I have a gourmet friend who swears by cooking turkey overnight in the oven at a low temperature. He hasn’t reported any problems with food born illness, but the idea of poultry subjected to low temperature for an extended time sounds to me like incubation for rampant bacteria. Any thoughts on this? Thanks.
Interesting question and not something I had ever contemplated.
A quick search turned up a number of credible resources with instructions and recipes for overnight roasted turkey, so it appears legit.
Like you, my first thought is about breeding some nasty stuff. But on the other hand, if the bird reaches a sufficient temperature then the pathogens should be killed off.
I may have to try this some time.
My mother always roasted the Thanksgiving turkey overnight at low temps - in fact I was surprised the first time I cooked one and realized how quickly you could actually produce a decent meal!
A few thoughts: (1) if the turkey doesn’t have any stuffing inside, that reduces the risk, and (2)
if the turkey is brined in salt water, that also will reduce the risk. I would also want to know the temperature of the oven and the temperature of the turkey just before it goes into the oven…
Bruce
I slow cooked the turkey this Thanksgiving, after determining I didn’t have enough room to butterfly it out. It was an old fashioned field raised bird, and a little online research came up with slow cooking being the best method to get the dark meat tender. All of the sources said it is perfectly safe if you use precautions. No stuffing, and because any pathogens will be on the surface, start by giving the turkey a good sear at high heat. I think having a convection oven helps to make sure all surfaces, and the inside, gets hot really fast.
This runs counter to the current “sear last” thinking, but my interpretation is that you don’t have to bring the skin to the point of golden crispness at the start. I got the outside hot enough to start the browning, then turned down the heat to 170. The turkey was then placed breast down, with well oiled cheese cloth protecting the skin.when the internal temperature was 150, I turned up the temperature for the final crisping, and turned the turkey breast up. With this additional heat, and a 20 minute rest to let the temperature equalize throughout, the final internal temperature came to 165/170 (Not sure how accurate the thermometer is).
P Hickner
One recipe for consideration.
See also the sous vide thread for really low and slow: Sous Vide Success - Turkey! - Epicurean Exploits - Food and Recipes - WineBerserkers
The SV issue is the bird needs to be in pieces. Lots of sous vide resources online discuss food safety with minimum cooking time and temp curves that would be applicable to oven cooking. Even low oven temps will generally be higher than SV temps.
I bought some after-Thanksgiving turkey pieces that looked great. Boned thighs at Whole Foods were a great find–that’s the best part of the bird IMO and one thigh is enough for a dinner for 2-3 people.
The problem is that SV curves aren’t applicable to oven cooking except for the effect of a given internal temp for a given amount of time. The issue is how long it takes to reach that internal temperature. SV temps may be lower than oven temps, but circulating water will transmit heat considerably faster than circulating air (assuming convection), and enormously faster than the still air of a non-convection oven.
Placing any meat in boiling water for 60 seconds ( a touch longer to be safe ) kills all germs as long as the meat hasn’t been pierced ( all meat is sterile on the inside )
Be sure to have an accurate thermometer. Mis-measurement can create a turkey-flavored Petri dish, with explosive digestive effects.