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C

C. Howlett

TVWBB Super Fan
In my ongoing efforts to economize my food budget, I sought out a natural turkey. This is NOT the bird that has been "injected with a 5% to 8% solution" of who knows what to enhance moisture. After weeks of searching, I found a nice, 23 pound bird. I placed it in the fridge for a slow defrost and made a lovely, fruity brine with apples and pears. On the morning before my scheduled burn, I found the bird needed another half day to completely defrost. I went to bed with dreams of succulent turkey dancing in my head.

That afternoon, I woke up ready, willing and able to smoke and found that the bird had shifted position and popped the fridge door open about an inch - on the hottest day of the year. The interior of the fridge was about 70 degrees as was the bird. For a mad moment, I considered throwing it into the WSM any, but common sense prevailed and I threw it out with no small amount of profane pronouncements. I love my WSM, but I just couldn't risk food poisoning.
 
It's a shame, but you did the right thing. You only need to get food poisoning once, and afterwards you become very very cautious about what and where you eat.
 
Sorry, but the risk of food poisoning was pretty much nil--unless you planned on eating it raw.

None of the pathogens likely to be present would have survived cooking.
 
Originally posted by Chad Harwick:
I would have cooked it
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Me too. How many Thanksgiving turkeys have been eaten over the years that sat out all night on the counter or in the sink. Not to mention it was in a brine, so the salt would have helped out some.
 
That really sucks. But if you were to cook it, I would be more concerned with the temps after cooking as far as storage, rather than getting food poisoning from it pre-cook. A 23 lb bird if not eaten in entirety would have internal temps that would hang in the danger zone for too long, if not properly processed.

Although, this might be slightly obvious, I can't imagine too many people leaving a huge bird sitting out on a countertop for hours. Some still do.
 
Originally posted by Tom Chips:
Although, this might be slightly obvious, I can't imagine too many people leaving a huge bird sitting out on a countertop for hours. Some still do.
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Well just depends who you are talking about. Us here on TVWBB or the masses. Us no, we know better. But the masses, way more than you think.
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my mother i think knew little about food safety. broke every rule. i don't remember any of us getting sick. cross contamination? oh yea.
bird on the counter? for sure. stuffing uncooked? was required. but everything was always over cooked otherwise.
 
oh yea...we had a neighbor...the night before thanksgiving out on the counter it went....ALL night long. My SIL...routinely will take chicken out of the freezer mid morning, throw it in the sink and leave it there till dinner. I ain't eating her chicken!!!
 
I have to disagree with most. I think the government has done a great job of putting fear into Americans about food safety. Because of it, most Americans over cook their meats (especially with fears of eating pink pork, completely ridiculous) or will completely throw the food away. I agree with Tom Chips and be much more concerned with temps. after cooking the bird. I definitely would not have thrown the turkey away.

My mom has left chickens to defrost over night in the sink for the last 30 years, and to this day, no one in the family has been sick.

Erik
 
Originally posted by Erik G:
I have to disagree with most.
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As far as what? It's a 50/50 split on toss and cook it. Or you think that the majority of people don't let frozen meat sit out for hours and/or overnight? If the latter, Oh yes they still do. The cooking part I agree with, that most over cook, or cook it to make sure that it's def dead.
 
My mom has left chickens to defrost over night in the sink for the last 30 years, and to this day, no one in the family has been sick.

Erik
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Because, again, cooked to safe internals the chicken is safe.

The pathogens on poultry will grow when the meat substantially warms after defrosting. None of these pathogens are heat resistant and none sporulate or produce heat-stable toxins. There are other meats and food items where this might be a concern pre-cooking and would definitely be a concern were the turkey in question already cooked. Contamination by Staph. aureus, much more likely to occur after cooking, would be a concern because it is a toxigen, producing toxins that even high-temp reheating will not affect.
 
My mom has the worst food handling practices of anyone. She would have definitely cooked that bird. She's from vietnam, from an era where there were no refridgeration. Even today a lot of houses in her town don't ahve a fridge.

You ever buy raw beef sitting in the hot tropical sun on a wood table in the middle of the market, that's been there at least a few hours? I haven't either, but I ate it. 70F? That's almost arctic
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On a sidenote, i was watchign Jamie Oliver's show a few weeks back, that was his "BBQ Show." He made one BBQ marinade, and proceeded to marinate a chicken, a leg of lamb, and a rack of pork ribs. All in one vessel. He's like this with his other episodes too. Cross contam? Never heard of it. And yes he did cook the lamb to medium/rare and ate it.
 
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