Versatile and quick-cooking, ground turkey is a staple in our kitchen, whether it’s tossed into a pot of chili, doused in spicy-sweet sauce and made into lettuce wraps or shaped into tender meatballs. The only time we won’t sing its praises? When it’s rotten. But you don’t need a PhD in food science to know how to tell if ground turkey is bad. Relying on a few of your senses (namely, sight, smell and touch) and keeping an eye on how long that pack of poultry has been in the fridge will help ensure your purchase is safe to eat. Here are the four signs to look out for.
How to Tell If Ground Turkey Is Bad
Step 1: Check the Date
The USDA recommends cooking (or freezing) raw, ground turkey within one or two days after purchasing or the “sell by” date printed on the package. So if your best-laid plans for Tuesday night turkey burgers were forgotten until Saturday, it’s unfortunately time to say goodbye. And what about frozen ground turkey? The same rules apply, but not until the meat is fully thawed. (And that can take 12 hours, if you do it safely in your refrigerator.)
Step 2: Look for Changes in Color
Fresh, raw ground turkey should have a pink, fleshy color. But as any poultry starts to go bad, it will start to turn an unpleasant shade of gray. If that pink hue starts to look slightly dull then it’s time to use up your ground turkey immediately, and if it has a gray tint (even just a slight one), then it’s time to toss it.
Step 3: Smell the Turkey
Listen, we know raw poultry is never going to smell like roses. But if you notice a sour, cloying or pungent odor, it might be beyond saving. Give it that ground turkey a whiff before tossing it in the skillet—if it smells at all strange, do not pass go.
Feel the Turkey
So your ground turkey passed the color and sniff tests, but you’re still not 100 percent sure if it’s gone bad. Your final safeguard is to open the package and touch the raw poultry. It should feel moist, but not slimy, sticky or spongy.
Plus, The One Thing You Absolutely Shouldn’t Do
According to the USDA, you should never taste food to determine its safety. (That’s just asking for trouble, no?)
And if you’re really stumped? Instead of risking it for the biscuit (er, E. coli), you can always give the USDA's toll-free Meat and Poultry Hotline a ring at 1-888-MPHotline (1-888-674-6854), available year-round on weekdays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. ET.
How to Safely Handle Ground Turkey to Prevent Spoilage
Two things we don’t love? Food waste and ruined dinner plans. Fortunately, it’s easy to ensure you don’t have to deal with spoiled ground turkey—buy the latest “sell by” date possible, store it in the refrigerator as soon as you bring it home from the grocery, and cook or freeze it within two days. Surprisingly, ground turkey will stay fresh in the freezer indefinitely. (At a proper freezer temperature of 0°F, bacteria can’t flourish and spoilage can’t happen.) But for the best texture and flavor, the USDA recommends using frozen ground turkey within one year.
When it comes dinnertime, continue those food safety practices by always cooking ground turkey until it reaches 165°F on a meat thermometer. Serve it immediately, and store leftovers promptly—small portions in the refrigerator will cool down the quickest. And you should never leave food out of the refrigerator for more than two hours, lest you risk entering the “danger zone,” aka anywhere from 40°F to 140°F. That’s the sweet spot for foodborne illness (yikes).
Follow those easy tips and you’ll be in the clear—now, did we hear something about Greek turkey burgers?
Katherine Gillen is PureWow’s senior food editor. She’s a writer, recipe developer and food stylist with a degree in culinary arts and professional experience in New York City restaurants. She used to sling sugary desserts in a pastry kitchen, but now she’s an avid home cook and fanatic baker.
Toss out your ground turkey if it has a slimy texture. Get rid of ground turkey if it darkens or dulls to a dark gray color, a sure sign it's gone bad.
You may store uncooked ground poultry in the refrigerator 1 to 2 days. After cooking, you may keep it 3 to 4 days. Frozen raw poultry is best used in 3 to 4 months; cooked ground poultry, 2 to 3 months.
Many times people can tell if a turkey is spoiled by the "texture and smell" of the turkey. Hanes said the skin of the turkey may become slimy, and the smell is often described as "rotten eggs or like sulfur." It gets trickier with detecting foodborne pathogens, according to Hanes.
The color of cooked meat and poultry is not always a sign of its degree of doneness. Only by using a meat thermometer can one accurately determine that a meat has reached a safe temperature. Turkey, fresh pork, ground beef or veal can remain pink even after cooking to temperatures of 160°F.
This may be the first thing you notice if your beef has gone bad, even before you open the fridge. Spoiled beef will develop a scent to it similar to ammonia or sulfur. In short, it won't smell good.
"Consumers can tell leftover turkey has spoiled by using their senses," says Snyder. "Refrigerated turkey leftovers that have spoiled may be slimy or have a bad smell." If the turkey has been stored in the freezer, you will be able to tell if it is no longer safe to eat if it is discolored, tough, or dry.
The USDA recommends cooking (or freezing) raw, ground turkey within one or two days after purchasing or the “sell by” date printed on the package. So if your best-laid plans for Tuesday night turkey burgers were forgotten until Saturday, it's unfortunately time to say goodbye.
USDA recommends using cooked turkey within 3 to 4 days, kept refrigerated (40°F or less). Refrigeration slows but does not stop bacterial growth. Turkey can be frozen for 3 to 4 months. Although safe indefinitely, frozen leftovers can lose moisture and flavor when stored for longer times in the freezer.
If properly stored, raw turkey can last in the fridge for 1–2 days, while cold cuts last up to 5 days. How long does cooked turkey last in the fridge? If you have leftovers that include cooked turkey, you can expect those to last in the refrigerator for 3–4 days.
The bacteria and toxins that form on ground turkey once it goes bad are heat resistant, so they'll still be on the meat after you cook them. Eating any meat with the harmful bacteria could cause nausea, vomiting, and other flu-like symptoms, so it's best to just toss it in the trash.
Most people don't need medical help for food poisoning. You should stay home from work or school and drink plenty of fluids. For a mild case of food poisoning, you can: suck ice chips — to replace lost fluids.
So your ground turkey passed the color and sniff tests, but you're still not 100 percent sure if it's gone bad. Your final safeguard is to open the package and touch the raw poultry. It should feel moist, but not slimy, sticky or spongy.
Raw ground turkey can be stored in the fridge for 1-2 days. If you buy from the store, you can go by the expiration date on the package. As long as you don't open the package you can store in its original packaging.
To find out if your turkey is done without a thermometer, pierce the mid-thigh muscle with a fork, explains Johnson. "When the juices run clear, and no longer reddish or pink in color, it's a good indication that your turkey is done." In most cases, the deep thigh is the last part of the turkey to be done.
Raw ground turkey can be stored in the fridge for 1-2 days. If you buy from the store, you can go by the expiration date on the package. As long as you don't open the package you can store in its original packaging.
Two hours is the limit for keeping food safe outside the refrigerator or freezer; one hour if the outside temperature is 90 °F ( 32.2 °C) or above. Frozen food can thaw if it is exposed to the sun's rays even when the temperature is very cold.
The most common symptoms of food poisoning include diarrhea, stomach pain or cramps, nausea, vomiting, and fever. Signs of severe food poisoning include bloody diarrhea, diarrhea that lasts more than 3 days, fever over 102°F, vomiting so often that you cannot keep liquids down, and signs of dehydration.
USDA recommends using cooked turkey within 3 to 4 days, kept refrigerated (40°F or less). Refrigeration slows but does not stop bacterial growth. Turkey can be frozen for 3 to 4 months. Although safe indefinitely, frozen leftovers can lose moisture and flavor when stored for longer times in the freezer.
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