How to Safely Store and Use Leftover Turkey
Don't Spoil You Holiday Feast with Food Poisoning
Nov 4, 2008
The potential hazards of raw turkey (and chicken) are well documented, but it's a rare feast that doesn't end with a gob of gobbler left over. Leftover cooked poultry should be handled with as much care as raw. Here are some tips on storing and using leftover turkey to ensure not only safety but the best flavor.
Preliminaries
Carefully storing leftovers won't help if the food is contaminated during preparation. Remember these safety tips from the California Poison Control System (CPCS):
- Before purchasing your turkey make sure you have room for it in the refrigerator.
- Wash your hands! Wash your hands before, during and after food preparation. Use soap and warm water and wash for 20 seconds. Washing is the most important thing you can do to prevent food poisoning.
- Use hot, soapy water to wash cutting boards, utensils and anything else that was used to prepare food.
- Use a diluted bleach solution to clean cutting boards and countertops after food preparation.
- Do not use a sponge or dishcloth to clean surfaces that have touched raw meat, fish or poultry. Use soap, water and a disposable paper towel.
- After handling raw meat, fish or poultry, do not reuse the same utensil or plate. Bacteria from the raw juices will contaminate other food.
- Defrost meats and poultry in the refrigerator or the microwave.
- Cook turkey until a thermometer in the breast reads 170 degrees F and the drumstick moves easily.
Storing Leftover Turkey
From the time you pull the turkey out of the oven, you have approximately two hours to serve the bird and refrigerate or freeze the leftovers. It does not matter if the bird is still warm. That goes for the stuffing and gravy, too.
It is not safe to let turkey (or stuffing baked in the bird) sit out at room temperature for more than two hours. Past that and they should be discarded. When they drop from hot to just warm, salmonella bacteria begin to grow. Consuming improperly stored leftovers can make you very sick.
Cooked leftover turkey should be de-boned, divided among shallow containers and (according to the CPCS) can be safely kept, refrigerated, for three to five days. Gravy and stuffing should be consumed within 1-2 days. After that, they should be discarded. Food in small amounts will chill faster keeping it safer and fresher.
To keep leftover turkey or stuffing for up to four months, freeze it. (Foods frozen for a long period remain safe, but may become dry and lose flavor.) For best flavor, don't wait for two days and then freeze it. Do it the same day. Divide the leftovers among plastic storage containers with tight-fitting lids, or wrapped in heavy-duty aluminum foil, and the packages sealed in a freezer bag. Double wrapping will prevent "freezer burn" – those ugly white dried-out patches on the surface of food that make it tough and tasteless.
Serve Leftover Turkey Cold or Hot – Nothing in Between
Nothing's better than a sandwich of sliced turkey meat, preferably slathered in good mayonnaise. And where would a chef's salad be without ribbons of roast turkey? But don't make a turkey sandwich or salad and take it for lunch unless you can keep it properly cooled in the meantime.
Leftover turkey should served either cold, or reheated to at least 165 degrees F (74 degrees C). As long as the turkey leftovers stay cold, or get hot enough, there should be no danger in eating them, especially within the first two days after cooking. Here again, though, promptly refrigerate any leftover turkey.
Take as much care reheating the leftovers as you did roasting the turkey in the first place. Reheat only the amount you will eat in the one meal. Most food safety experts also suggest only reheating the turkey once. Once again, it is those in between “danger zone” temperatures (40 – 140 degrees F) that invite problems. As the leftover turkey reheats, it can start to grow salmonella bacteria. Partially warmed turkey or stuffing may give you and your guests food poisoning.
You may also be interested in these other ideas on How to Love Leftover Turkey or Chicken, including:
- Sweet Potato Turkey Hash Benedict
- Cream of Chicken & Wild Mushroom Soup
- Turkey Minestra
- Turkey & Bean Salad with Fresh Cranberry Dressing
- Avocado Stuffed with Turkey Salad
- Pesto Pasta Salad with Turkey & Goat Cheese
- Crustless Turkey Quiche
- Quick & Easy Turkey Florentine
