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Or.*M*VTm.,W.nn.y Mme!~,IW Safe and simple guidelines for handling poultry Introduction .As the Christmas season once again draws near, people across the country will be planning to indulge in the traditional holiday chicken and turkey dinners. To ensure the healthiest and safest treatment of your holiday birds, careful handling, preparation and storage techniques are essential. By following a few simple suggestions, you can eliminate the potenrial danger of salmnonella poisoning and ensure safe and healthy eating for you and your family. Salmonella, a type of bacteria that can cause food poisoning, occurs when the salmonella bac- teria, which is nonmally killed in the heat of cooking, marnes to survive. This can be due to either improper storage, prepa- ration or cooking techniques, and the result is contarninated food that puts you and your family at risk. Each year, thou- sands of Canadians contract food poisoning after eating food conitaminated by salmonella and other harmful bacteria. Poultry is rnost commonly associated with the salmonella bacteria, although it can also be present in other foods such as meat, fish, eggs and dairy products. Storage It is impossible to tell by look- ing, at food whether or not it is contaminated. To play it safe, you should handie ail meat and poulury carefuilv. Proper storage practices are of utmnost impor- tance when deaiing with poulury since it is durin2 the transitional stages of purchasing-, storing and cooking that bacteria is most likely to tftrive and g-row. Fresh poulury should be rerrig- erated or frozen imnmediately. Roth chicken and tuirkey can be stored in the refrigerator and left in the original packaging; how- ever, it is best to place fresh poultry in a loosely-tied plastic bag to ensure that any drippings do not contaminate other items in the refrigerator. , Once safely stored in the refrigerator, fresh poultry can be kept for up to two days. When freezing, use freezer bags or wrap securely with wax paper or plastic wrap rnaking sure that there is as little air space as pos- sible to prevent freezer burn. Once completely thawed, uncooked poultry must be kept r-efrigerated and cooked within 48 hours. Do not refreeze unless ice crystals are still presenit. Both chicken and turkey may be kept frozen for up to six months for uncooked pieces and twelve months for whole uncooked birds. Cooked chicken can be kept frozen for up to three months while cooked turkeys ,can be stored in the freezer for one month. Thawingr When thawing frozen poultry one must be careful as well. Poultry should be kept frozen until ready to thaw just before use. Thawing in the refrigera-tor is the preferred and safest method, since the temperature remains consistently cool. Leave chicken wrapped on a tray or dish in the refrigerator for approximately 10 hours per kilo- gram. Refrigerator thawing gen- erally takes longer for turkeys: 2 days for small (10-il kg> whole birds; 3 days for medium (12-13 kg) whole birds; and 4 days for large birds (14-15 kg). The next best way to thaw chicken is in frequently-changed cold water. Neyer use hot water. This rnethod takes about 2 hours per kilogram and is not recom- mended for turkeys. If you mnust defrost turkeys -this way, leave them in their original wrappers or another dlean container and place them in a sanitized deep sink that will allow the entire bird to be covered with water. Direct a stream of cold running water over the turkev and be prepared to wait approximately 2 hours per kilograrn. Poultry defrosted using this method must-be cooked imrnediately. Microwave defrostinz is also acceptable and takes approxi- mately 10 minutes per kiograrn. Poultry should be turned and separated as it tbaws and ensure that the poultry is completely thawed throughout prior to cooking.. If you must thaw poultry at room temperature, make sure that it isproperly wrapped in a heavy paper bag so, the outside doesn't become warm before the inside thaws. Thawed poultry should be cooked within 2 days of defrosting. Pre-p reparation The most important things to remember are to keep your poul- try COLD and CLEAN until you are ready to cook it. Dont forget to remove t.he neck and giblets from the chest cavity before rinsing. Rinse birds inside and out under cold run- nîng water and pat dry befcore cooking. It is very important to avoid cross contamination between hands, dish cloths, utensils, work surfaces and the, poultry. Hands should be washed Ae-l in hot, soapy water and dried wvith a decan cloth or paper towel before and after hiandlîng any poultry. Cutting boards. dish cloths., utensils and counter tops must also be kept decan and sanitîzed. Clean these in hot, soapy water to reniovc food debris. Sanitize by soaking for Iwo to three min- utes in a solution of standard household chiorine bleach (I cup bleach to 1/2 kitchen sink of cold water). Rinse well. Plastic boards are preferred to wooden ones since they are easier to keep sanitized. Always keep separate plates for raw and cooked poultry to avoid cross- contamination of bacteria. Do not re-use any plastic bags, trays or boxes which have been used to store raw poulury. Make sure to discard ail store packaging the poultry was wrapped in. Always.stuff a bird just before roasting. If you stuff it in advance, you are providing a perfect place for bacteria to grow. In fact, food safety experts recommend that stuffing should be cooked separately because improper handling and inadequate cooking of stuffed birds can increase the possibility of food poisoning. If you choose to stuff your bird, make sure to remove ahl cooked stuffing immediately following the meal and refrigerate separately. Cooking Now that ail preparations have been done. its time to cook yoiur bird. Temperature is important when cooking poultry. Preheat your oven to 160'C/3250F 50 that the internai temrperature of the breast or thigh is 850C11850F. The use of a meat thermometer is strongly. recom- mcnded. It should be placed in the thickest part of the thigh or breast and must penetrate the centre cavitv of the bird. Neyer. slow cook poultry at low tem- peratures for long periods of time since this creates a danger zone (between 4-600C/40- 1400F) where bacteria can mul- tiply rapidly. Be sure to com- plete the cooking of your bird in one session, nevýer partially cooking birds over a period of time. Estimated cooking time is 25 minutes per pound, but varies with each individual bird. The best method to test for doneness is to use the meat ther- mometer. Your meat thermome- ter should register 8z0C/1850F in the thigh. The ILg should move easilv anid the mecat should be tender when pierced with a fork and no longer pink throughout. Remove from thec oven and allow 20 minutes standing time before carving begins. Microwave ovens Birds weighing less than 7 kilograms/15 pounds may be roasted in the microwave. When cookinçr birds in thc- microwavle, cover with waxed paper to mini- mize splattering, shorten cook- Health, happiness and harmony... .is our wish for you during this season and throughout the year . ..as we express our thoughts of thanks and good wishes for your faith and trust in us, Ann Dreslinski and David Scott ingç urne and maintain even heat distribution. Check vouir micro- wave cookbook, for specific cooking and standing times, turning your bird half way through its suggested cooking urne. Ensure that cooked birds are allowed sufficient standing time once removed from the oven since standing urne is very important for the continued and thorough cooking of ail poultry. Serving Slice and serve your poultry hot. Cooked poultry which is going to be stored should be refrigerated immediately with- out waiting for it to cool. Re- move ail of the stuffing right away. Cooked chicken can be kept refigLerated for 3 to 4 days while turkey lasts only 1 to 2. Cooked stuffing should be eaten within 3 days. A little extra care in the han- dling, preparation and storage of your poultry this holiday season wil ensure safe and healthy ear- ing. The risk of food poisoning can bc greatly minimized by fol- lowing these helpful hints. Happy Holidays and enjoy! 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