Turkey Temp. Confusion: 180 or 160?

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Help me out here. How come Butterball says to cook a turkey to 180 and this forum says 160-165?
That's a pretty big difference.

How will a WSM-smoked turkey turn out if cooked to 180 'deep into the thigh' as butterball recommends?

I know bacteria is killed at 160, but will the turkey be cooked properly and taste good?

As always, your experience will be helpful.

Peter
 
Peter.....Welcome!

One of the hardest parts of smoking whole chicks and turks is this temp difference.

BREASTS are done at 160?..the temp that salmonella is killed. However, the thigh and other dark meat is not yet cooked. They need to be brought to 180?....measured in the thigh.

So, how do you assure that the thighs get to 180?, while keeping the breasts from drying?

I like to blast the bird for 30 minutes at 500?...sorry, I don't use the WSM for my poultry! After 30 minutes, turn down to 350?, tent the bird with foil and finish cooking. The foil will help to reflect the heat from the breast meat down into the thigh. It will also help to avoid burning of those breasts.

So, when talking poultry, you must pay attention to 2 temps......breasts, 160? and thighs, 180?.
 
Hi Peter,
The difference has to do with breast and thigh tempatures . 160- 165 is what is advised for the breast. 170-175 in the thigh. The meat is very done at 165 IMHO it dries out when the breast is over 165.
 
Much like the different muscles in a pork butt roast will measure different temps at the same time, so will dark and white poultry. I find, with few exceptions, that when the breast measures 160-165, the thigh measures 175-180. I used to do the same thing as Stogie in the oven, but I now find I like my brined and smoke roasted turkeys better.
 
While food safety agencies continue to push for 180*F in the thigh, more and more cooking magazines, cook books, and cooking shows on television are opting for 160-165*F in the breast, 170-175*F in the thigh.

My approach is to cook the breast to 160*F, knowing that it will rise ~5*F during a 15-20 minute rest before carving. After the rest, first thing I do is remove the drumsticks/thighs. Separate the two pieces, and if the thigh still looks a bit bloody, just throw into a baking dish in a 400*F oven for about 10 minutes or microwave for 1-3 minutes while slicing the breast meat and prepping other stuff.

A lot of this is covered in the Turkey Selection & Preparation article, for those who are interested.

Regards,
Chris
 
I did a Jenni-O bone-in breast last weekend indoors. The package said to cook to 180. I set my Taylor for 160 based on info from this site. Funny thing is, the little plastic dealy had popped already indicating that the turkey was done, but not at the 180 that the package stated.

BTW, I let it rest about 40 minutes (breast down) while I finished up the squash and pumpkin pie. That was one moist and tender turkey breast. Next time, though, it's going on the WSM.
 
I think it depends. If you brine the bird you can cook it higher. I don't personally like any pink around the bones. I've cooked brined birds as high as 180f in the breast and it was still very moist and tender. I usually take it off around 170f or so in the breast. I also like to carve it and throw it in gravy mixed with some of drippings in a slowcooker till were ready to eat. Really good flavor! I usually don't have to worry about the thighs cuase I usually buy just the whole breasts. Although right now I've got a 7.5lb whole bird on right now. Man it's cooking fast too! It's been on for an hour and 15 minutes and it's past 150f in the breast already. Been running smoker temps of around 275f.

Good luck to everyone else on there birds today. And Happy Thanksgiving.
 
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