By Christine McPheter
Thanksgiving is here in just a few days. The weather has been so nice, that it is sneaking upon us. While the holidays can be stressful, don’t let the holiday meal stress you out! Take time to plan ahead to ease the stress and have success.
- If buying a whole turkey, plan for one pound per person.
- Plan for about one week to thaw a frozen turkey in the refrigerator safely. Do not wash the turkey before cooking.
- Use a food thermometer to determine doneness; all poultry products should reach a minimum 165°F. I for one, love to cook my stuffing in the turkey-Love the moisture of the stuffing and the flavors are over the top, but that inside stuffing needs to reach 165degrees F.
- More information can be found at Food Safety for Holiday Meals.
Let’s start Planning
A Few days before cooking
- Make a list well ahead of the holiday. Include a timeline when activities should happen, whether five days before the meal, two days before or two hours before. Will the turkey go in the oven? In a countertop roaster? If the turkey will take up oven space, think about other foods you’ll prepare and how. Utilize your stovetop, slow cooker or electric pressure cooker.
- Wash your hands and surfaces often throughout food preparation.
- How long to thaw the turkey depends on the size of the turkey. Plan for a 12- to 16-pound turkey to thaw for a full week in the refrigerator. If thawing a smaller one, move it from the freezer to the refrigerator the weekend before Thanksgiving.
- Forgot to thaw the bird in advance? Submerge it in clean, cool water in a large pot, but change the water every 30 minutes or so. This takes about 30 minutes per pound as opposed to several days in the refrigerator. Never thaw any meat at room temperature. If you forget to thaw the frozen turkey, it can be cooked from a frozen state, but it will take about 1-1/2 times the amount of time that it would take to cook a thawed turkey. You’ll have to cook for an hour or two then get in that neck and take out the plastic parts. They will be frozen and hard to get out-but Don’t forget.
- When prepping the turkey, there’s no need to rinse it. Food scientists say rinsing any meat or poultry can splash water with bacteria on countertops and other foods. Cooking it properly will take care of any potential bacteria.
- Cook turkey at 325 degrees F or higher until a meat thermometer inserted in the meatiest area, typically the thigh, shows 165 degrees F. Take readings in a couple of places.
- Cover the turkey with a lid or aluminum foil to ensure consistent cooking. Take the lid or foil off toward the end of cooking for extra browning. If using a cooking bag, start with the breast down and then bring the turkey to the top and it will brown up nicely.,
- Don’t rely on pop-up thermometers only. Pop-up thermometers that come with some turkeys indicate temperature, but not the true temperature of the innermost part of the turkey. These can pop up before the bird is cooked through.
- Making stuffing? Bake in a separate pan from the turkey, so it easily reaches (also required) 165 degrees F. If you stuff the bird, stuff it loosely. Packing it tightly slows down the time to reach 165 degrees F.
- Let the turkey “rest” for 15-20 minutes when it comes out of the oven. It helps the juices reincorporate into the meat.After the meal
- To help prevent foodborne illness, don’t let food sit out more than two hours after it comes out of the oven or off the stove. That invites potential bacterial growth and no one wants foodborne illness after a nice holiday meal.
- Keep cold foods cold and hot foods hot. Avoid leaving perishable foods in the temperature danger zone, 40-140 degrees F, for more than two hours.
- Turkey meat will chill faster if you take the meat off the bones. Save the bones in the refrigerator or freezer to make turkey soup.
- Store leftover foods in a flat, wide container (about 2 inches high) before refrigerating if possible. That helps it chill faster which keeps bacteria from growing. Freeze leftovers that cannot be used within three to four days.
More information is available from K-State on the general food safety website and on the holiday food safety webpage.
Storing Eggs Safely
I have been so lucky to score some fresh farm eggs for cooking. But I also have a site that I follow on Facebook that does home canning and home cooking all from scratch. But some of the methods this person uses are not recommended today. So if you are purchasing farm eggs, please follow these guidelines.
Storing eggs safely is important for quality and safety. Some older methods of storing eggs are not recommended today due to advancements and knowledge of egg safety. One method that has recently surfaced is storing eggs in lime water which is not recommended.
When this method was popular in the early 1900’s, they thought that eggs were sterile inside and all bacteria came through the shell after the eggs were laid. But research shows that Salmonella enteritidis can contaminate the eggs as they are being formed inside the reproductive organ of the hen and there is no way a person can know it is there or not.
Since the method requires using unwashed eggs, they will likely come from smaller flocks. A study from Penn State University determined that small, home flocks have a much higher incidence of Salmonella than large commercial operations.
Another concern is about using lime water and the fact that it could seep through the egg shell. The risk of storing eggs for long periods of time include loss of nutrients, several oxidative reactions, changes in protein functionality, and a strong bitter taste from the lime.
A study from USDA Agricultural Research Service compares how eggs are stored in Europe and how eggs are stored in the U.S. Results showed that refrigeration is best for safety and quality. Learn more about safe egg storage in this USDA publication, Shell Egg from Farm to Table.
https://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsis/topics/food-safety-education/get-answers/food-safety-fact-sheets/egg-products-preparation/shell-eggs-from-farm-to-table/ct_index
New “Feed Your Mind” Materials
The “Feed Your Mind” program is a consumer education initiative to provide science-based information on genetically engineered foods, commonly called GMOs or genetically modified organisms.
New videos and consumer facts sheets are now available. There are also Spanish translations of fact sheets and infographics.
Another addition is a high school curriculum for the 2020-2021 school year called “Science and Our Food Supply: Exploring Food Agriculture and Biotechnology.” Learn more at https:// bit.ly/3l74JOS.
