food thermodynamics: place your bets
Question
How long will it take to thaw a 40 pound turkey in a small refrigerator that is set to 36-38F?
Additional data points
- It is one of those dorm/hotel room sized refrigerators and the turkey occupies ~80% of it. We took out all the shelving and there is a little freezer section.
- It is in my garage, which is warm, probably upper 70s, in the daytime and cools down to ~mid-60s at night.
- It's been about 36 hours so far and I can press down on the breast maybe 1/2 inch before hitting stuff that is solidly frozen. Maybe. (Did I mention this sucker is HUGE?)
There's bragging rights, if not much else, at stake here. I'll post a guess later - I think we've got a few days to contemplate this question before it gets much closer to thawed.
Then I have to figure out what to do with it. Hmmm...