Thawing the Turkey

I always try to get a big turkey. That way we have plenty of leftovers. Enough for us and to send home with family. This year it is 19.65 lbs. That is great, except that it takes longer to thaw and longer to cook. Several years ago I got a meat thermometer and I forgot to take it out of the turkey after I measured the temperature and the plastic protective part on its face melted into the drippings. The gravy was really good that year. Since then we've relied on those pop-up timers that come in the bird. Last year it took forever to cook the turkey and eventually we had most of the meal without the turkey. It ended up taking over 6 hours before the "tender timer pop-up roasting gauge" popped up. This year I think I might set my alarm for the middle of the night and get up and put the turkey in. Then I'll go back to sleep. Or maybe we can just plan to eat at 4 instead of 12:30. At least we'll try to avoid filling the house with smoke like we did two years ago when we had a fire in the oven (there was a leak in the roasting pan). Ah, memories. A good site for turkey cooking references is www.the-perfect-turkey.com (though it says 4 1/2 hours for a 20lb turkey like everyone else and that has NOT ever been long enough for us).