Just as one must be concerned about food safety when preparing a turkey, one must treat turkey leftovers with the same concern. Following proper food storage and safety tips can help one safely enjoy leftover turkey. The first area of concern is proper storage of leftover turkey. Whenever one plans to serve a turkey, plan to pop leftovers in the refrigerator within two hours of the bird leaving the oven. It does not matter if the bird is still warm.

It is not safe to let a turkey sit out for lengthy periods of time. In fact if the turkey leftovers sit out for more than two hours, including stuffing baked in a turkey, these should be discarded. Leaving the turkey out can mean the turkey will start to accumulate salmonella bacteria, and eating leftover turkey that has not been stored properly can make one very sick.

Generally cooked leftover turkey is safe to eat for two days after the day the turkey has been cooked. Afterwards, any leftover turkey should be thrown out. One can also freeze turkey leftovers for up to four months. If one plans to freeze turkey leftovers, this should be done immediately, not two days after the turkey has been cooked.

Further, food safety is required if one intends to reheat leftover turkey. Generally the same rule as to cooking a fresh turkey applies to reheating. Leftover turkey should be reheated to at least 165 degrees F (73.89 degrees C). Some suggest that reheating turkey is done best in the microwave, because the meat quickly reaches this temperature without losing moisture.

As the leftover turkey reheats, it can start to regrow salmonella bacteria. So serving only slightly warmed turkey can potentially mean serving up an unhealthy dose of food poisoning. Thus as much care should be taken when reheating turkey. Most food safety experts also suggest only reheating the turkey once.

This danger does not apply when the leftover turkey is served cold, after being safely stored. However, be certain to quickly refrigerate any leftover meat from a leftover meal. As long as the turkey leftovers stay cold, or get hot enough, there should be no danger in consuming them, especially within the first two days after cooking.