Turkey serving - salmonella avoidance question

[jemo]

I am going to prepare and cook a turkey for our family's Thanksgiving this year. I live 4 hours away from where the dinner will be held. Is it okay to cook the turkey at my house and immediately wrap it in foil, place in ice chest, drive 4 hours, and serve within another hour or two?

I'd say to just cook it at my mom's house but the recipe I'm using says to thaw the turkey, then put it in a brine overnight and then cook immediately so I'm afraid to do the brine and take a raw turkey over there and then cook. Any suggestions?

 

[Constance]

Yes...Cook the turkey a day or two earlier. Carve, slice, and refrigerate or freeze. Then you can heat it up at your mom's.
So you don't get to see "big bird"...it will still be delicious, and won't have to worry about anyone getting sick. I'd also recommend making your gravy in advance, and heating it up at your mom's too.

 

[ironchef]

I am going to prepare and cook a turkey for our family's Thanksgiving this year. I live 4 hours away from where the dinner will be held. Is it okay to cook the turkey at my house and immediately wrap it in foil, place in ice chest, drive 4 hours, and serve within another hour or two?

I'd say to just cook it at my mom's house but the recipe I'm using says to thaw the turkey, then put it in a brine overnight and then cook immediately so I'm afraid to do the brine and take a raw turkey over there and then cook. Any suggestions?

To safely avoid any food contamination, you'll want to get the internal temp. of the turkey below 40 degrees in less than four hours, and then reheat it so that the internal temp. reaches 165 degrees or higher.

With that being said, the absolute best option is to pack the raw turkey in ice and then go to your mom's house early to cook it. Do you have a container that will hold the turkey + the brine which will then fit in the ice chest with enough room where you can surround the container on all sides with ice? If not, then just wrap the turkey in a thick layer of plastic wrap + foil and pack it in ice.

If you're really against cooking the turkey at your mom's, then you'll want to carve it at home so that the meat will cool faster and you can cool it in smaller seperate batches which will release the heat faster. The main problem with this is that it will dry out. However, if you cook the turkey and leave it whole, it may not cool properly. Even if you do chill the turkey properly, you're still going to have to reheat the turkey all the way through which in effect will dry it out anyway.

If all possible try and do it at your mom's.

 

[Michael in FtW]

Constance certainly has the most logical solution. And Ironchef brings up some very good points, too.

But, if you want to have the whole bird for presentation purposes ... brine it in the ice chest and take the whole thing to your Mom's house - then remove it from the brine and cook it there. Don't know what your brining instructions are ... but you could always throw in a bag of ice with the brine and turkey before you start your journey. If the instructions just say to brine "overnight" that could mean anywhere from 8-16 hours, so putting it into the brine right before bedtime and then driving to Mom's shouldn't be a problem.

 

[Constance]

Iron Chef, I beg to differ with you.
The meat will not dry out if she puts some of the gravy, meat juices from the pan, or even a bit of water or chicken broth on top. And if the meat is juicy to start with, which is what happens with brined turkey, it won't take much to keep it that way. We reheat turkey all the time, and it's delicious.
I think her safest bet is to cook the turkey ahead of time.

 

[Robo410]

I was thinking the same as Michael in FW ... use a chilled brine in the ice chest. But if cooking before, bake stuffing outside in a caserole. Carve turkey and assemble on platters there and reheat. I has worked well for many.

 

[Constance]

Actually, the recipe HB uses calls for putting the turkey and it's brine into an ice chest with a 7 lb. bag of ice, and setting out on the porch overnight. It would certainly be able to travel like that.
So it's really up to you, friend Jemo. How early do you want to get up?

 

[purrfectlydevine]

We ahven't roasted a turkey on Thanksgiving in years. The turkey gets roasted, carved, and placed in foil-lined pans with broth added and the foil crimped closed. Reheating is done in a slowly with the foil still crimped and the turkey is always moist.

 

[Andy M.]

The suggestions are good ones. You are asking for trouble if to have the turkey between 40 F and 140 F for maybe 6 hours according to your description.

