Frozen turkey breast worry
New cook here! So I started to cook a 3 lb. frozen turkey breast. It cooked for 75 minutes and I inserted a meat thermometer, while keeping it in the oven. It registered 165. I took it out and put it in the refrigerator overnight.
The next morning, my husband cut into it and the middle was still frozen. He then put it back in the oven for another hour or so. I just pulled it out and placed a meat thermometer in it while it was out of the oven. It registered 180. I started worrying about the bake, refrigeration, frozen re-bake thing. Should we even consider eating this poor turkey breast?
Best Answer
I don't know if it'll be good, but assuming this time it did actually cook all the way through, it should be safe to eat. Food is safe for up to 2-4 hours in the danger zone, and it sounds like your initial cooking, refrigeration, and second cooking are still within that.
It does sound like something went pretty wrong with your thermometer usage, though. My guess would be that you just didn't manage to find that frozen spot, and need to be sure to try a couple spots and make sure you're getting the temperature-sensitive part of the thermometer all the way to the center of the meat.
It could also be that your thermometer isn't great, and the temperature-sensitive part is too big, so it was in contact with both the frozen part and plenty of warmer turkey outside of that, and sort of averaged out to 165. Or it could be wildly inaccurate! So you might want to test it on a few more things where you have a good idea what the reading should be, and get a sense of whether you can trust it.
And of course, for next time, defrost before cooking. It's hard to get good results cooking frozen food directly, unless it's small enough. (And as you've discovered, a turkey breast is not small enough!)
Pictures about "Frozen turkey breast worry"
Quick Answer about "Frozen turkey breast worry"
There are no dangers in cooking with a frozen or partially frozen turkey; the only thing you need to do is allow for some more cooking time. Cooking time for a totally frozen turkey will be around 50 percent longer, while cooking time for a partially frozen turkey will be approximately 25 percent longer.Can you cook a frozen turkey breast without thawing it?
Answer: Yes \u2014 you can roast a frozen turkey in the oven without defrosting it first, says the U.S. Department of Agriculture. You shouldn't grill, smoke, deep-fry or microwave a frozen turkey.Are Frozen turkeys OK?
Keep frozen until you're ready to thaw it. Turkeys can be kept in the freezer indefinitely. However, cook turkeys within 1 year for the best quality.How can you tell if a frozen turkey is bad?
The best way to tell if turkey is still good is smell and texture. As StillTasty.com points out, if the turkey has a sour odor and/or a slimy texture, it's probably not good anymore \u2014 no matter what the date on the package says.What happens if you eat frozen turkey?
Your Questions Answered Answer: It is safe to eat a turkey that has been kept in the freezer for a year - or even for several years. As the U.S. Department of Agriculture points out, foods that are kept constantly frozen at 0\xb0F or lower will keep safe indefinitely.How do you thaw a frozen turkey breast quickly?
More answers regarding frozen turkey breast worry
Answer 2
No: this is NOT safe. By the time your turkey was done the first time in the oven, the internal temperatures ranged from 165° to frozen (with the surface probably hotter). In the middle somewhere things were in the danger zone (40°F to 140°F) as the breast melted, with the oven's heat traveling in; some portions of that may have been in the danger zone for much of the cooking process. The refrigerator did NOT instantly cool the entire breast: it started cooling the surface while inside the oven's heat was still traveling in. It was a significant amount of time before the inside was all below the danger zone; combined with the period spent heating up, portions of the breast may have spent multiple hours neither cool nor warm enough to be safe.
When cooking meat goes as far wrong as this, the answer is always going to be a balance between "don't want to waste the meat" and "there's a real chance that eating it will be educational." It's anyone's guess which way your dinner will go. Don't risk it.
Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Images: Şahin Sezer Dinçer, Şahin Sezer Dinçer, SHVETS production, SHVETS production