How long can you keep a butterball turkey in the freezer

Q: Can you cook Butterball turkey from frozen?

Your secret weapon, Butterballs Cook from Frozen Stuffed Turkey goes from the freezer, to the oven, to the table – no thawing and no fuss preparing stuffing.

Table of Contents Show

1 Week Before Thanksgiving or Christmas
The Day Before Thanksgiving or Christmas
Thanksgiving or Christmas Day
How Long Can You Keep Leftover Turkey?
Sell-By vs. Use-By
How Long Will a Fresh Turkey Keep When Refrigerated?
What Will Happen If I Wait Longer?
Why Stores Can Store Turkey Longer
How Long Will The Turkey Last Once It’s Cooked?
Tips on Freezing Turkey
How To Freeze Cooked Turkey
The Bottom Line
How long can a turkey stay in the freezer before it goes bad?
What happens if you thaw a Butterball turkey?
Can you cook Butterball turkey from frozen?
Can you keep a frozen turkey in the refrigerator for 7 days?

If you're considering roasting a turkey for various holiday plans, like an intimate Christmas dinner or a Thanksgiving meal, there's a lot to consider when it comes to timing when to defrost and roast of your turkey. How long will it take to thaw a whole turkey? How long can a thawed turkey last in the refrigerator? Consider using this calculator from Butterball and following tips from Butterball's turkey experts to help plan your timing.

1 Week Before Thanksgiving or Christmas

Pick up your frozen turkey from the grocery store or schedule it for delivery on this day.
It will take one day per four pounds of turkey to defrost.
Once it's thawed, the turkey can be refrigerated for an additional four days before it needs to be cooked.
When you are ready to thaw, keep the turkey in its plastic wrap and place it on a rimmed sheet tray or roasting pan to keep any juices from making a mess in your fridge. Put it in the coldest part of your fridge to defrost, or better yet, store it in a spare fridge that isn't opened often.

The Day Before Thanksgiving or Christmas

Want to prep the bird the day before? Go ahead! Just pat the turkey dry with paper towels, season to your liking, and cover it with foil before returning it to the fridge.
Remember to prep the turkey and get it back into the fridge as soon as possible. Also, do not put the turkey on the roasting pan you plan to use. You don't want that pan to be ice cold when it goes into the oven.

Thanksgiving or Christmas Day

Have a plan before the big day. Decide on a time you want to serve dinner, and know how long your turkey recipe will take you.
Remember: no matter your cooking method, make sure the bird reaches an internal temperature of 135°F in less than four hours of cooking. That's a food safety concern, as you don't want the turkey to hover in the danger zone of 40°F to 140°F for longer than that!
Tack on an additional hour to your cook time for checking the internal temperature (which lowers the oven temperature and slows down the cooking process), letting the bird rest, and carving the turkey.
Let's say the total cooking and prepping time is four and a half hours and you want to serve at 3 p.m., then you'll need to get the bird into the oven at 10:30 a.m.
Once the turkey is out of the oven, you have two hours to carve it, eat it, and put the wrapped leftovers into the fridge. Plan on carving the entire bird in one go as a food safety concern (remember: even cooked meat has a danger zone!).

How Long Can You Keep Leftover Turkey?

Refrigerated turkey leftovers will keep for three days. After that, the turkey proteins begin to break down.
Either toss any remaining leftovers after day three or freeze them for up to two months.

—Additional reporting by Lauren Harano and Theresa Massony

Buying frozen turkeys might be the norm, but many consumers prefer to seek out fresh poultry whenever possible. The problem is, you’ll have to cook it off quickly to ensure that it remains fresh. Exactly how long can you keep a fresh turkey in the refrigerator before cooking it? Our guide will give you the answer.

Fresh turkey should keep in the refrigerator for 1 to 2 days. If you wait any longer, the meat might begin to show signs of spoilage. Store the bird in the coldest section of the fridge, and freeze it if you aren’t going to be able to cook it off within 48 hours.

Sell-By vs. Use-By

Don’t rely on any “sell-by” dates you might see on the turkey’s packaging. These are put in place as guidelines for the sellers. They’re not intended to be used as recommendations for the consumer.

That said, if you see a “use-by” or a “best by” date on the package, feel free to use it as a storage guideline. The turkey should keep in the refrigerator until this date as long as the package is unopened and the refrigerator temperature is set below 40 degrees. If you won’t be able to cook the turkey within that time frame, freeze it instead.

How Long Will a Fresh Turkey Keep When Refrigerated?

With proper storage, a fresh turkey can last in the fridge for up to 2 days. We would recommend cooking it off as soon as possible after bringing it home, preferably within a day.

Note that we’re referring to turkeys that you’ve purchased fresh from the store, not previously frozen turkeys that you’ve thawed in the fridge. However, the rules aren’t all that different for thawed turkeys. Once the bird has fully defrosted, you’ll have 1 to 2 days to prepare and enjoy it before it starts to deteriorate.

