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Safe Handling of Poultry

HGIC 3512

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Selecting the Best

Fresh Is Best: Fresh poultry (chicken, turkey, duck and goose) should have no detectable odor. The flesh should feel firm, and the surface should not feel slick.

• Look for packages that are cool to the touch and have no tears or punctures.
• Always remember to select poultry just before checking out at the register.
• Make sure all poultry, whether raw, prepackaged or from the deli is refrigerated when purchased.
• Prevent “cross-contamination” by keeping fresh meats separate from other items. Put raw poultry packages in a plastic bag so juices won’t drip onto other foods.
• Pack raw poultry in an ice chest if it will take you more than an hour to get home and keep the ice chest in the passenger area of the car during warm weather.
• Take poultry straight home to the refrigerator or freezer.

Dating of Poultry Products: Product dating is not required by federal regulations. However, many stores and processors may voluntarily date packages of poultry or poultry products. If a calendar date is shown, there must be a phrase explaining the meaning of the date. Consumers should use or freeze products with a “sell-by” date within one or two days of purchase. If the manufacturer has determined a “use-by” date, observe it. The “ use-by” date is for quality assurance; after the date, peak quality begins to lessen but the product may still be used. It’s always best to buy a product before its date expires. If a date expires after the poultry is frozen, the food can still be used.

Product Inspection and Grading: All poultry found in retail stores is either USDA-inspected for wholesomeness or inspected by state systems that have standards equal to the federal government. Each animal and its nternal organs are inspected for signs of disease. The “Passed and Inspected by USDA” seal ensures that the poultry is wholesome and free from disease. Inspection is mandatory, but grading is voluntary. Poultry are graded according to USDA regulations and standards for meatiness, appearance and freedom from defects. Grade A chickens, the best grade, have plump, meaty bodies and clean skin, free of bruises, broken bones, feathers, cuts and discoloration.

Prestuffed Poultry: Buying retail-stuffed whole poultry is not recommended because of the highly perishable nature of a previously stuffed item. Some USDA-inspected frozen stuffed poultry MUST be cooked from the frozen state to ensure a safely cooked product.

Storage

Refrigeration: Packaged fresh poultry may be refrigerated in its original wrapping in the coldest part of the refrigerator for up to two days. Cooked, cut-up poultry is at its best when refrigerated no longer than two days; cooked, whole poultry (without stuffing) may be stored for three days.

• Use an appliance thermometer to make sure refrigerator temperature is set at 34 to 38 °F.
• NEVER leave poultry in a hot car or sitting out at room temperature. Refrigerate or freeze fresh poultry IMMEDIATELY after bringing it home.
• Store uncooked poultry items together, separate from cooked foods. Make sure the raw juices do not drip onto other foods.
• Keep poultry refrigerated until you are ready to cook it, or in an ice chest for carry out.

Freezing: Freeze fresh poultry if you do not plan to cook it within two days after purchase. Wrap chicken parts separately in heavy-duty foil or moisture- and vapor-proof freezer bags or plastic wrap, and label for ease in selecting just the right number of parts to thaw for a single meal. Be sure to press the air out of the package before freezing. Poultry may also be frozen in its original wrap if it is first overwrapped in freezer-appropriate packaging to prevent quality loss. Cooked parts may be frozen in the same way as fresh, unless made with a sauce or gravy. In that case, pack the chicken in a rigid container with a tight-fitting lid.

Preparation

Cleanliness: Always wash hands thoroughly with hot, soapy water before preparing foods and after handling raw poultry. Don’t let raw poultry or juices touch ready-to-go foods either in the refrigerator or during preparation. Don’t put cooked foods on the same plate that held raw poultry. Always wash utensils that have touched raw poultry with hot, soapy water before using them for the cooked poultry. Wash counters, cutting boards and other surfaces raw poultry have touched. Sanitize these surfaces with a solution of a teaspoon of chlorine bleach per quart of water before using or other foods.

Thawing: Thaw uncooked poultry in the refrigerator or in cold water. NEVER thaw poultry at room temperature. To thaw poultry in cold water, leave the poultry in its original wrapping or place it in a watertight plastic bag. Change the water every 30 minutes.

For quick thawing of uncooked or cooked poultry, use the microwave. Thawing time will vary according to whether you’ re thawing a whole bird or parts and the number of parts frozen together. Use the DEFROST or MEDIUM-LOW setting, according to the manufacturer’s directions. Turn the bird and separate parts as they thaw; taking care the meat does not begin to cook. Repeat as needed. Cook poultry immediately after thawing in the microwave oven. See Table 1 for defrosting times.

