So, you bought that frozen turkey for Thanksgiving on Thursday, now you need to thaw it out. If it’s a big one, you might need to get started today!
“It’ll take about 24 hours for every five pounds of turkey,” says Meredith Carothers with USDA’s Meat and Poultry Hotline. She adds that thawing your bird in the refrigerator is the best way to do it. Many try to thaw it at room temperature, and that’s the absolute worst way to do it.
“Thawing at room temperature is definitely a big no-no. The longer that a product, especially raw turkey, is out at room temperature, the more opportunity bacteria have to grow and those then could create heat resistant toxins that won’t be killed by the cooking process, and then if you eat those, it could essentially make you sick.”
Another big no-no that could make people sick is, “not sanitizing and cleaning your surfaces after that raw turkey might have been there.”
You know that food thermometer you got Dad for Father’s Day because he doesn’t know what medium rare is? Carothers says don’t rely just on the pop-up timer on your turkey. Use that food thermometer too.
“And we really recommend checking the temperature in the thickest part of the breast, the innermost part of the wing and the innermost part of the thigh.”
And if you want to enjoy your leftovers throughout the weekend, make sure you get them put away in a timely manner so they don’t get covered in bacteria. According to Carothers, “Two hours is at maximum timeframe that they should be allowed to stay out.”
Those are just some of the holiday meal no-no’s that cause thousands of illnesses every year that could have been prevented. If you have questions about preparing your Thanksgiving meal, the USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline will be open Thanksgiving Day from 8-2 Eastern time at 888-674-6854 or visit ask.usda.gov.
Source: USDA Radio Newsline
