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Posted by Judy Arbique Dec 16, 2007 |
Food safety precautions recommend thawing food in the refrigerator or in cold water. Your turkey was full of bacteria when in its living state. At slaughter, the bacteria did not die: they remained, and if given the chance to grow before cooking, can be transferred to other food products through handling and contact with utensils and surfaces. Wash your hands and food preparation surfaces often.
Food safety guidelines recommend that the stuffing be cooked in a casserole dish rather than in the poultry - you can hardly call that stuffing! Isn’t it called stuffing because it is stuffed in the bird? That same cavity used to house the turkey’s gut where bacteria such as Salmonella and Campylobacter were known to inhabit. If you prefer your stuffing stuffed, ensure that the internal temperature of the stuffing reaches a safe cooking temperature that will kill harmful bacteria: a minimum internal temperature of 165F is recommended. Temperature measurement requires a food thermometer, an item many people are unfamiliar with.
After cooking, the stuffing should be removed from the turkey to reduce the risk of contaminating the stuffing with harmful bacteria that survived the cooking process and begins to grow during cooling.
Cooked foods should not sit at room temperature after cooking. As the food cools to room temperature, harmful bacteria that survived the cooking process may grow and result in illness. Refrigeration helps prevents growth of harmful bacteria. If your refrigerator is too small to house the cooked poultry, remove the meat from the bones and refrigerate or freeze in storage containers. Make this part of the post-feast cleanup.
Be safe this holiday season: give your family and friends a reason to return to your table again next year.
Read more about food safety:
Chicken Contamination: Salmonella and Campylobacter Concerns