Marinating: Marinate poultry in the refrigerator, not on the counter. Discard the marinade after use because it contains raw juices, which may harbor bacteria. If you want to use the marinade as a dip or sauce, reserve a portion before adding raw food.

Cooking

Importance of Kitchen Thermometers: One of the critical factors in controlling bacteria in food is controlling temperature. Pathogenic microorganisms grow very slowly at low temperatures multiply rapidly in mid-range temperatures, and are killed at high temperatures. For safety, foods must be cooked thoroughly. It is essential to use a thermometer when cooking meat and poultry to prevent undercooking and, consequently, prevent foodborne illness.

Using a thermometer is the only reliable way to ensure safety and to determine the “doneness” of most foods. To be safe, a product must be cooked to an internal temperature high enough to destroy any harmful bacteria that may have been in the food. Color and texture changes in meat and poultry cannot be relied on to determine that foods have been safely cooked to destroy all bacteria.

All poultry and all stuffing, whether cooked alone or in the bird, must be cooked to an internal temperature of at least 165 °F. For reasons of personal taste or texture preferences, consumers may choose to cook poultry to higher temperatures. When cooking whole poultry, the thermometer should be inserted into the thickest part of the thigh. If stuffed, the center of the stuffing should be checked after the thigh reaches 165 °F. If cooking poultry parts, insert the thermometer into the thickest area, avoiding the bone. The thermometer may be inserted sideways if necessary. When the food being cooked is irregularly shaped, the temperature should be checked in several places. Estimated cooking times for chicken, duck, goose and turkey are described in Table 2.

Ground Chicken or Turkey: Ground meats must be cooked thoroughly to kill harmful bacteria. Unlike whole muscle meat, whose interior meat is sterile, the grinding process exposes the interior meat in ground poultry to bacteria, which may be on the surface, in the air, on equipment or on people’s hands. To kill bacteria, food safety experts have one major rule of thumb: Cook ground poultry to at least 165 °F. This step, while very simple, offers the best protection that consumers can have for serving ground poultry products safely.

• Wash hands with soap and water before serving or eating food.
• Serve cooked products on clean plates with clean utensils and clean hands.
• Never put cooked foods on a dish that has held raw poultry unless the dish is washed with soap and hot water.
• Hold hot foods above 140 °F and cold foods below 40 °F.
• Never leave foods, raw or cooked, at room temperature longer than two hours. On a hot day with temperatures at 90 °F or warmer, this decreases to one hour.

Leftovers

• Always use clean utensils and storage containers for safe storage.
• Divide large amounts of leftovers into small, shallow containers for quick cooling in the refrigerator; avoid placing large pots of stuffing or gravy in the refrigerator to cool since it will likely take until the next day for this amount of food to cool.
• Remove the stuffing from the whole poultry and carve the meat off the bones, then store meat and stuffing separately in the refrigerator or freezer.
• For the refrigerator, wrap cooked meat and use within three days. For frozen storage, wrap meat in heavy foil, freezer wrap or place in freezer container; for optimum taste use frozen stuffing within one month and frozen turkey within two months.
• If you may have kept the food refrigerated for too long, throw it out. Never taste food that looks or smells strange to see if you can still use it.

For more information request HGIC 3560, How to Cook a Turkeyand HGIC 3515, Safe Handling of Wild Game Birds. For information on Avian Influenza, see HGIC 4351, Avian Influenza (Bird Flu).

Table 1. Storage and Defrosting Times for Poultry

Product	Parts	Refrigerator Storage (40°F)	Freezer Storage (0°F)	Refrigerator Defrost	Cold Water Defrost	Microwave Defrost
Fresh Chicken:	Whole	1-2 days	9-12 months	24 hrs	2-3 hrs	Check manufacturer’s instructions for size of chicken. Cook immediately
	Pieces	1-2 days	6-9 months	3-9 hrs	1 hr/lb
	Giblets	1-2 days	3-4 months	3-9 hrs	1 hr/lb
	Ground	1-2 days	3-4 months	24 hrs	1½-2 hrs/lb
Cooked Chicken:	Whole/Pieces	2-3 days	4-6 months			Use Defrost mode. Cook immediately.
	Giblets/Ground	1-2 days	2-3 months
Fresh Turkey:	Whole	1-2 days	12 months	24 hrs/5 lbs	30 min/lb Change water every half hour.	Check manufacturer’s instructions for the size of turkey.
	Pieces	1-2 days	9 months	3-9 hrs
	Giblets	1-2 days	3-4 months	3-9 hrs
	Ground	1-2 days	3-4 months	1 day
Cooked Turkey:	Whole	2-3 days	N/A			Use Defrost mode. Cook immediately.
	Pieces	2-3 days	4-6 months
	Giblets/Ground	1-2 days	2-3 months
Fresh Duck	Whole	1-2 days	6 months	1-2 days	2-3 hrs	Check instructions according to size.
	Pieces/Giblets	1-2 days	6 months	1 day	1-2 hrs
Goose:	Whole	1-2 days	6 months	1-2 days	4-6 hrs
	Pieces/Giblets	1-2 days	6 months	1 day	1-2 hrs
Cooked Duck:	Whole/Pieces/Giblets	3-4 days	2-3 months			Use Defrost mode. Cook immediately.
Cooked Goose:	Whole/Pieces/Giblets	3-4 days	2-3 months			Use Defrost mode. Cook immediately.

