UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Hosting your first Thanksgiving gathering can be a challenge, whether it is for a party of four or 20. Planning and preparation are key, and as part of that, first-time cooks should be sure to incorporate good food safety practices, according to a food safety expert in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences.
“Food safety considerations are always important but can be challenging for those who are planning their first holiday event, especially when they are preparing more food than they normally prepare,” said Martin Bucknavage, senior food safety extension specialist in the college’s Department of Food Science. “Tackling all the tasks associated with preparing large amounts of food can put a lot of stress on the novice cook, and small gaps in food safety practices can lead to foodborne illness.”
Part of the preparation is getting a turkey large enough to feed your crowd. If this is a frozen turkey, Bucknavage noted, it is important for food safety purposes to thaw the turkey at refrigeration temperature.
“You should plan to allow sufficient time and space for it to thaw in your refrigerator,” he said. “We recommend allowing one day for every four to five pounds of turkey, so for a 20-pound bird, this will require five days. But if you start thawing a day before you cook, it will result in a turkey with a frozen middle, and this will make cooking to the proper temperature more difficult.”
Bucknavage said if you find that you do not have sufficient time to thaw the turkey in the refrigerator, you can thaw it — in its original wrapper — in a tub of cool water, changing the water every 30 minutes. With this method, it will take roughly 10 hours for a 20-pound bird.
“Remember, do not thaw at room temperature where the exterior of the bird is exposed to warm temperatures for an extended period of time, potentially resulting in the growth of bacterial pathogens,” he said.
Bucknavage noted that it is important to wash hands and surfaces after handling a raw turkey. Always assume that raw meat and poultry, including raw turkeys, can contain pathogenic organisms such as Salmonella, he cautioned.
“When wrestling to get a 20-pound bird out of the wrapping, drops of raw turkey juice are likely to get everywhere, including on your hands and on your counter,” he said. “After getting the turkey into the pan, clean all surfaces with warm soapy water. You can also follow this up with a bit of sanitizing using a light chlorine solution.”
There is no need to wash a packaged turkey purchased at retail, Bucknavage said. This will not do much of anything, outside of spreading more droplets of water contaminated by the raw turkey. The cooking process will eliminate pathogens that are naturally present on the bird.
Cooking a large turkey — depending on its size — can take up to four hours or more when roasting at 325 F. Bucknavage said novice cooks need to build that into their schedule.
“Starting earlier is better than starting late, because it’s better to let the turkey rest after cooking instead of rushing the cooking process,” he said. “The endpoint is when all parts of the turkey reach 165 F or higher. The best way to determine this is to use an accurate meat thermometer. If you don’t have a thermometer, be sure to buy one prior to cooking your turkey.”
The little pop-up temperature indicators that come with some turkeys are just that — indicators, Bucknavage pointed out.
“They indicate that your turkey may be done, but they do not measure deep into the meat,” he said. “Only a good thermometer can accurately measure that the proper temperature has been reached.”
If you fill your bird’s cavity with stuffing prior to cooking, you must ensure that the temperature of the stuffing reaches 165 F as well, since it will have absorbed raw turkey juice, Bucknavage advised.
“The problem, however, is that getting the stuffing to at least 165 degrees will mean that your turkey will likely reach a much higher temperature, perhaps greater than 180, resulting in much drier turkey meat,” he said. “We suggest that you cook the stuffing separately, allowing for better cooking control of both the turkey and the stuffing. And this way, you can prepare much more stuffing if you’re planning a large gathering.”
Handling leftovers is another challenge for first-time Thanksgiving Day cooks. Bucknavage recommends refrigerating leftovers quickly, generally within an hour or two after serving.
“Have plenty of containers or zip-lock bags for packaging and storing,” he said. “If you’re sharing the leftovers, be sure that guests bring coolers, especially if they have to travel hours to get home.”
Bucknavage acknowledged that hosting a large Thanksgiving event for the first time can seem daunting, but with planning and proper food safety practices, it can be a fun, food-safe event.
“We want this first Thanksgiving event to be memorable for the right reasons, not for cases of foodborne illness,” he said.
More information about home food preservation and safety is available on the Penn State Extension website.