I need some advice.

OK, this may sound strange, but bear with me.

I purchased four large turkeys back in November.

I could only fit three in my freezer. The other one I went and buried under 2 feet of snow.

Yesterday I went out and got the turkey. It was still covered with heavy wet snow.

But it was not frozen anymore.

It was about 50% thawed, I took it in, and opened the bag it is in (its about 17 LBS) and smelled it.

There is no smell, and it was not discolored. the skin was not pale or dark, it looked like purple meat underneath.

I removed the bag and felt for anything slimy, or sketchy, bu it all seemed normal.

I washed it, and put it in the fridge covered. Today I am cooking it.

What are your thoughts?am I going to die now? or just be really sick, or just be really full?

I looked on the net but could not find any story to match mine up with ( not unusual)

It should smell regardless right? if it is bad it will smell bad, even if it comes out od ice, it will still smell bad if bad, right or wrong?

Can you help? with advice.

Thanks

reply to post by lnfideI


Turkey meat should be pinkish in color, not purple!

Do yourself a favor and get rid of it!

Better safe than sorry!

reply to post by lnfideI

The color of raw turkey meat is due largely to the purple protein myoglobin. Over time, myoglobin levels increase and the meat darkens. Lighter tends to mean younger and more tender.

You should be OK.

As long as it's cooked thoroughly, you'll know if it's bad once it's out of the oven.

~Tenth

Maybe purple was not the right explanation.

You know how fresh chicken breast looks right? it looked like that, pinkish purplish type of meat.

Its only been above freezing here for about a week.

Toss it on the table or in the garbage?

We have one vote for out, whois in?

Originally posted by seeker1963
reply to post by lnfideI

 

Turkey meat should be pinkish in color, not purple!

Do yourself a favor and get rid of it!

Better safe than sorry!

reply to post by lnfideI


kk, you had me with the purple thing, but if it looks like you described, I am with Tenth on it! Just make sure it is up to temp and enjoy!

The fact that you said it didn't feel slimy and had no smell, you should be fine. You just scared me with the purple thing.

So I am giving her about 4.5 hours at 350 F

Now, you say I will know if it s bad once I get it OUT of the oven?

What will happen Tenth?

Stink?

It all smells pretty normal (good) at the moment, been in 2.5 hours.

Originally posted by tothetenthpower
reply to post by lnfideI

 

The color of raw turkey meat is due largely to the purple protein myoglobin. Over time, myoglobin levels increase and the meat darkens. Lighter tends to mean younger and more tender.

You should be OK.

As long as it's cooked thoroughly, you'll know if it's bad once it's out of the oven.

~Tenth

Gosh....if it wasn't solidly frozen when you dug it up, you probably shouldn't eat it.

I just had food poisoning two weeks ago from some questionable chicken I was too cheap to throw out. I was dreadfully ill from it. EDIT: It smelled fine. Often things like salmonella, etc., do not have a smell!

It's really not worth it. Throw the turkey away and order a pizza instead!!

But if you insist on eating it, let us know if you survive.

reply to post by lnfideI


When you crack the sucker open, if the meat is bad, it won't cut properly.

I've even seen it turn to jelly if the meat was rotten on the inside.

But if was only half thawed, it mostly .likely was still frozen well below /above the mid point, probably on the skin and stuff wasn't.

Was there any grey liquid or anything nasty?

If not, you should be OK. Rotting meat is not the easiest thing to conceal lol

The heat should take care of anything else honestly. I suggest an extra half our of basting.

reply to post by lnfideI

But it was not frozen anymore.

You answered your own question.

Best rule of thumb with food is "When in doubt, toss it out". Rot makes food smell and taste funny - bacteria often doesn't. Given that some forms of food borne pathogens can be quite dangerous and even deadly my advice would be to only eat the turkey if you really have nothing else to turn to for food.

toss it... unless you want to get botulism.. salmonella or any number of other bugs ... not worth a trip to hospital ...

If there is a tinny or sour type taste when u take that first bite don't swallow it and get rid of the rest. As long as you cook it through the worse thing that'll happen is you will get some explosive diarrhea. If that happens just drink lots of water and lemon juice.

This is what I know about meat and spoiled meat.


If it smells like kimchee ...you know you got a serious problem, no smell, no slime, I would eat it.

p.s. You didn't leave the giblets inside did you?

Use an oven meat thermometer to test the doneness before removing it from the oven. Test the meat in thickest part of the inner thigh, and the same with the breast. It should be cooked to between 160 and 180 degrees. To be on the safe side, cook it to 180. Better a little dry than undercooked, considering how it was stored.

