It's Thanksgiving, the turkey is in the oven and you're waiting for the pop-up timer to pop so you can enjoy dinner.

Bad news. Your turkey is going to be overcooked.

Don't trust your Thanksgiving turkey pop-up timer.

Pop-up timers (or pop-up thermometers) make monitoring your turkey temperature easy. The problem is they don't pop up until it's too late.

Previous federal recommendations were 170°F for whole muscle breast meat and 180°F for whole muscle thigh meat. The USDA also said that people, "for reasons of personal preference, may chose to cook poultry to higher temperatures".

Higher temperatures may remove a pink appearance and rubbery texture, but it can also dry it out.

A turkey is safe to eat when it reaches 165°F, but pop-up timers go off around 180°F. Under previous recommendations pop-up timers made more sense.

Pop-up thermometers can still serve as a final warning that it's time to take the turkey out, but instant meat thermometers are the way to go unless you prefer an overcooked turkey.

Want to see how pop-up thermometers are made, learn how they work and know way more on the subject than any turkey-loving American should?

Then watch this.

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