TURKEY IS to meet technology this festive season with the launch of a free iPhone application which allows consumers to calculate the optimal cooking time for their Christmas dinner.
To ensure that nobody is left eating like a bird over the festive season, the food safety promotion body, safefood, is expanding the ways in which people can access a cooking calculator allowing them to work out the cooking time according to the weight of their turkey.
Research by safefood shows one-fifth of people who tuck into turkey this Christmas Day run the risk of getting food poisoning because they judge whether or not the bird is cooked based on its look and smell.
Dr Gary Kearney, director of food science with safefood, says that just 8 per cent of Irish people are calculating the cooking time properly.
“Twenty per cent of people said they thought their turkey was cooked by either looking at it or by the smell, but these methods don’t guarantee that the turkey is thoroughly cooked,” Dr Kearney said.
“The best way to ensure a turkey is cooked properly is by calculating the correct cooking time based on the weight of the turkey and the stuffing.”
To double check that your turkey is thoroughly cooked before serving, pierce the thickest part of the breast and thigh with a clean fork or skewer and make sure that the juices run clear. Check that there is no pink meat left and that the meat is piping hot throughout.
As well as the iPhone app, the cooking calculator is also available at www.safefood.eu. Alternatively, consumers can call 1850-404567 and leaflets are also available in butchers’ shops nationwide.
A mobile phone service is also available at the standard SMS cost. Consumers who text the word “stuffed” or “unstuffed” plus the weight of their turkey to 51500 will receive an estimated cooking time for fan-assisted ovens.
Turkey is still by far the meat of choice during the festive season, with 94 per cent of people eating the traditional fare on Christmas Day.
Of non-turkey eaters, 20 per cent choose beef, 17 per cent buy goose and 12 per cent opt for fish or ham.
Some 48 per cent of people said the most challenging aspect of Christmas dinner was getting everything ready on time, with 47 per cent admitting it was hard work, although half of those questioned said they enjoyed the challenge.