Here is a recipe from Cooks.com. This turkey is not stuffed. It is baked at 350 and then turned down to 200 and baked overnight. I think it should be safe as long as it is broght to a certain temperature and not stuffed.

If you google "overnight turkey" you will find several recipes. Although the one that cooks it at 475 for a while and then totally shuts off the oven is suspect in my opinion.

We eat dinner late in the day in my family so our bird (s) just go in the oven in the morning.

Here is a link that might be useful: Baking a Turkey Overnight

It is totally your decision, but you might want to look at this document from University of Minnesota Extension regarding food safety of overnight turkeys (and some other cooking methods as well). Personally, I would avoid such a low temperature.

Carol

Here is a link that might be useful: Unsafe Ways to Cook Turkey

I think you should listen to that nagging doubt in your mind. I am not an expert, but low temps are the perfect breeding grounds for bacterial. I would advise against for any meal served to elderly or health compromised guests.
Jo

I'd have to agree with Carol when it comes to low-temperature cooking and any kind of poultry - although people make all kinds of unwise food safety decisions all the time and live to tell about it -- and sometimes they become one of the statistics.

Muscle meat, according to Harold McGee in his book, "On Food and Cooking" is usually free of bacteria because the skin of the animal prevents bacteria from penetrating into live muscle. The meats that we eat skin and all -- poultry, for the most part -- are especially prone to microbial contamination because despite post-slaughter washings, many bacteria remain. You can easily transfer those bacteria to the inside of the turkey while preparing it. The internal temperature of the turkey will remain at an unsafe food temperature for a prolonged time because of the low heat won't penetrate to the inside very quickly.

How much bacteria are we talking about? "For example, a typical piece of pork in the supermarket will have a few hundred bacteria per square centimeter, while a piece of chicken (skin on) may have 10,000 in the same area."

-Grainlady

Ug. You just reminded me why I'm driving 1500 miles for Thanksgiving this year instead of going to a certain inlaw's home. They cook the turkey overnight in a roaster, then remove it from the bones and present it in a soggy mass. Unappetizing.

So, don't do that. :)

I think you'll have to ask your cousin!

Here is a question - where is your mother from? Many countries have really lax food standards and their systems have built up an immunity to the bacteria.

I have a friend who is married to a man from Bogata. They bought his mother a refrigerator 14 years ago. Up until that time, she never had one.

And turkeys in other countries can be really expensive. Four years ago my niece Jenny married an Australian and moved back with him. She went to buy a turkey to cook for Thanksgiving and found a small one was almost $200.

Teresa

It can be done, and you can survive but why chance it?

My late MIL always cooked a huge turkey, over night on low and it was stuffed. She then let it sit out for hours until the late arrivals had a chance to eat. It never killed us but maybe we had built up an immunity to bacteria as Teresa said. I do wonder if maybe DMIL and DFIL might have lived longer if they hadn't eaten turkey cooked that way for so many years! j/k.

I was happy when she handed over the duties to the next generation.

Di

Di - and think of the number of people that used to let hamburger thaw out on the kitchen counter back in the 50's. But then that was when a lot of antibiotics were introduced and that could've effected our immune systems.

Maybe, maybe not.

HA! We're from South Africa. If AIDS and TB haven't got us yet, this probably won't either but why chance it.

And my Mom ALWAYS thawed chicken on the counter in the sun.

From a ''food science'' standpoint, what is the rationale for long slow roasting of poultry? I am not challenging or asserting, but actually asking.

I know we slow cook meat with a lot of fat and connective tissue, to convert the collagen into gelatin. Braises, pot roasts, pulled pork, etc. I know we slow cook meat and poultry in liquid to convert the liquid into sauce. Coq au vin, etc. What is the reason for slow roasting poultry which is usually pretty lean and not bathed in a saucy liquid?

I am one who is not particularly concerned about the health issues, but more wondering if the time and potential to dry out lean meat is offset by some gain.

I think a while back turkeys were not bred to be as tender as they are now and required long oven times. Today's birds just don't require hours and hours oven time.
Also, doesn't sound safe to me.

I remember a recipe from many years ago where you cooked the turkey at 500 degrees for an hour and then turned the oven off for several hours - overnight - and not open the oven door the whole time. I think it was meant to be a means of having your oven free for other purposes on Thanksgiving day, but I do remember the recipe said it came out very moist.

The turkey will taste better and have a better texture if you cook it for a shorter period of time at a higher temperature.....and it will be safer too.
so why do the slooooow cooked thing?
Linda C

When we grew our own turkeys, some were 30 - 35 lbs and yes I did the slow overnight roasting.

I do it.

