You might be searching the web and flipping through cookbooks on the quest to make the perfect Thanksgiving turkey, but food writer Corby Kummer has an unbreakable rule to follow, regardless of which recipe you choose: Don't wash your turkey.
Kummer joined Boston Public Radio on Tuesday to explain how washing a turkey can spread bacteria, including the kind that can cause salmonella.
"Every Thanksgiving, if you have a frozen turkey, don't take it out the morning of and run it under hot water and put it on the counter," he said. "The very best way to defrost a turkey is starting days ahead in cool-ish water in the refrigerator for days. The slower it defrosts at a cool temperature, the better and safer."
This isn't just a once-a-year-turkey warning, Kummer noted, but a rule that also applies to chicken preparation.
"Don't wash chicken, don't wash your roast chicken or chicken pieces. Clean them with a paper towel," he said. "Otherwise, it spreads [bacteria] all over your sink and then on your hands."
Kummer is a senior editor at The Atlantic, an award-winning food writer, and a senior lecturer at the Tufts Friedman School of Nutrition and Policy.
