Defrosting a whole chicken

[OhDorWheresthesalad]

I put a whole frozen chicken in the fridge yesterday, went away for the night, returned to find the chicken is still frozen. Any chance it will be ok to cook by 5pm and if not, is the 'cold water method' safe?

I'd have defrosted it out of the fridge tbh as it can take days in the fridge depending on size

Cold water works well, just be very careful not to splash the water around as any bacteria can be spread.

Just cook it from frozen, use a thermometer to check it’s cooked inside. Longer and slower than you would normally. I do this fairly frequently.

Yup, cook it from frozen! It will be fine. Turn down the temp, give it an extra half an hour. Check it with a thermometer.

Thank you all. I would normally have left it out, but as I wasn't here and I have a badly behaved cat, I didn't dare risk it. It's mostly defrosted now so will cook thoroughly and check the temperature.