Recipe - Handling Turkey

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According to an article in the "LA Times", Nov. 23, 1991, there are
probably more cases of food poisoning, in the US, at least, on Thanksgiving
than any other day of the year. This is mainly due to improper handling,
preparing, and cooking the family turkey. The US Dept of Agrigulture offers
several ironclad rules for preparing the turkey in such a way as to limit
the spread and growth of bacteria in the process. They are: *
Make sure juices from the uncooked bird do not drip onto other foods,
even in the refrigerator. * Carefully wash everything: hands, utensils,
sink, etc. that comes in contact with the raw bird. Use soap and hot water.
*
Don't defrost a frozen turkey at room temperature. Defrost it in the
refrigerator, allowing one day in the refrigerator for each 5 pounds of
bird. *
Don't stuff the bird until just before it goes into the oven. Stuff
itloosely. * Don't cook the bird at temperatures less than 325 F. Long,
slow cooking at low temperatures allows bacteria to grow. * Don't partially
cook the bird the day before and finish cooking it Thanksgiving day. Cook
it in a single, complete operation. You can hasten the cooking process by
using commercial oven cooking bags, and by cooking the stuffing seperately.
* Don't refrigerate a whole, cooked turkey. Carve the bird, cover and
refrigerate the meat. Reheat before serving, making sure the meat and
stuffing reach approximately 165 F. , steaming hot. * Don't allow the
cooked bird to stand unrefrigerated for more than 2 hours after removing
from the oven. A frequent practice is to carve just enough meat from the
bird to serve the meal, and to finish carving the remainder of the bird
later. Do not let later take too long. * Don't use regular paper grocery
bags to cover the bird in the oven. Toxins from glue in the seams can cause
illness.

Recipe By : "LA Times", Nov. 23, 1991

From Gemini's MASSIVE MealMaster collection at www.synapse.com/~gemini