Can you leave a fresh frozen turkey out overnight to thaw?

hell no! you could kill someone with turkey like that.

Another answer:Here's the deal. Ideally, your turkey should be either lower than 42F or over 120F. Logic tells us this is not always possible. So the idea is to minimize the time spent in "the zone". Depending on the size of your turkey, outside in a cool climate for a night may work well to defrost it. Big turkeys take more time obviously.

In ideal circumstances it's a good idea to defrost your turkey in the fridge at around 38F, which, depending on conditions, may take a few days.

What you want to watch out for is:

1. Poultry lingering at room temp. It's a surefire problem eventually.

2. Leaving part of the bird frozen (like forgetting to removef the giblets). In an oven this isn't too much of a problem, but if you deep fry it, frozen stuff tends to flash to steam, which can virtually explode -- in 350F+ grease, this is a bomb.

Just be aware that bacteria loves the temperature region between 42F and about 110F. Keep the bird out of that range as much as you can.

Note that most sources call the meat "safe" at an internal temp pf >= 165F. This is pretty dry for most of us, but safe. Your call.