Benefits Of Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving break, a time for family fun and relaxation, unless you’re the chef du’jor of the meal. Fortunately for me I was only the assistant, mom still gets the full privileges of preparing the feast. I do though get consulted on all, or most of the food safety aspects that go with it. So you can imagine my trepidation when asked, “can I defrost the turkey in a cooler of brined ice water?” Do what! A cooler of brined ice water? Yes, that was the question of the moment, 24 hours pre-turkey day. It seems that after three full days in the refrigerator, the turkey had not defrosted, at all. Red flags, alarm bells, screams of fear, were what I heard in my head as I told my mother no don’t do it, it’s not safe. The ideal way to defrost is by
To the layman it may seem quick, easy and safe, unfortunately there are many hidden dangers in defrosting meat in this manner. The primary danger pertains to bacterial growth. All poultry are prone to carrying campylobacter, not to mention E.coli O157:H7, Listeria, and Salmonella, to name a few additional party goers. These microbes quickly multiply when placed in a medium such as water, this in combination with the amount of time it is left in its juicy bath creates the perfect environment for exponential growth. This can be offset though by cooking to the appropriate internal temperature. Unfortunately though, the process of dressing, and seasoning the bird will likely lead to contamination of a large portion of the kitchen, potentially causing further indirect contamination of the foods that have already been, or do not need to be cooked. On an alternative note, the use of a brine instead of water can potentially off set the growth of bacteria, depending upon the amount of salt present in the water. This was not officially checked in any manner though, so for safety sake it will be considered an invalid