 

[thumpershere2]

It's all way to complacated, good luck.

 

[GB]

I would also suggest cooking it at your moms. I do not see what the harm would even be to brine it at home and then have it in a cooler without brine for the 4 hour trip. Being out of the brine should not affect it really.

 

[jemo]

Thanks folks for all the replies. The instructions say to:

1) Brine for 24 hours, then air-dry overnight in the refrigerator.

2) Smoke at 325-350°F until 160-165°F in the breast, 170-175°F in the thigh, approximately 2-1/2 to 3 hours.

3) Cover loosely with foil and let rest for 30 minutes before carving. Alternatively, wrap tightly in several layers of foil, place breast-side down in a dry cooler, and hold for 90-120 minutes before carving.

After reading all the good advice, I think that I am going to use a few of the suggestions: Brine for 24 hours, air-dry the night before, then wrap it well in plastic and put in a chest full of ice for the 4 hour journey. Bring the smoker and cook at mom's.

How does this sound? Will the raw turkey in an ice chest prevent contamination?

 

[Andy M.]

Sounds good. Remember that the raw turkey is potentially carrying salmonella so after putting the bird in the smoker, disinfect everything the bird or your hands touched.

Use a solution of household bleach diluted with water. I use a quart spray bottle that I put 2-4 tablespoons of bleach and fill with water (stronger than required for disinfecting but I figure if a little is good, more is better). Spray and wipe clean.

 

[jennyema]

IMO air drying for 24 hours is unnecessary. I always air dry a brined bird (or any bird) because that's what ensures crispy skin, but 24 hours is a long time. Many recipes don't call for it at all -- others for maybe 6-8 hours. I have seen some recipes that call for 24 hour drying, but that seems sort of excessive, and, I suspect, undoes some of the goodness of the brining itself.

I usually air dry mine for only 2 hours or so. Sometimes less, at room temperature.

I would uncomplicate things by air-drying the turkey in the cooler on the trip to your mother's house.

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

Just to be different and unique, I'm going to give you an exotic and easy way to solve the problem of carrying a roasted turkey from point A to point B.

We used this technique in "Boy Scouts" when I was a youngster. Of course this is modified for your brined turkey presentation.

Gather together enough smooth, oval or rounded stones to fill the turkey cavity. Wash them thoroughly. Dry them with paper towels and place into a cake pan and into the oven.

Dry the bird-skin with paper towels. Preheat the oven to 450' F. Rub the skin with oil and lightly salt. Place the turkey on a rack, insert a meat themometer into the breast, with the tip resting near the "hip" joint. Put the rack and turkey into the roasting pan, and into the oven. Cook for about 8 minutes per pound. Remove the turkey when the thermometer reads about 140 degrees.

Fill the turkey cavity with the hot rocks and place in a roasting bag. Completely cover with aluminum foil, shiny side inward, or toward the flesh. Completely wrap in a thick towel and cover again with foil, shiney side in. Place in a clean garbage bag and load the bird into the car. Drive to Mom's house.

The hot rocks will continue cooking the bird from the inside-out. The aluminum foil and towels will contain the heat. When you get to your mom's, unwrap the bird, check the thermometer, remove the rocks, and place into a 400' oven to crisp the skin a bit more.

Now I know that this is unconventional, but it does work. We used to cook the bird next to a campfire, place the clean, hot rocks into the bird and travel to our next campsite. By the time we got there, and set up camp, the turkey was ready to be eaten. But let me tell you, it was difficult at best to keep a bunch of young teen-age boys away from that wonderfully aromatic turkey as the Scoutmaster drove down the road. Yep, that trip around Lake Superior was a memorable one.

Seeeeeya; Goodweed of the North

 

[comissaryqueen]

If you are traveling with a Cooked Turkey make sure the bird is brought down to at least 40 degrees before you put it in the chest. Don't put a warm turkey in and expect it to cool down or stay hot at an acceptable temp. in your cooler. This is where the hazard lies. The temperature danger zone.

 

[Constance]

Weed, that's such a cool way to do the turkey!

We Girl Scouts were more into making s'mores and being prepared.