from growing. These vary from using water, air or steam through to microwave and radio frequency systems.