Turkey, bad advice!

Many recipes tell you to bring the bird to room temperature before commencing cooking. The reason is that the inner temperature of the bird can be many degrees colder and this stops the thickest section not getting thoroughly cooked.

I picked up our turkey from the farm shop on Christmas eve and it went in the pantry. The aga is a bit of a law unto itself, so I put the turkey into the top oven, breast side down, it had lemons, tangerines and fresh herbs in it's cavity and after three hours I took it out and tested it's temperature before giving it a final blast breast side up. It was ready far too soon but I put it under lots of tin foil and several thick cloths until I was ready to carve. It was moist, carved beautifully and was still hot even after being rested for nearly two hours! I always cook the stuffings separately. Delicious!

GrandmaKT

I don't remember anyone being ill but I do remember the turkey being delicious. After being cooked and carved, it lived in the pantry on the 'thrall'.
Had to ask - what's a 'thrall' kittylester?

A thrall is a stone shelf

I think my Mum had a marble slab in our larder.

Some bacteria such as staphylococcus and bacillus cereus produce toxins that are not destroyed by cooking.
They can linger undetected and make people v ill

The only time we had a truly 'off' turkey, it was a frozen turkey. I took it out of the freezer, the day before to slowly defrost in a cold utility room.

When I unwrapped the turkey on Christms Eve, I thought it was a bit greasy to the feel and had a smell, but I was young and relatively new to cooking Christmas dinners. DH said it looked and smelled OK to him, so I prepared it for cooking, wrapped it in foil and put it outside in the shed, to keep really cool. After lunch DPiL arrived and my MiL asked about the turkey, so I took her out to the she, the smell hit us as we opened the door - and there were blow flies buzzing around!

It was 2.30. The shops closed at 3.00. Thankfully the turkey had been bought in a local dairy/frozen food shop. We bundled the turkey into the boot of the car and drove the several hundred yards to the shop and took it in.

They were mortified and apologetic. They had bought in these turkeys in November from their usual supplier, but the turkeys hadn't been their usual brand and ours was the third turkey from that batch returned, all for the same reason. They had one turkey in their freezer, ordered but not yet collected. They said it it wasn't collected by 3.00pm, we could have it. It was then 2.50. We stood there for 10 minutes. They locked the doors on the dot of 3.00pm - and we had a turkey.

The next problem, it was bigger than our original one and we had to defrost it. When we got home we put it hollow end up in a bucket and every half hour boiled a kettle of water, emptied the cool water out of the bucket, poured the hot water in and concentrated on defrosting access to the internal hollow, which then also got filled with boiling water.

By 10.00pm, the turkey was defrosted and I had just enough time to prepare it before we went to Midnight Mass.

I don't remember anyone being ill but I do remember the turkey being delicious. After being cooked and carved, it lived in the pantry on the 'thrall'.
Had to ask - what's a 'thrall' kittylester?

Primrose53

My turkey has been defrosting slowly in my cold garage. Looks and feels OK.

My garage was so cold the turkey wasnt defrosting after 12 hours so it was defrosted in the kitchen which is cold overnight but not as cold as the garage.

I used to cook turkey by giving it a 20 minute blast at high heat then turned down to 120 and left it in the oven all day, safely sealed in a loose coat of foil. It was always delicious and moist.

My childhood turkey arrived in the same state as GD's.

Ours went in the oven on a low temperature overnight!!

I don't remember anyone being ill but I do remember the turkey being delicious. After being cooked and carved, it lived in the pantry on the 'thrall'.

I remember Christmases as a child when the turkey would come from the butcher fully feathered and with all its innards the day before Christmas Eve. It would be hung in the cellar. My mother would pluck and draw it on Christmas Eve and it would go into the cold pantry until it was stuffed and cooked on Christmas Day. We had no fridge. I never remember anyone having food poisoning. The bird was always delicious.

Our turkey has been left overnight in the larder, which is always cool.

Mine has been in a cold conservatory overnight .

I have had campylobacter, I wouldn’t wish it on anyone.

Our turkey will stay in the fridge until 1 hour before it goes in the oven

HelterSkelter1

I suppose it would mean the internal temp of the turkey would not be still cold and take longer to cook than the outer meat.
It could go in the boot of the car or in the garage as it's pretty cold now at night time.
Our cat wrestled a chicken to the floor which I left out for an hour to come to "room temp". It wasn't too cold for him and, although raw, he ate a leg. I had to serve it resting on one side.

I thought the same and wondered if it would actually be safer? We have also had to keep our turkey in an unheated utility room when we couldn’t get it in the fridge.

Different here - it’s never cold enough to leave out , especially in December.

Apparently Delia is of the school where you take the turkey out of the fridge before you go to bed. She suggests an unheated bedroom or the garage.

My turkey has been defrosting slowly in my cold garage. Looks and feels OK.

One Daughter and family selected turkey for Christmas Lunch, kept it in the fridge, last 18 hours in brine, until cooked. Better safe.

Our central heating is not on overnight; we do have a utility room which is cool so yes, I'd leave it out overnight.
Away from dogs or cats, of course!

We've both had food poisoning, DH from a meal in Wales years ago and me from a pudding in Madeira, again years ago. I have never, as far as I know, given anyone food poisoning.

Fifty years ago my defrosting turkey was demolished by my two cats - the minimal leftovers were still frozen!

I once stored overnight in a very cold utility room covered with a laundry basket. In the morning it was clear it had been nibbled by mice. I swept the droppings off, gave it a rinse and bunged it in the oven .... ! We survived .....

i think that we worry unduly over food poisoning. The number of food poisoning events that can be connected with domestic sources is remarkable small. Most result from problems in the food chain in commercial or institutional settings.

I agree, MOnica,

The common food poisoning bacteria are destroyed at temperatures above 60 degrees C. From what I can recall of my Food Hygiene cert. there aren't any that leave indestructible toxins behind. So if the turkey reaches temperatures above that everywhere during cooking it should be fine. Preferably check with a meat thermometer.

But yes, store it in the coolest place possible overnight if there isn't space in the fridge.

i have never had room in my fridge for the turkey. It gets put on the floor, usually concretein a the garage, utility room or shed.

i think that we worry unduly over food poisoning. The number of food poisoning events that can be connected with domestic sources is remarkable small. Most result from problems in the food chain in commercial or institutional settings.

I do not think I have ever had food poisoning after eating in my own or anyone elses house, nor do I think anyone has had food poisoning after eating in my house.

In my experience a turkey is somewhat bigger than a chicken and would, therefore take longer to cone to room temperature.

I would always get it out overnight - making sure it was out of the wag of marauding pets.

But that's not what's meant by room temperature is it ?