Don’t Trust Your Thanksgiving Turkey Pop-Up Timer
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.