No one wants to have to have holiday time overshadowed by a foodborne illness, especially after the Thanksgiving day feast.  There are some easy steps to keeping the ‘happy’ in holidays: Keep food out of the Danger Zone: Bacteria grow rapidly between the temperatures of 40°F and 140°F.  That is what is referred to as […]

Households will soon be preparing for Thanksgiving Day.  While most people will sit down to a roasted turkey, there are also options for deep-frying a turkey and, for those running behind, you can place a still-frozen turkey in the oven and still end up with a meal that you will enjoy.  Following are tips on […]

Thanksgiving Day is full of togetherness, giving thanks, lots of food, and some turkey deep frying horror stories.  From homes burning down to turkeys skyrocketing into the air, safely preparing and frying a turkey doesn’t have to be dangerous.  To avoid becoming one of these Thanksgiving Day horror stories, and to make sure you fry […]

  Stuffing is a big favorite around the Thanksgiving holiday.  Although it is delicious, covered with gravy, and mixed with slices of moist turkey, this side dish can also be dangerous.  Because moist, warm stuffing is an excellent medium for bacterial growth, it’s important to handle it safely and cook it to a safe minimum […]

Are you interested in brining a turkey, but aren’t quite sure how to do it safely?  USDA is at your service!  Though brining may sound like something only done commercially or by a certified chef, it’s quite simple with the right strategy —that means following safe food preparation steps. Brining simply means to soak your […]

Many families purchase a frozen Thanksgiving turkey, and getting the turkey to the table involves “The Big Thaw.”  Turkeys must be kept at a safe temperature during “the big thaw.”  While frozen, a turkey is safe indefinitely.  However, as soon as it begins to thaw, bacteria present before freezing can begin to grow again.  Turkey must […]

Fresh?  Frozen?  Organic?  Natural?  Hen or Tom?  There are plenty of decisions to make when purchasing your Thanksgiving turkey.  Turkeys to be sold fresh are quick-chilled to 40°F or lower at the processing facility, but must not go below a temperature of 26°F.  You may think that turkeys chilled to this temperature would be ‘frozen’, but they […]

Turducken.  The name doesn’t sound appetizing, but once you cut into the triple layers of chicken, duck, and turkey, you can see why people bypass the traditional Thanksgiving turkey for this all-in-one, mega-stuffed delicacy. The Turducken was born in Louisiana when someone decided to debone a chicken, put it inside of a deboned duck that […]