Well this is a wonderfully spirited and informative discussion, and since we still have a couple weeks to the big holiday day, I m still absorbing all this advice and finely tuning
(some may say procrastinating) my final decision on The Big Thaw. Steve, it took me a little while but I did finally realize you meant Celsius! Your temp is exactly correct once I convert to Farenheit. Mrrzy, your link to the Washington Post, which I regard as a responsible and reliable publication, is most valued. So right now, I m hoping to do the thawing while cooking, in the interest of expediency- though let's face it, when we re dealing with any sort of frozen turkey, especially one the size of a small planet- there is no expediency.

I too have a fridge that would require a day or two shuffling and emptying to put the turkey in to thaw. And then, where would I put all the stuff I took out of the fridge? So that s second on the list. A distant second.

I have pondered the idea , if I decide to eat everything on the fridge in the next week or so, of doing a partial thaw in the fridge and then straight to the oven. But that seems to be complicating what is an already complicated mission. And I m looking for simple!
In fact I d forgotten that I need to buy an oven rack, and asking myself; did my grandmas ever use an oven rack?? I don t think so.

So.....I think for now stovetop stuffing is a very appealing option. I don t have a huge kitchen. There s barely enough counterspace for this turkey, not to mention loaves of bread.

I want to state for the record, btw, that up until a few years ago-okay maybe a few decades ago but still in the realm of the late 20th century, l- my family and friends and neighbors all thawed everything on the kitchen counter and no one died. In fact every kid in the town I grew up in had a pet turtle, and no one got salmonella. I m never one for conspiracy theories, but I m starting to suspect this whole salmonella thing is a myth started by peta or the vegan society or perhaps some turkey pots and pans retail organization. Did Bed Bath and Beyond invent this whole salmonella thing?

I m tempted to leave this dwarf avian glacier on the counter a couple days and take my chances.

But I won't. Like General MacArthur , after I thaw and truss and and fuss and dress and coddle and cook and serve this bohemothbird- I shall return. And I will give a full accounting to anyone still sensient after stuffing ourselves with holiday fare to listen.

Thanks cats, and all are welcome to keep gabbling and gobbling here if you like.