Quick turkey question???

[Shooter McGavin]

Could my turkey possibly be spoiled?!?!
Has anybody done this before - so yesterday I smoked a turkey, the last couple hours on the smoker I wrapped it up real good in a few layers of tin foil.
After pulling it off I left it wrapped set it in an empty cooler, closed the lid and left it in the back of my truck until this morning, when I got it out to carve it up. Total time in cooler, about 12Hrs. It wasn't cold to the touch but it wasn't room temp either.
So it was left wrapped up and in the cooler, It got fairly chilly last night I think upper 30's or so. When I got it out this morning it looked fine and actually smelled and tasted great. Simply Intrigued, A google fu search returned plenty of opinions but I was just curious if anyone on here has done a similar thing or can offer some insight.
Appreciate it, have a safe and happy thanksgiving!

 

[robertc1024]

Not sure. I thought if the internal temps got less than 165 or so, you are in danger. I wouldn't worry about it though.

PS. here's a link to just that kind of info. It's my BBQ bible.

Table of Contents

 

[breakingcontact]

Texas Turkey Talk. I had potatoes. Life is good.

 

[Shooter McGavin]

Not sure. I thought if the internal temps got less than 165 or so, you are in danger. I wouldn't worry about it though.

PS. here's a link to just that kind of info. It's my BBQ bible.

Table of Contents

Right, 165* for safe internal cooking temp. The bird was done, right temp/time on the smoker. I'm just talking about storage afterwards.
Went straight from smoker to cooler until this morning. It didn't get as cool nor as fast had I been able to throw it in the fridge.

 

[rsayloriii]

Your nose will do a pretty good job of telling you if it's OK or not. If it smells ok, I'd say take a small bite and see if it tastes ok. Wait a little while and if everything passes muster, then I'd dig in.

That's just me. You have to be the one to make the final judgement call. If you're worried about it, then the safer bet is to start over or make due without.

 

[winchster]

Once smoked, what you did was no different than refrigerating it.

 

[Shooter McGavin]

Smelled and tasted just fine, just wanted to make sure before I fed it to my family.
However it is all my in-laws, no harm....
Thanks for info gents, stay safe!

 

[benenglish]

You can always call 1-800-BUTTERBALL.

Seriously. They know their stuff. Turkey Talk-Line® | Butterball®

 

[rsayloriii]

FDA says no, so I'm sure Butterball will say no as well.

 

[breakingcontact]

Ah cooked first, then cooler? Sounds good to me.

 

[stdreb27]

In a warmer all night? I would be skeptical.

 

[ed308]

I guess will know how it turned out by tomorrow. Hope they don't have a long night visiting with the crapper.

 

[stdreb27]

8 hours after eating is herb you're know.

 

[ROGER4314]

I am a fanatic about food storage temperatures and the OP made me wince! I use thermocouple thermometers to calibrate my refrigerator and freezer and I run the cold box at 35-37 degrees.

I'm fascinated by those new portable refrigerator boxes that use a thermal cell to refrigerate food. Their data sheets say that the device will keep the box 40 degrees below ambient temperature. If it's 95 degrees outside, the box is maintaining 55 degrees and that is not cold enough to keep you healthy!

I hope that the meal went well and that everyone stayed healthy. If so, you got lucky. Please don't try that again!

I've had a few cases of food poisoning in my life. I got pretty sick but the buffet that got me in SE Oklahoma was another matter! I would have gone to the hospital if I could have made it out the door of my home! It turned me inside out....or seemed to.

Flash

 

[Bozz10mm]

The fact that it was smoked probably offered some protection against bacterial growth. If it had been sitting in the cooler unsmoked for 12 hours, it would be a definite no go.

To me, it's still a little iffy tho. Probably too late now anyway huh?

 

[Shooter McGavin]

Just an update, all went well. The breast portion dried out a little but aside from that it tasted just fine and nobody got sick.

 

[rl96ss]

While we're on the subject. Any truth to putting a hot dish (turkey, ham, beans, leftovers) in refrigerator, without cooling down and it spoiling?

I've heard people say yes and no. Any experience?

 

[cajunautoxer]

Hot food into fridge only I think pertains to soups or anything fluid filled. If I know I'm making a base for the next day I'll take a 2 liter and fill woth water and freeze it. Drop frozen bottle into soup and instant cool down

 

[TheDan]

You put it in the cooler hot? A cooler is just an insulator. If you put something hot in there, it's just going to keep it warm. I think what you you ended up doing was holding the turkey in the "danger zone" as long as possible

Probably no big deal as we can handle ingesting quite a lot of nasty critters before it makes a healthy person sick, but definitely not a good practice.

While we're on the subject. Any truth to putting a hot dish (turkey, ham, beans, leftovers) in refrigerator, without cooling down and it spoiling?

It's only an issue if what you put in there raises the temp of everything else in the fridge. Something small shouldn't be a big deal.

 

[rl96ss]

Okay, just something I remember hearing. So we always let everything cool down to room temperature before putting in the fridge.