There seems to be widespread consensus that cooked turkey is only safe 3—4 days in the fridge. I’m on day 7 and it has the wrong odor. Can it be salvaged?
I am certain that I can kill all the bacteria. But really the interesting question is whether the type¹ of bacteria that likes cooked turkey produces heat-resistant toxins.
These articles say you can kill all the bacteria by cooking:
- https://thetrashcanturkey.com/does-cooking-a-turkey-kill-all-bacteria/
- https://stellinamarfa.com/meat/does-cooking-a-turkey-kill-the-bacteria/
- https://www.chefsresource.com/can-you-cook-bacteria-out-of-turkey/
So they all imply it’s safe to re-cook, but they neglect the critical question about toxins. Any ideas?
① stellinamarfa: “One turkey can contain Salmonella, Clostridium perfringens, Campylobacter, and other germs”.
Are those the kinds of bacteria that produce poisons?
I don’t have bacteria phobia, but any sound science on food poisoning risks would be useful.
I just found this article which lists Clostridium perfringens as producing a harmful exotoxin. From there, it would be interesting to know if Clostridium perfringens likes cooked turkey (as opposed to just raw). But without a solid answer on that, I guess I will toss the turkey.
If you’re able to smell the products of the bacteria, it’s not safe to consume.
The smell test is step 1 in determining whether food is safe to eat, and your turkey failed this step. There’s no way to know what bacteria colonized it outside of growing cultures.