Don’t Wash Your Thanksgiving Turkey, CDC Warns

Nov. 22, 2021

With Thanksgiving astir here, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued tips connected the safest mode to hole your turkey.

First of all, you should not lavation oregon rinse your bird. That whitethorn look counterintuitive, but washing the turkey tin dispersed germs and bacteria each implicit your kitchen.

“Federal nutrient information proposal has recommended against washing turkey oregon chickenhearted since 2005, but immoderate habits are hard to break,” the CDC says, citing a 2020 survey that recovered 78% of respondents did rinse oregon lavation their turkeys.

“Old recipes and household cooking traditions whitethorn support this signifier going, but it tin marque you and your household sick. Poultry juices tin dispersed successful the room and contaminate different foods, utensils, and countertops.”

Next, don’t deliberation astir thawing your frozen turkey connected the counter. When a turkey is near astatine country somesthesia for much than 2 hours, its somesthesia becomes unsafe and whitethorn scope “the information zone” betwixt 40 and 140 degrees Fahrenheit, the CDC says.

Instead, thaw the turkey successful a instrumentality successful the refrigerator; successful a leak-proof integrative container successful a descend of acold h2o (making definite to alteration the h2o each fractional hour); oregon successful the microwave, if you ain 1 large capable to accommodate a turkey.

Other room tips from the CDC:

Keep it clean. Wash your hands with soap for 20 seconds aft handling turkey. Use a abstracted cutting committee for earthy turkey and ne'er spot different foods connected a sheet oregon cutting committee that has held earthy turkey. Wash cutting boards and utensils with blistery soapy water.

Cook your stuffing thoroughly. Whether you navigator it wrong the turkey oregon successful a casserole dish, usage a nutrient thermometer to marque definite the halfway of the stuffing hits 165 degrees Fahrenheit. If you navigator it successful the turkey, hold 20 minutes aft removing the vertebrate from the oven to instrumentality the stuffing out; this allows it to navigator more.

Use a nutrient thermometer connected your turkey. The thawed vertebrate should beryllium placed successful a roasting cookware wrong an oven acceptable astatine 325 degrees Fahrenheit oregon higher. Even if your turkey has a pop-up somesthesia indicator, usage a nutrient thermometer and marque definite it astatine slightest 165 degrees astatine thickest portions of the breast, thigh, and helping joint. Let your turkey beryllium for 20 minutes earlier carving.