Advice needed for defrosting turkey!

[MummyBtothree]

I've got a frozen turkey for Christmas dinner but need advice please on how best to defrost and how long. Is it best to defrost over several days or put in the pantry or kitchen to defrost (wasn't sure if it's possible to go 'off' while defrosting). Last year my turkey wasn't as big as this one (approx 7.2kg this one is) and it was still icy in the middle so didn't make it on the table for Christmas day. Any advice greatly appreciated!.

Defrost in the fridge, it could take up to three days for a turkey that size. If you defrost outside the fridge, part of the turkey will reach room temperature (thus allowing bacteria to grow) while the rest of it is still defrosting.

Thank you!, that's kinda how I was thinking

Good luck with all your preparations, you're obviously having a big crowd with a turkey that size.
I don't even eat turkey (pescetarian) so I always feel a bit of a fraud giving advice. It's part of my job, though.

I’ve just defrosted a 6.7kg turkey (for an early Christmas) and it took 60 hours in the fridge and then the final 5 hours out of the fridge to get it to room temperature. I found advice which suggested 12 hours defrosting for every kilogram and this seemed to work.

I've never had one this big before. There's only five of us, and MIL!, DH came home with it last week