Can You Safely Thaw A Turkey At Room Temperature

Because room temperature turkey falls into this danger zone it is not safe to leave a turkey at room temperature before cooking.

Can you safely thaw a turkey at room temperature.

If the turkey is fresh leave it in the refrigerator until you are ready to cook it. It s important to keep the whole turkey at a safe temperature throughout the thawing process to prevent bacterial growth that can lead to foodborne illness. No safety issues as long as you thaw it cold. Thorough cooking would kill microbes but not necessarily all the toxins they may have produced.

Handle your turkey the right way. You can defrost a turkey in the. However you thaw your turkey use a digital tip sensitive thermometer to ensure it has reached an internal temperature of 165f. If the turkey is frozen there are safe ways to thaw it.

When frozen food gets warmer than 40 degrees or is at room temperature for more than 2 hours it s in the danger zone where bacteria multiply quickly. When you thaw chicken at room temperature the outer edges can begin breeding bacteria before the middle begins to thaw. Turkeys must be kept at a safe temperature during the big thaw while frozen a turkey is safe indefinitely. Raw poultry can contaminate anything it touches with harmful bacteria.

I wouldn t eat a large turkey that had been thawed at room temperature. If your turkey weighs 16 pounds it will take about four days to thaw. And the skin probably started to go rancid. Use safe thawing techniques rather than leaving chicken out on your kitchen counter follow one of the handful of foodsafe thawing techniques as recommended by the usda.

Bacteria can grow rapidly in the danger zone between 40 f and 140 f. When the turkey is left out at room temperature for more than 2 hours its temperature becomes unsafe. A year frozen turkey will probably have suffered freezer burn and developed off flavors. We cannot over emphasize food safety when it comes to thawing turkey.

A package of frozen meat or poultry left thawing on the counter more than 2 hours is not at a safe temperature. Uncooked meat or poultry including frozen shouldn t be left at room temperature for more than two hours. Once thawed the turkey is safe for another two days so you can start thawing it six days before thanksgiving the friday before thanksgiving. However as soon as it begins to thaw any bacteria that may have been present before freezing can begin to grow again.

Besides the fact that it is let us say unseemly to defrost a thanksgiving turkey in some random bedroom to say nothing of the bathroom thawing a turkey at room temperature is a terrible practice. That s why you never thaw a frozen turkey at room temperature on your kitchen counter or in hot water.