Destruction of Pathogenic Bacteria in Turkeys Roasted in Microwave Ovens

Whole turkeys inoculated with Salmonella typhimurium, Staphylococcus aureus, or Clostridium perfringens were cooked in a microwave oven (2450 MHz) to an end-point temperature of 76.6°C. The cooking procedure did not completely eliminate any of the three pathogenic bcteria from the turkeys. The extent of survival of C perfringens on the cooked unstuffed turkeys was proportional to the number of spores in the initial inoculum. Similar results were observed when turkeys stuffed with inoculated stuffing were cooked in microwave ovens. Cooking in brown-in-bags increased the destruction of C. perfringens and S. typhimuriun in unstuffed turkeys even though the end-point temperature was only 68.3°C.