Holiday Food Safety Tips

General Food Preparation

• Never thaw food at room temperature. Food can be safely thawed in the refrigerator, in watertight wrapping under running cold water, or in a microwave.
• Keep hands, counter top, food utensils, and the food itself "immaculately" clean.
• Do not use a wooden cutting board for preparing meats. (If it must be used, sanitize it afer use).
• Boil all home-canned foods before serving - 10 minutes for high acid foods and 20 minutes for low-acid foods.
• Use only clean eggs with sound shells in any recipe in which eggs are not thoroughly cooked. (Example: soft-cooked eggs, salad dressing, or custard). Cracked or soiled eggs should be used only in recipes where they will be fully cooked. (Example: hard-cooked eggs, cakes, casseroles).

Special Tips on Turkey and Stuffing

• Thaw a turkey in the refrigerator or in cold water. Do not let set out on a counter or in sink to thaw.
• Do not thaw commercially frozen stuffed poultry before cooking. Follow package directions carefully to prepare.
• Stuff a turkey just before putting in the oven - or better yet, bake stuffing in a separate dish and baste occasionally with turkey juices. Do not stuff the night before and store in refrigerator.
• Stuff poultry just before you're ready to cook it and stuff loosely. Check the stuffing with a meat thermometer after removing the bird from the oven. The stuffing should reach 165 degrees F. and the bird 185 degrees F.
• Roast your turkey at no lower than 325 degrees F. Do not place a turkey stuffed or unstuffed in the oven with a bake-set-timer to come on in the middle of the night.
• Meat, poultry, poultry stuffing, stuffed meats, and stuffing containing meat should be completely cooked with no interruption in the cooking process.
• Serve and refrigerate the meat and stuffing separately. Debone the meat immediately before refrigeration or freezing.

Food Safety Serving Tips

• Keep hot foods HOT and cold foods COLD! Don't let perishable foods set out all afternoon and evening to nibble. Discard any food that sets out over 2 hours. Place cold foods in a bed of ice to maintain temperatures under 40 degrees F. Place hot foods in roasters or heat-holding equipment to serve at temperatures above 140 degrees F.
• Promptly store leftovers in the refrigerator.