Can You Let A Turkey Thaw At Room Temperature

You should never thaw a frozen turkey on the counter at room temperature or in hot water.

Can you let a turkey thaw at room temperature.

Besides the fact that it is let us say unseemly to defrost a thanksgiving turkey in some random bedroom to say nothing of the bathroom thawing a turkey at room temperature is a. It s important to keep the whole turkey at a safe temperature throughout the thawing process to prevent bacterial growth that can lead to foodborne illness. If it is in a sealed package it could be quick thawed under cool running water then immediately cooked. That low temperature could be just what the harmful bugs need to thrive.

Thorough cooking would kill microbes but not necessarily all the toxins they may have produced. I wouldn t eat a large turkey that had been thawed at room temperature. Under either of those methods the outer layer of the turkey can sit between the bacteria breeding temperatures of 40 f and 140 f for far too long to be safe. No safety issues as long as you thaw it cold.

Because room temperature turkey falls into this danger zone it is not safe to leave a turkey at room temperature before cooking. If the turkey is frozen there are safe ways to thaw it. That s why you never thaw a frozen turkey at room temperature on your kitchen counter or in hot water. If the turkey is fresh leave it in the refrigerator until you are ready to cook it.

We call that temperature between 41. There are food safety issues with thawing at room temperature and it is not recommended. When you thaw chicken at room temperature the outer edges can begin breeding bacteria before the middle begins to thaw. The laws of physics are apparently different north of the 49th parallel and poultry is required to reach 180f.

Even though the center of the package may still be frozen the outer layer of the food is in the danger zone between 40 and 140 f at a temperature where foodborne bacteria multiply rapidly. Thawing a frozen turkey on the kitchen counter or the dining room table or in any other room of your house is a huge no no. Don t thaw at room temperature. However you thaw your turkey use a digital tip sensitive thermometer to ensure it has reached an internal temperature of 165f.

A package of frozen meat or poultry left thawing on the counter more than 2 hours is not at a safe temperature. A year frozen turkey will probably have suffered freezer burn and developed off flavors. And the skin probably started to go rancid.