Thankful For Science For Keeping Food Safe
PINEVILLE — This Thanksgiving many of us will reflect on the things we are thankful for — family, friends, health, freedom. But not many of us will pause to be thankful for the science that helps keep our food safe.
“As you prepare your turkey and stuffing and other holiday foods this year, consider whether you are using food safety principles,” said McDonald County Health Department administrator Paige Behm. “Food safety starts early at Thanksgiving by properly thawing the turkey.”
Behm offers these sciencebased tips to help protect your family from foodborne illness caused by improperly thawing or undercooking a turkey or other holiday foods.
The safest way to thaw a frozen turkey is in the refrigerator, not on the countertop. Allow 24 hours of defrosting time for every four pounds of frozen turkey. Start thawing a 16-pound turkey in the refrigerator four days before cooking it. Place it in a shallow tray to catch any drips and put it on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator.
Turkey can also be safely thawed in cold water. Wrap the turkey securely, making sure water is not able to leak through the wrapping. Submerge the wrapped turkey in cold water. Change the water every 30 minutes. Allow 30 minutes of thawing time for each pound of turkey. So a 16-pound bird will take about eight hours to defrost using the cold water method. The turkey should be cooked immediately after it is thawed.
If roasting your turkey in the oven, set the oven temperature to at least 325 degrees and cook the bird until a food thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the breast meat registers 165 degrees. That should be approximately four hours for a 16-pound turkey. Don’t trust pop-up thermometers. Always use a food thermometer to check the internal temperature of the meat.
Stuffing should be cooked separately from the turkey. Place it in a shallow casserole dish and bake it until its internal temperature also reaches 165 degrees.
After guests have eaten their fill, put leftover turkey in shallow dishes in the refrigerator. Turkey should be refrigerated or stored in the freezer within two hours of coming out of the oven. Enjoy refrigerated leftovers for up to three days, or leftovers from the freezer for up to six months.