Always use a thermometer to check proper internal temperatures to make sure poultry is thoroughly cooked. All poultry should be cooked to an internal temperature of at least 165 °F. Cooking times listed in the table below are only estimates. For reasons of personal taste or texture preferences, consumers may choose to cook poultry to higher temperatures.

Table 2. Cooking Time Estimates for Fresh Poultry

Type of Poultry	Parts	Weight	Roasting Unstuffed	Roasting Stuffed	Grilling/Smoking*	Microwave
*If smoked, use indirect heat and a drip pan rather than direct heat when grilled. DO NOT STUFF. **Prick skin of whole duck or goose before roasting or smoking so fat can render.
Chicken:			350 °F	350 °F		Medium-High
	Whole Roasting Hen	5-7 lbs.	2-2¼ hrs	2½-2¾ hrs	18-25 min/lb (smoked)*	9-10 min/lb
	Whole Broiler Fryers	3-4 lbs	1¼-1½ hrs	1¾-2 hrs	60-75 min (smoked)*	9-10 min/lb
	Breast Halves with Bone	6-8 oz	30-40 min		10-15 min/side	8-9 min/lb
	Boneless Breast Halves	4 oz	20-30 min		6-8 min/side	6-8 min/lb
	Legs or Thighs	4-8 oz	40-50 min		10-15 min/side	8-9 min/lb
	Drumsticks	4 oz	35-45 min		8-12 min/side	8-9 min/lb
	Wings or Wingettes	2-3 oz	30-40 min		8-12 min/side	8-9 min/lb
Turkey			325 F°	325 °F		Medium-High
	Whole Turkey	12-14 lbs	3-3¾ hrs	3½-4 hrs	3-4 hours (smoked)*	14 lb. turkey maximum. 9-10 min/lb. Do not stuff.
		14- 18lbs	3¾-4¼ hrs	4-4 ½ hrs	not recommended
		18-20lbs	4¼-4½ hrs	4¼- 4¾ hrs	not recommended
		20-24 lbs	4½ -5 hrs	4¾-5¼ hrs	not recommended
	Whole Breast	4-8 lbs	1½ -3¼ hrs	8 lbs: 3-3½ hrs	1-2 hours	10-15 min/lb (H) first ⅓ time (M) last ⅔ time
	Half Breast	2-3 lbs	50-60 min			(M) 11-15 min/lb
	Drumsticks	¾-1 lb each	2–2¼ hrs		1½-2 hours (smoked)*	(MH) 13-16 min/lb
	Thighs	¾-1 lb each	1¾-2 hrs		1½-2 hours (smoked)*
	Wings or Wingettes	6-8 oz each	1¾-2¼ hrs		50-60 min
			350 °F	350 °F		Medium-High
Duck and Goose**	Whole Duckling	4-6 lbs	30-35 min/lb	Not Advised	2½ hrs (smoked)*	6-7 min/lb
	Duckling Breast or Parts				30-40 min (grilled)	6-7 min/lb
	Whole Young Goose	8-12 lbs	2½ -3 hrs	3-3½ hrs	2½ hrs (smoked)*	6-7 min/lb
	Goose Parts				35-40 min (grilled)	6-7 min/lb

Sources:

1. USDA/FSIS. Focus On: Chicken (April 2006). http://www.fsis.usda.gov/Fact_Sheets/Chicken_Food_Safety_Focus/index.asp
2. USDA/FSIS. Food Safety of Turkey…from Farm to Table (April 2006). http://www.fsis.usda.gov/Fact_Sheets/Turkey_from_Farm_to_Table/index.asp
3. USDA/FSIS. Facts about Ground Poultry (February 2003). http://www.fsis.usda.gov/Fact_Sheets/ground_poultry_and_food_safety/index.asp
4. USDA/FSIS. Food Safety of Duck and Goose…from Farm to Table (April 2006). http://www.fsis.usda.gov/Fact_Sheets/Duck_&_Goose_from_Farm_to_Table/index.asp