Once Your Bird Is Cooked, Does It Matter How Long You Leave It Out?
It definitely matters – and the clock starts ticking as soon as the bird comes out of the oven, fryer, or off the grill.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, the number of reported cases of food borne illness (food poisoning) increases during the holiday season. Leaving cooked food at room temperature is an invitation for bacteria that can cause food poisoning to multiply and reheating leftovers doesn’t always destroy their toxins or spores.
You shouldn’t leave turkey or any perishable food out for more than two hours (one hour when the air temperature is 90 degrees or above), any time of the year. Food that stays in the temperature “danger zone” which is 40-140 °F (4-60 °C) for more than 2 hours should be discarded. To save turkey leftovers, remove the stuffing from the turkey cavity, cut the turkey off the bone, and refrigerate or freeze all the leftovers.
The Basic Rules For Leftovers
According to the USDA the mantra is:
2 Hours–2 Inches–4 Days
- 2 Hours from oven to refrigerator: Refrigerate or freeze your leftovers within 2 hours of cooking (taking them off the heat or out of the oven). Throw them away if they are out longer than that. Think about your buffet table – or even your holiday dinner table. How long does the bird, stuffing, and accompaniments sit out as people eat, go back for seconds, and pick their way through the football game and conversation?
- 2 Inches thick to cool it quick: Store your food at a shallow depth–about 2 inches–to speed chilling. Are you guilty of piling the food high in storage containers or in a big mound covered with tin foil?
- 4 Days in the refrigerator – otherwise freeze it: Use your leftovers that are stored in the fridge within 4 days. The exceptions are stuffing and gravy. They should both be used within 2 days. Reheat any solid leftovers to 165 degrees Fahrenheit and bring liquid leftovers to a rolling boil. Toss what you don’t finish.
How Long Can Leftover Turkey Stay In The Freezer?
Frozen leftover turkey, stuffing, and gravy should be used within one month. To successfully freeze leftovers, package them using freezer wrap or freezer containers. Use heavy-duty aluminum foil, freezer paper, or freezer bags for best results and don’t leave any air space. Squeeze the excess air from the freezer bags and fill rigid freezer containers to the top with dry food. Without proper packaging, circulating air in the freezer can create freezer burn – those white dried-out patches on the surface of food that make it tough and tasteless. Leave a one-inch headspace in containers with liquid and half an inch in containers filled with semi-solids.
Turkey: Nutrition
Keep that turkey safe to eat because whether you’re eating it during the holidays or for several days afterward, it’s good to know that it is low in fat and high in protein. A 3.5 oz serving is about the size and thickness of a new deck of cards. The fat and calorie content varies because white meat has less fat and fewer calories than dark meat and skin.
Calories in a 3.5 oz serving (from a whole roasted turkey):
- Breast with skin: 194 calories; 8g fat; 29g protein
- Breast without skin: 161 calories; 4g fat; 30g protein
- Wing with skin: 238 calories; 13g fat; 27g protein
- Leg with skin: 213 calories; 11g fat; 28g protein
- Dark meat with skin: 232 calories; 13g fat; 27g protein
- Dark meat without skin: 192 calories; 8g fat; 28g protein
- Skin only: 482 calories; 44g fat; 19g protein
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