At what temp does the pre-packaged turkey thermometer pop?

MisterCode · November 2014

I was looking over my cook log from the past 4 years doing MadMax's awesome recipe and I noted to myself that if you wait till that thing pops your bird will be at 190. I'd like to pull my bird when the breast is 160 and the thighs are 180 (per the ice bag trick) rather than waiting for the probe to pop. In the past my guests would cast aspersions upon my bird being done till that popped. Can anybody share your experience with me so I can confidently tell my guests to ignore the unpopped probe and pay attention to the thermometer readings instead?

Greeno55 · November 2014

The ones in my birds pop up at room temp when I take them out and rely on my Thermapen. Seriously, my mom always relied on that and I always felt (though never voiced) her turkeys were dry as hell.

anton · November 2014

Yank the plastic probe and throw it away, problem solved.

meat73 · November 2014

Throw it out u know there way overdone they r covering there but with a plastic thermometer use a real one

SeahawksEGGHead · November 2014

I've read they are usually inserted in the breast and pop at about 185, which is WAY too long.

tazcrash · November 2014

Haven't seen one pop in 10 years. they go in the trash.,

According to what I read, they pop 180 just when you get a lump of formed sawdust.

Ladeback69 · November 2014

I have a fresh turkey in a brine right now that has one and I am going on 160-165, not the probe.

tarheelmatt · November 2014

I remove that thing...

lousubcap · November 2014

Another vote for tossing into the trash.

MisterCode · November 2014

Yay! Good advice! In the trash it will go.

Acn · November 2014

I always pull the bird based on my thermopop (or whatever other temp probe). I never pull the plastic insert before, I'm always worried that juice will just run out of that hole. I ignore it and pull it out after resting the turkey, just before carving.

Ladeback69 · November 2014

I am going to leave to see what it does just for shits and grins.

Fred19Flintstone · November 2014

I say take a knife and pop it up, if possible, before egging. Your guests will be reassured and you have clear sailing to do what you see fit. Or just remove the stupid thing. People are weird. You're using a precise instrument like the Thermapen, but in the end they place their trust in the stupid pop up deal that costs about 5 cents.

tazcrash · November 2014

Fred19Flintstone said:

I say take a knife and pop it up, if possible, before egging. Your guests will be reassured and you have clear sailing to do what you see fit. Or just remove the stupid thing. People are weird. You're using a precise instrument like the Thermapen, but in the end they place their trust in the stupid pop up deal that costs about 5 cents.

Not bad. take it out. Hold over heat source, make it pop, re-insert back in bird.

All happy.

At what temp does the pre-packaged turkey thermometer pop?

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