Many folks are preparing for the Thanksgiving Holiday with friends and family and it’s a good idea to remember some important cooking tips when it comes to your turkey. USU Extension Office Emery County, Christine Jensen took time to share some turkey cooking tips with listeners.
The rule of thumb for thawing a turkey is to do so in the refrigerator because the temperature is consistent. “You always thaw it in a refrigerator, don’t thaw it out in your garage, or in the back of your car, or any place like that. Always thaw it in a refrigerator where the temperature is constant. Start today if you have a large bird, you can start Monday if it’s a 4 to 11 pound turkey and that way it will be all thawed ready for Thanksgiving Day to cook it and you can get everything out of it, all the giblets out, and you can cook it just fine with no problems,” said Jensen. A thawing turkey must defrost at a safe temperature.
Another method to thaw out your turkey is the cold-water method. “What you want to do is put it in a clean sink, leave wrapped up like when you bought it from the store, and then every 30 minutes you need to change that cold water, and drain the water out and add new water to it and let it sit for 30 minutes, allow a half-hour thaw time for each pound of meat,” explained Jensen. Make sure that water is not able to leak through the wrapping.
“A turkey has to be cooked to 165 degrees Fahrenheit so you want to make sure that your bird reaches that temperature, using a meat thermometer and you want it in the thickest part of the meat so probably in the thigh or breast portion. If you stuff your turkey, they don’t recommend stuffing turkeys anymore. They recommend that you cook your stuffing or dressing, whatever you call it, separately in a separate dish,” said Jensen. Bacteria can survive in stuffing that has not reached 165 degrees Fahrenheit and may then cause food poisoning.
If you have any questions about cooking your turkey feel free to contact Christine Jensen at the USU Extension Office Emery County at (435) 381-3535.