The USDA recommendations say not to, but I did a little bit of research and found that I was comfortable with it. Normal cooking (350 or 450 or whatever) has you take the bird out at 160 or 165 (or in time to reach 160 or 165). If you go over 160 or 165, you get dried-out meat. This is because, in an oven that hot, toward the end of the cooking time, you get pockets of steam. Small parts of the bird are much hotter than your measured temperature, just the way some particles of water in a pot of boiling water are hotter than the boiling point. Steam evaporates into the air, and the meat gets dry. The longer you leave the turkey in the oven, the more that happens. When you cook the bird at 185 or 200 or 250, you do indisputably spend longer in the danger zone, which likely allows more bacteria to grow. However, you also spend more time in the hot zone. You do not pull the bird out when it reaches 160 inside-- the bird reaches the oven temperature (185, 200, whatever) and stays there for several hours at the end of its cooking time. The USDA says salmonella is killed at 165. So, while you may have more bacteria, they are dead bacteria. If I were very bold, I might argue that my way is safer--a bird in a hot oven only spends a few minutes at/above 165, whereas mine spends a boatload of time above 165. The bird does not dry out as you might think-- the texture is awesome. (Turkeys do have fat and connective tissue, and, when you cook them breast-side down, it melts and bastes the lean meat. I prefer to cook mine until it is just starting to fall apart, then flip it over and brown the skin in a hot oven before serving. Although I have had some high-heat turkeys that were pretty good, it requires a lot of finesse to get something that big cooked to a safe temperature in a hot oven without drying out part of it or having part of it undercooked or burning the skin. Slow-cooked is dummy proof, and I really prefer the taste and texture. I do think 200 or 250 is probably safer than 180, since oven temperatures fluctuate a little during cooking.

Jessicav, what is the rough cooking time at 200F or 250F, whichever your preferred temperature is? For example, to eat at 5 pm, when are you starting out?

My mother would occasionally start cooking something and leave it out overnight to cool if it had a good lid on it--it's like canning, kinda if you get a vacuum seal on the sterilized food.

At least that was her justification. She does have a graduate degree in microbiology, but I am more skeptical of her cooking practices now than I one was. :)

However, that's different from what would seem to be INCUBATING microbes in your turkey for a while. But I'd eat it. I also thaw meat and poultry on the counter.

In the many areas where I have traveled to, I am very used to eating food that have been out a long time. Some even begining to smell, still people just put more spices on top and enjoy them just the same.

Low temperature, long cooking time is the basis for the sous vide method of cooking.

For instance:

"Some otherwise tough cuts of meat, notably brisket and short ribs, benefit greatly from very long (48 to 72 hours) sous vide cooking at medium-rare temperatures of around 131 �F (55 �C), but the enzymes in chicken, and particularly fish, turn the food into mush after much shorter times."

dcarch

John, we eat earlier, but I'd probably still cook it overnight. (Put it in the oven at 200 right before I went to bed). It doesn't need as long to rest as a high-heat bird-- I might pull it out 20 minutes before dinner.

Bacteria can proliferate during the lengthy incubation period prior to the killing point of 165 degrees.

However, some of those bacteria can have produced heat-resistant toxins, so even if the bacteria themselves are killed, the toxins are still present.

There are all sorts of arguments to be made in favor of the benefits of immune-strengthening exposure which can come from travel or simply growing up on a farm.

But more and more people in our society are medically fragile and susceptible in ways the strong are not.

Carol

Back when first married, and before any of our friend had kids, we'd do either a pre or post turkey day get-together. All the T-Day fixins but the weekend before or after the actual date.

One time, I was up late doing a lot of prep work... peeling potatoes for mash and sweet potatoes, shredding cabbage for slaw, etc. Stuck UNstuffed turkey in oven at about 11 the night before. By morning, (easily 8 hours later) it was falling apart tender. Dismantled it onto oven-safe serving try and covered with foil. Had EVERYTHING prepared ahead of time and only had to stick turkey back in oven for a warm up before serving.

I did a quick google search, and it doesn't look like salmonella is one of the bacteria that makes a heat-resistant spore or toxin. It seems like it isn't any more dangerous than slow-cooking any other meat, but I have wanted to experiment with the process anyway. It would be interesting to see with using a hot oven until the inside of the bird reaches some temperature(say 120) and then turning the oven down produced results as good. It would cut down a little bit on the time in the danger zone.

Here is a link that might be useful: info

I once cooked a turkey all night. Started it about 11 PM at 420 for 45 minutes, then turned the oven down to 200 without opening the door.
I was awakened about 4 by the smell of turkey cooking....and couldn't really get back to sleep.
By 10 the turkey was falling apart, but we weren't going to eat before one and then was when the rest of the family would come. So I left the turkey in the 200 oven. By dinner time the legs were separated from the body as were the wings and the breast was stringy and over done....it was impossible to carve nicely.
I wouldn't even consider doing that again....but no one got sick...the turkey just wasn't very good.
I did it to avouid having to get up at 5:30 or so to have to get the turkey into the oven....but Iw as awake at that hour any way because the smell of cooking turkey woke me.
Now if I need to get a turkey done in a hurry, I crank the temperature of the oven. The turkey tastes and looks better and I think it';s safer.
Linda c

I'm not surprised it was dry! If I were going to start it at high heat, I wouldn't cook it overnight.

I am intrigued. I may do the turkey a la jessicavanderhoff this year. Just for kicks, you know.

Funnily enough, the little card my mom got from the Amish with her turkey recommended high heat for 45 minutes and then low heat for several hours. Did you give it a go, John?

"it was impossible to carve nicely".

LindaC, that's not an issue for me, I just hack it into pieces anyway! I've never tried an overnight bird, though, I've always gotten up at the crack of dawn to stuff and roast the blasted thing, and I think if I have to get up at 4 am to put the turkey in, everyone else should have to, too. (just kidding)

Annie

Thanks for bringing this back.

In the end my Mom grilled it on the BBQ! She used Alton Browns recipe, popped in a roasting pan on the BBQ and grilled at 500 for 20 minutes and 325 for 2 hours. It was delicious.

I was SOOOOO proud of myself for keeping my mouth shut during all the prep and it did indeed turn out well despite all the rubber gloves she went through LOL.