Turkey was between 4 and 11 deg C for a few hours

Howard

Lifer
Oct 14, 1999
47,982
10
81
I let it get a little too warm after defrosting... is this going to hurt anyone or should I just chuck it and buy another?
 

lxskllr

No Lifer
Nov 30, 2004
58,557
8,835
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Nah, it'll be alright. Just make sure you cook it thoroughly(same as required for any poultry).
 

nanobreath

Senior member
May 14, 2008
978
0
0
When in doubt, throw it out!

At least thats what my mother always tells me. I prefer the if it doesn't smell or have visible mold it's edible. Just make sure it's well done.
 

Parasitic

Diamond Member
Aug 17, 2002
4,000
2
0
Unless you have a state of the art refrigerator that just came off the assembly line and has a multi-level cascaded PID-controller and combined predicative feed-forward and feed-back loops chances are your fridge won't be able to keep the stuff cooler degree 4 centigrades.

Turkey is poultry, so it has to reach at least 165-170 degrees F internally before consumption. You'll be fine.
 

Farang

Lifer
Jul 7, 2003
10,913
3
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For my state's regulations, you would need to reheat the turkey past 165 degrees Fahrenheit because it is now treated as a reheated dish. That is assuming your "few hours" was 2-4.

Of course state regulations say you should cook raw poultry to 165 degrees anyway, so what you're really losing is the ability to cool down the dish and reheat it again later.

But the state designs its requirements with the feeblest of residents in mind, so as long as everyone involved is young and healthy.. just cook the fucking bird.
 

dullard

Elite Member
May 21, 2001
25,655
4,172
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For a few hours: no problem. That is close to refrigerator temperatures anyways. Just do what others said and cook it properly.

For a few days/weeks: toss it. Turkey is cheap. I ate a meal with a ~16 lb turkey last week that was 39 cents a pound.

Oh and just to make this thread worthwhile, hold 'Alt' and type 248 with the number pad. Imagine that you are going to draw a circle on the number pad (2, 4, 8, then 6) but you leave off the 6. The result? This wonderful symbol pops up: °. It is useful for things like writing 4°C to 11°C. Just remember: "type a circle for the little degree circle".
 
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dullard

Elite Member
May 21, 2001
25,655
4,172
126
Thanks guys.

I think I had "dullard for elite" in my sig before. You're awesome.
It is just a pet peeve of mine. People try to type out "degrees" or worse, take a number 0 and make it superscript. It just looks wrong, is awkward, and takes too many steps. So I came up with a little phrase to try and teach people it.
 

kalrith

Diamond Member
Aug 22, 2005
6,628
7
81
I always go by the 4-40-140 rule. That means that no food should be between 40° and 140° (thanks for the tip, dullard :)) for more than 4 hours. i.e. If you leave leftovers in your car while you go to the movies on a >38° day (food is 2° warmer than the surrounding temperature), the leftovers need to be thrown out. Your food dropped below 140° at the restaurant and won't reach 40° until after being in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. Unless you watch a short movie, get there right when it starts, and have a short drive home, then your food will be in the danger zone for more than 4 hours.

Some are more strict and use a 2-40-140 rule only allowing 2 hours in the danger zone, but I think that goes a bit too far. If that were the case, then you could never use a slow cooker.