The real safety rules are two things . Rule one is for water temp . if you thaw under water if it is for a long period of time use cold water and load it into the fridge to keep the temp in the safe zone . If it ' s only for a little bit warm is fine as long as it doesn ' t exceed two hours poultry should never be left in that temo range for more then two hours . Rule Two leave the plastic on . According to the CDC most cases of salmonella aren ' t directly from the bird . It ' s from when you poured the water over the bird and it splashed it threw the salmonella everywhere . Which later led to cross contamination . Leaving the plastic on prevents this as it ' s all sealed inside . However you should still thoroughly clean any working areas including the sink beforeafter working with poultry or any meat and when switching between foods . To avoid cross contamination .