Anyone Dutch Oven a turkey?

BTW Doug, all my thermometers get tested in boiling water at 1,450’ elevation as well as in the oven or refrigerator when appropriate. It’s very important not to overcook my meat and to have my beer at 36°, but I’m not anal-retentive anymore.

Hilditch
 
Here you go Sharon - sort of:




Vintage 1970. Pattern: Turkey? Thanksgiving? You got me. BTW, I think my Syracuse Strawberry Hill platters are the best!

Hilditch
 
Since there had been some discussion of Thanksgiving cooking and food-borne illness on this thread, I wanted to share a news story I just read, in my own words.

A church-sponsored community Thanksgiving meal held at the American Legion hall in Antioch, CA appears to be the source of a food-borne illness outbreak that has sickened at least 17 people, three of which have died. Many items were cooked at home and then brought to the event while others were prepared on-site. Not all 17 attended the event; some were family members who ate leftovers brought home by attendees.

Sure is sad to hear about someone thinking they're having a nice Thanksgiving and then ending up dead. This sort of thing is the main reason I don't attend potlucks.

The point is one should always remember that when cooking for guests, one has a responsibility to follow safe food handling practices. Taking risks with your own health is a personal choice, but allowing a cavalier attitude to sicken or kill a loved one is just tragic.

BTW I want to be clear that this isn't a stab at Hilditch's "undercooked" turkey. Lower temperatures, like 148 degrees, can still kill salmonella, if held at that temperature for a longer period of time. This is just meant as a general statement exemplifying the importance of safe food handling.

Cheers.
 
EricC said:
Since there had been some discussion of Thanksgiving cooking and food-borne illness on this thread, I wanted to share a news story I just read, in my own words.

A church-sponsored community Thanksgiving meal held at the American Legion hall in Antioch, CA appears to be the source of a food-borne illness outbreak that has sickened at least 17 people, three of which have died. Many items were cooked at home and then brought to the event while others were prepared on-site. Not all 17 attended the event; some were family members who ate leftovers brought home by attendees.

Sure is sad to hear about someone thinking they're having a nice Thanksgiving and then ending up dead. This sort of thing is the main reason I don't attend potlucks.

The point is one should always remember that when cooking for guests, one has a responsibility to follow safe food handling practices. Taking risks with your own health is a personal choice, but allowing a cavalier attitude to sicken or kill a loved one is just tragic.

BTW I want to be clear that this isn't a stab at Hilditch's "undercooked" turkey. Lower temperatures, like 148 degrees, can still kill salmonella, if held at that temperature for a longer period of time. This is just meant as a general statement exemplifying the importance of safe food handling.

Cheers.
Click to expand...

Sad to hear. This story reminds me of a extended family Christmas party I attended a few years ago. Every year, the extended family (2nd and 3rd cousins) meet at a restaurant a few weeks before Christmas. One year, we went to a new destination and about a third of the attendees were taken out by food poisoning, luckily we had no casualties, but at about 2:30 in the morning I thought for sure this night was going to be end of me. One of the few times I ever had myself rushed to the emergency center. I had no idea what hit me until details came in about the rest of the family. The restaurant offered us a free event, but I don't think any of us took up the offer.
 
Eric, no offense taken. I really appreciate your explanations here as I and many others learned a lot. I too reject pot lucks but for a different reason - mediocre food.

“The concept behind safe food handling practices is to treat all food as if it were contaminated, so in case you get a piece that actually is, you'll be safe.” I fully understand the benefits of this philosophy for the good of others, loved ones or not, but have chosen to process food with the belief that it arrived to me safe and that it is up to me to keep it that way. I play the numbers and have not had a problem to date.

It seems the governments and folks at any level are trying to cover their a** with caution to stay out of the courts and this negatively affects the cuisine we eat as flavor and texture are sacrificed for caution. Not with this rebel who likes juicy tender meat and raw oysters.

Hilditch
 
Eric, also thanks for the added info.

Hilditch as you may play the numbers ( I like to roll the dice and eat raw oysters also, and sometimes have a bite or two off a good steak with a tad of salt before it hits the grill. :covri:


Steve,
 
W. Hilditch said:
It seems the governments and folks at any level are trying to cover their a** with caution to stay out of the courts and this negatively affects the cuisine we eat as flavor and texture are sacrificed for caution. Not with this rebel who likes juicy tender meat and raw oysters.

Hilditch
Click to expand...

The way the county health department explained it to me was something like this:

Food safety is a continually evolving set of practices, through trial and error. A case of food poisoning is reported, they investigate. If they find out it was due to not following established practices, case closed.

But sometimes it occurred despite following proper practices. In that case they work to determine where the practices failed, and they modify the practices to avoid a reoccurrence.

I've been out of the industry for nearly a decade now but in my time I saw things including the temperature guidelines increase (higher minimum temp for holding hot food, lower max temp for holding cold food) and implementing monitoring of how quickly cooked food is chilled to cold holding temps, which involved modifying the shape of storage containers to expose more surface area and cool more quickly, so it doesn't spend too much time in the TDZ during the transition.

All of those changes were driven by occurrences of food-borne illness. And the motivation didn't seem to be a concern over our litigious society but instead a duty of public safety. They have to cover thousands of establishments from restaurants to fast food to food trucks, from convenience stores to grocery, etc. And when you deal with a large enough grouping, the improbable becomes commonplace.

Personally I'm with you, I like my steaks "blue" rare and I eat a lot of raw Japanese stuff, not just fish but scallops and shrimp (amaebi). Raw oysters and cherrystone and littleneck clams on the half shell. I've had duck tartar and beef heart tartar. But each time, I'm only risking myself.
 
Hilditch, thanks you for your response #23 on this thread. That's gorgeous; and a Clarice Cliff design--Wow! A great piece of China! Thanks for sharing with us--I don't know if anyone else has my interest in transfer ware, but if so, what a treat to see!
 
Sharon Shuman said:
Hilditch, thanks you for your response #23 on this thread. That's gorgeous; and a Clarice Cliff design--Wow! A great piece of China! Thanks for sharing with us--I don't know if anyone else has my interest in transfer ware, but if so, what a treat to see!
Click to expand...
Sharon, red transfer ware is something I always look for when I am out hunting iron. I found this one a couple of weeks ago for $8 at a thrift store.

Circa 1830's Enoch Wood & sons, England, not a chip on it anywhere. :-) It's a 16 inch platter.

http://imgur.com/a/F2W2C
 
Bonnie, that is just gorgeous! What a great find. I am too hard on my collectibles, so I'll not be jealous of any of you who have such treasures. I'm just glad CI is so durable. More good hunting to you, Bonnie; and to all here on this forum.
Sorry if I hijacked a thread.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top