# Turkey cooking: food safety question

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turkey-cooking-food-safety-question/474707>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [November 27, 2008, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turkey-cooking-food-safety-question/474707 "2008-11-27T15:25:47Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![vison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/e47774/32.png) [@vison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vison)\
**Post date:** [November 28, 2008, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turkey-cooking-food-safety-question/474707/21 "2008-11-28T06:32:29Z")

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What I don’t get is: why?

I knew a woman who used to do this, and it mystified me. What’s the point? Aside from the dangers of food poisoning (and they are real dangers), the turkey would be ruined, as far as I’m concerned.

My neighbour would put her Christmas turkey in the oven just before she went to bed on Christmas Eve. The bird would be stuffed and wrapped in aluminum foil, ick, ick, ick, and baked at 275 all bloody night and then they’d sit down at noon for their Christmas dinner. The oven wasn’t needed for anything else. No one in that family really liked roast turkey, couldn’t understand what the fuss was all about. (They were English, I guess that could have been part of it . . .) Then one year I cooked a turkey for New Year’s and I invited them and they absolutely RAVED about my turkey, wanted to know where I bought it, etc., and I just told them the truth: I cooked it properly. I guess I didn’t say “properly”, I guess I probably said, “I cooked it my way”, but after that she cooked it my way.

Some people’s kids. Honestly.

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**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\
**Post date:** [November 28, 2008, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turkey-cooking-food-safety-question/474707/22 "2008-11-28T15:42:43Z")

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Sigh…my aunt says she threw up last night, but she swears it’s allergies from eating other people’s food with unknown ingredients. My boyfriend and I are fine, and I hope everyone else is.

I swear, normally she’s a good cook!

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**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\
**Post date:** [November 28, 2008, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turkey-cooking-food-safety-question/474707/23 "2008-11-28T17:59:54Z")

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No more Florida at Thanksgiving for you!

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