SERVE A TASTY TURKEY THIS THANKSGIVING - Westchester County Health Department offers safe holiday cooking tips

www.westchestergov.com/health

To assure your Thanksgiving meal doesn’t include a side of salmonella, follow the expert advice from the Westchester County health department to safely prepare and cook your feast.

“When you’re rushing to get a big holiday meal on the table, it’s easy to make a mistake or take a shortcut that could cause your guests to become ill,” said Sherlita Amler, MD, Commissioner of Health. “Follow our safe food handling tips before, during and after the big day and your guests will remember the meal for all the right reasons.”

Frequent hand washing by the chef and all helpers is the key to safe food handling.

“Thoroughly wash your hands after you touch raw poultry and before you handle any ready to serve foods,” said Peter DeLucia, Assistant Commissioner of Public Health Protection. “Follow these seven tips and you’ll be sure to prepare and serve a safe and healthy holiday meal.”

Clean - The number one tip to safely prepare your holiday meal in your home is to keep everything clean.

• Thoroughly wash hands with water and soap for 20 seconds, (Hum the Happy Birthday song twice), before and after handling any food. Make sure that your little chefs do the same!
• Use paper towels to dry hands and surfaces. Rags and sponges can spread bacteria around your kitchen.
• Wash all food-contact surfaces (cutting boards, dishes, utensils, countertops) with hot, soapy water or sanitize them in your dishwasher before and after preparing each food.
• Rinse fruits and vegetables thoroughly under cool running water, (even if being cooked) and use a produce brush to remove surface dirt.

Thaw - Never defrost a turkey by leaving it out at room temperature.

• Allow 24 hours for every 5 pounds to thaw a frozen turkey in the refrigerator.
• To avoid cross contamination, don’t place a thawing turkey or any raw meat, (even if commercially wrapped), where it could drip on any ready-to-serve foods such as fresh fruit or vegetables that won’t be cooked before serving.

Separate and Prepare - Bacteria on raw poultry can contaminate your hands, utensils, and work surfaces as you prepare the turkey.

• Use a separate cutting board for all raw meat and poultry preparation.
• Keep the raw turkey away from vegetables and side dishes that won't be cooked.
• Wash hands, surfaces, and utensils after they touch raw poultry using hot soapy water to avoid spreading harmful bacteria when preparing food.

Many food borne outbreaks have been caused by stuffed, roasted turkey. That’s because it takes a long time for heat to penetrate deep into the cavity, so bacteria can survive inside the bird. -

• Bake stuffing separately in a shallow pan, where it can quickly reach 165°F.
• If you must stuff the bird, do it right before you put it in the oven.

Cook -Turkeys should be cooked to a minimum internal temperature of 165°F. How long it will take depends on oven temperature, temperature fluctuation and turkey weight.

• Insert a 0 to 220 degree probe thermometer deep into the turkey’s thigh.
• If you stuff your turkey, use the probe to make sure the internal temperature of the stuffing is at least 165 degrees.

- To avoid food borne illness, refrigerate leftover turkey, stuffing, etc., within two hours of the time you remove it from the oven.

• Cool soups and stocks in the refrigerator, uncovered in shallow pans. After they reach refrigerator temperature, transfer them to large covered containers.
• Be sure not to pack your refrigerator so tightly that the cool air can’t circulate.
• Avoid filling containers with food deeper than four inches and then stacking multiple containers on top of each other. Once the food is cooled to under 45°F it‘s safe to stack.

– Leftovers, including turkey meat, stuffing and stock should be reheated to at least 165°F before serving. (Make sure to use your metal stem probe thermometer to check!)

For more food preparation safety tips, go to www.westchestergov.com/health, like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/wchealthdept or follow us on Twitter @wchealthdept. The health department can be reached at (914) 813-5000.