Looking to prepare the perfect bird this Thanksgiving? You might be thinking about relying on one of those pop-up timers to gauge when your turkey is ready.
Turkey needs to be cooked to 165° F in order to be safe.
Undercooked turkey could make you and your Thanksgiving guests sick.
So, can you really trust those little pop-up timers?
To find out, Consumer Reports’ testers stuffed turkey after turkey with pop-up timers—some that came with the meat, others that were purchased separately.
They also wired the turkeys with calibrated thermometers. The birds were then put in the oven and roasted until the timers popped up. Most didn’t until the temperatures rose above 165° F.
When your turkey cooks too long and gets above 165° F, you are going to need an awful lot of gravy because that turkey is going to be really dry.
Local
The latest news from around North Texas.
But worse than that, a few times the timers popped well before the meat reached a safe cooking temperature. Meaning all of the bacteria may not be killed.
The best way to ensure that your meat is cooked to a safe temperature but still stays juicy is to use a conventional meat thermometer.
Consumer Reports says one good choice is the Thermoworks Pocket Digital. It’s a no-frills, instant thermometer that’s both easy to ready and very accurate, for $20.
Consumer Reports also recommends taking multiple temperature readings at various points in the meat, to ensure your turkey is thoroughly cooked.
Complete Ratings and recommendations on all kinds of products, including appliances, cars & trucks, and electronic gear, are available on Consumer Reports’ website.
