Experts reveal exactly how long you can keep leftover turkey
We wait pretty much the whole year to eat turkey and once Christmas Day arrives, we eat nothing else for nearly a week.
After sitting down for Christmas dinner on the big day, no matter how many people you're with, there nearly always ends up being leftovers, which are used throughout the following days.
If your family is anything like mine, you'll be having turkey sandwiches, turkey curry and turkey pie over the next week, with another plateful of meat handed to you when you finally head home.
While we are probably also stuffing ourselves with cheese and chocolates and drinking copious amounts of alcohol, turkey is the real constant of the Christmas period.
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However, while chocolate and some cheeses can last months or even years at the bottom of a fridge or cupboard, meat has to be eaten up far quicker, because food poisoning is one sure way to ruin the festive mood.
There can be serious issues that arise when not storing food properly, as one unfortunate student found out when he died eating leftover pasta, and it's vital that you keep your turkey safely contained in the days after Christmas if you want to eat it without the risk of getting ill.
Experts have now revealed that you can keep cooked turkey in the fridge and safely consume it for up to two days before it's probably time to say goodbye.
NHS Shetland Health Protection nurse, Chloe Umphray, said: “It is very important that we do this safely by storing and reheating food according to advice.
“Storing food incorrectly and for longer than recommended can increase the risk of bacterial growth, which can lead to food poisoning.”
There's also lots of steps that you will need to follow if you want to store it safely, which include letting it cool down for around two hours before putting it in the fridge, as it could raise the internal temperature of the fridge and cause other foods, such as your leftover Brussels sprouts, to spoil.
If you're putting it in the fridge, you should also avoid putting it on the bottom shelf to prevent cross-contamination and when you do take it out, you should do it as quickly as possible before putting it back.
Of course, you also have the option of putting it in the freezer, where it could last as long as nine months, according to the US government's food safety page.
If, by chance, you have a whole turkey that you've cooked and left untouched, it could even last a year, just in case you want to get ahead of next Christmas.
There are plenty of recipes which you can follow to reheat the turkey as well, so it's probably best to do that sooner rather than later, but whatever you end up doing with the leftovers, just make sure you enjoy them safely.
Topics: Christmas, Food And Drink
James Moorhouse