What Will Happen If I Wait Longer?

Storing fresh turkey for longer than 2 days will increase the risk of spoilage. The pathogens responsible for spoiled meat are different from the ones that cause food poisoning, but you’ll still want to avoid them at all costs.

When the turkey starts to go bad, it may display various warning signs, like a slimy texture or a foul, egg-like odor. You won’t necessarily get sick from eating the spoiled meat, but it won’t be anywhere near as delicious as you’d hoped.

A healthy adult might suffer from a mild upset stomach after consuming spoiled turkey. Children, the elderly, and the immunocompromised are prone to more serious illness. Therefore, if you’re serving the turkey as the centerpiece of a multi-generational celebration, there’s more risk involved.

Why Stores Can Store Turkey Longer

You might be wondering how supermarkets and butcher shops can ever turn a profit on turkey sales if the birds are going to spoil in such a short period of time. In truth, the answer is a simple one: superior refrigeration techniques.

Commercial coolers are routinely inspected for quality and receive regular maintenance as a result. It’s also easier for workers to tell precisely how cold the conditions are. With home refrigerators, the temperature rises slightly every time you open the door, which can be problematic when storing fresh poultry.

You can help to alleviate this problem by keeping the refrigerator door closed as much as possible. If you have a second refrigerator that’s large enough to store the turkey, consider using that one instead. In any case, put the bird in the back of the fridge on a lower shelf, using a pan with sides high enough to catch any juices that might drip off.

How Long Will The Turkey Last Once It’s Cooked?

Cooked poultry, including turkey, should keep for 3 to 4 days in the fridge. Make sure to keep it in a tightly sealed container, and store it in the coldest portion of the fridge. This will help it last longer, though you should still consume or freeze any leftovers within 4 days.

Note that these guidelines apply to any leftovers from turkey that you’ve prepared yourself. Deli turkey, on the other hand, can keep in the fridge for up to 5 days. That’s because the meat has been treated with additives that give it a longer shelf life.

Tips on Freezing Turkey

While it might seem counterproductive to buy a fresh turkey only to stick it in the freezer, you might have no choice if you don’t intend to cook it right away. Here’s how to store a fresh turkey in the freezer for use at a later date.

First, set aside 5 or 6 layers of high-quality plastic wrap. Wash your hands before handling any raw poultry product.

Cover the turkey in the plastic wrap, taking care not to leave any of the skin bare. That’s why you’re using several layers—to ensure that the entire surface of the bird is wrapped as tightly as possible. Otherwise, there could be freezer-burned patches on the skin, which will affect the texture when you’re ready to cook the turkey.

Store the bird in the deepest, coldest part of the freezer. For best results, thaw and cook it off within 1 year. It will keep indefinitely, but past the one-year mark, the quality may begin to deteriorate. It’s also a good idea to perform regular checks to ensure that your freezer temperature is at 0 degrees Fahrenheit.

One caveat: Butterball claims that their turkey will still be of superior quality even after spending 2 years in the freezer. If you can find the Butterball brand and it fits within your budget, consider stocking up on one or more of their products. Just make sure you have enough room in your freezer before you make the purchase.

How To Freeze Cooked Turkey

Freezing leftover cooked turkey requires a similar set of guidelines. First and foremost, make sure to refrigerate any leftovers within 2 hours. Freeze the cooked turkey meat using heavy-duty zip-top freezer bags, squeezing the bags to remove as much air as possible. Label each bag with the contents and the date, and thaw within 6 months.

The Bottom Line

Plan on cooking and enjoying your frozen turkey no more than 2 days after buying it. This means that if you want to use a fresh turkey next Thanksgiving, you should arrange to pick up the bird no earlier than Tuesday.

Best of luck, and happy grilling!

How long can a turkey stay in the freezer before it goes bad?

You can keep a frozen turkey for a whopping two years, according to Butterball. Make sure the meat stays frozen for the entire time. For instance, if your power went out during the storage period and your turkey began to thaw, throw it out.

What happens if you thaw a Butterball turkey?

DO NOT THAW a commercially pre-stuffed frozen turkey before cooking. If this product has been placed in the refrigerator, and it has completely thawed, discard both the turkey and the stuffing. The raw stuffing introduces additional bacteria.

Can you cook Butterball turkey from frozen?

Your secret weapon, Butterball's Cook from Frozen Stuffed Turkey goes from the freezer, to the oven, to the table – no thawing and no fuss preparing stuffing.

Can you keep a frozen turkey in the refrigerator for 7 days?

Pick up your frozen turkey from the grocery store or schedule it for delivery on this day. It will take one day per four pounds of turkey to defrost. Once it's thawed, the turkey can be refrigerated for an additional four days before it needs to be cooked.