Remember back in the old days, we didn't even have freezers, and snow banks were often used for storing meat.

I'd baste it often with broth with melted butter, to keep it moist.

Des

It wont cut properly, oh sweet, I am Mr mangles when it comes to cutting anything up, nothing ever cuts properly for me.

There was a gizzard in a bag inside and a neck, it was all pretty frozen last night, I removed a few chunks of ice.

There was nothing nasty or grey, not even my mood.

It was as fresh and nice as the one I did at Xmas, no smell, nothing smiley or weird feeling.

If I would of had my stuff together, I could of posted another 5 star recipe here, I called of called this one, what???

Free range turkey?

Snow drift surprise?

I will post if I die ok,

Thank you all.

Originally posted by tothetenthpower
reply to post by lnfideI

 

When you crack the sucker open, if the meat is bad, it won't cut properly.

I've even seen it turn to jelly if the meat was rotten on the inside.

But if was only half thawed, it mostly .likely was still frozen well below /above the mid point, probably on the skin and stuff wasn't.

Was there any grey liquid or anything nasty?

If not, you should be OK. Rotting meat is not the easiest thing to conceal lol

The heat should take care of anything else honestly. I suggest an extra half our of basting.

As long as you cleaned your kitchen down.....really, really good....you should be fine. It was half frozen. Yum on the turkey, got to have it 4 or 5 times a year. I'd eat eat it.

Edited to add: I've left a frozen turkey for two days in bucket to unfreeze. Don't see the big deal. Imagine what our ancestors did?

I peeled the potatoes.

I got stuffing mix

There are home made cranberries sauce from old Mom.

Throwing this thing out now would be a crime.

Des, I will make sure it is very hot inside.

Person who gave taste advice - Thank you,I will feel that one out.

Wont be doing that gain,

Originally posted by Hefficide

Best rule of thumb with food is "When in doubt, toss it out". Rot makes food smell and taste funny - bacteria often doesn't. Given that some forms of food borne pathogens can be quite dangerous and even deadly my advice would be to only eat the turkey if you really have nothing else to turn to for food.

I'm interested to see how it turns out. Don't be dying and leaving us in suspense.

Even if something is cooked well that contains microbes in large amounts it can still be poisonous. microbes create aflotoxins which are poisonous to us sometimes. Antidotes to aflotoxins include milk, eggs, coffee, onions or garlic, or sometimes mineral oil depending on the type of microbes that were in it. This is not a complete list but takes care of many of the aflotoxins.. One of these may work if you get the runs

Quick reference chart.....

Slow, steady cooking works best, keeping in mind that the lower the temperature, the longer the cooking. Good results can be had by roasting at 300 degrees Fahrenheit, but you can also achieve excellent results at 325 F. The rule of thumb is to select a lower temperature if you allow sufficient time in advance. Once the temperature of the bird reaches 135-140 degrees Fahrenheit, you can increase the oven temperature to 400 F for a brief time for browning. At this point the turkey will finish cooking rapidly so if you add this browning step it's important to pay close attention and constantly monitor the bird's internal temperature.

A perfectly cooked bird requires the use of a thermometer, preferably, an instant-read thermometer. If you rely on the pop-up timer, the white meat will be overcooked and dry. For perfect white meat, which cooks at a lower temperature than does the dark meat portion of the bird, a compromise must be reached. You should determine which portion is preferred and plan to favor either the white meat or dark meat, temperature-wise. The best temperature to remove the turkey for perfectly cooked white meat is 155-160 degrees breast temperature. Be certain that the thermometer does not touch bone or the results will be inaccurate.

Allow the turkey to sit an additional 20 minutes with the oven door open and it will be done to a perfect 160-165 degrees. For perfectly cooked dark meat, add an additional 10 degrees, but you will be slightly sacrificing the quality of the white meat. At 180 degrees, the white meat will be overcooked.

The following chart is for whole turkey cooked at an oven temperature of 325 degrees. Allow slightly longer times for turkeys which are cooked in a slower oven, and conversely less time for a higher temperature oven. If you have a convection oven, cut time by as much as 1/3 or consult manufacturer's instructions.

Whole Turkey Oven Temperature Cooking Time (hours) Temp when cooked
4-8 pounds 325 degrees F 2 - 3 hours 160 - 170
8-12 pounds 325 degrees F 3 - 4 hours 160 - 170
12 - 16 pounds 325 degrees F 4 - 5 hours 160 - 170
16 - 20 pounds 325 degrees F 5 - 6 hours 160 - 170
20 - 24 pounds 325 degrees F 6 - 7 hours 160 - 170

reply to post by lnfideI


It's not worth it. I'd throw it out.