Any hope for the (potentially) undercooked turkey in my fridge?

[newCTmama]

So... I love Thanksgiving, and Thanksgiving leftovers! This year, DH and I bought a second turkey just to have for leftovers. This wasn't any old turkey, though - we thought, talked and saved and bought a 15 lb local, pastured turkey We decided to cook it on Wednesday night to free up the oven on Thursday.

Well, Wed. was crazy - DS came down with a cold, DH had a crazy work day, etc. etc. We cooked the bird according the the Barefoot Contessa's "Noth Thanksgiving" recipe - about 4 1/2 hours - and checked - breast was at 185, thigh 160, acc. to the mea thermometer. In teh midst of the craziness, I took it out and let it rest covered for 15 min or so, then sliced off a few pieces of breastmeat for dinner. I then flipped it over and bumped up the over to 400' in an desperate - a la Cook's Illustrated - move to cook the thighs. Fast forward to about 45 minutes later - DH takes out the turkey and let's it cool for an hour of so on the counter, and then tucks it into the fridge, where it sat until tonight....

DH began carving and I started panicing - the "middle" of the bird does not look too done - pinkish and a little bloody/fleshy in some parts. I just put everything but the outer breast meat in storage bags and back into the fridge it went, the carcass went into a big pot of water and simmered away for about 3 hours....

I've spent nearly an hour searching online Health Dept. sites to see if can safely drink the broth and heat the turkey up again (to 180) and enjoy it.... no luck yet. Any links of info? Thank you!!

[cristeen]

You can make broth with raw turkey, so undercooked isn't a problem. As for the rest, eat what was cooked through, and anything that wasn't I'd probably poach in the broth. It's not like you left it sitting on the counter raw overnight.

[treemom2]

We'd still eat it, we'd just make sure it was well-cooked. . .sauteed, boiled, microwaved (if you have one, we don't), etc. . .

[sunnysandiegan]

From your description here, I would use the broth and the meat you feel comfortable eating. With the meat you are uncomfortable eating as is, I would use it in dishes where it gets cooked again, such as pot pie, enchiladas, chili, etc.

FWIW, our turkey was 13 pounds and took a little over 2-1/2 hours to bake at 325, then 300 degrees (to correct internal temp). DH left one meat thermometer in the turkey throughout the cooking time (large easy-to-read dial) and then poked an "instant read" meat thermometer into various spots.

I agree with Cristeen, you didn't leave the turkey sitting out all night.

[Otto]

Originally Posted by newCTmama

This wasn't any old turkey, though - we thought, talked and saved and bought a 15 lb local, pastured turkey We decided to cook it on Wednesday night to free up the oven on Thursday.

I've been buying pastured heritage birds for the past three years, and I don't cook them well-done: a deep thigh temperature of 155-160 F (which some would call high) and 30-45 minutes' rest. Even the USDA acknowledges a final temperature of 165 F as safe.

[noobmom]

It sounds like you can use everything without worry.

As long as your thermometer is right, I doubt it's even undercooked. We're so used to overcooking out poultry now that it's a little freaky when it's less cooked, even if it's the "safe range".

If you look at this page:
http://www.fsis.usda.gov/Fact_sheets...ltry/index.asp
it even says that sometimes the meat will stay pink even when fully cooked

Safely cooked poultry can vary in color from white to pink to tan. For safety when cooking poultry, use a food thermometer to check the internal temperature. Poultry should reach a safe minimum internal temperature of 165 °F throughout the product. For a whole chicken or turkey, check the internal temperature in the innermost part of the thigh and wing and the thickest part of the breast. All the meat-including any that remains pink—is safe to eat as soon as all parts reach at least 165 °F

Also, take a look at this site, it has some pics of safely cooked chicken that's still bloody looking:
http://www.hi-tm.com/Documents/Bloody-chik.html

[mnnice]

DH (who tends to be pretty fanatical/knowledgible about food safety in general) does this on purpose all the time when we know that we are only going to eat a portion of a pastured chicken. Usually on chickens the wings and legs are done first and we eat the breast during the second meal.