3 to 4 days

The Next Day (i.e., Turkey Sandwich Time) The USDA recommends that you throw everything out after three to four days, but Gunders says that, realistically, you’ve got about twice that long.

And as a general rule of thumb, leftovers should be eaten or thrown out four days after refrigeration. If you freeze your food, it can last from two to six months. In other words, leftover turkey tastes pretty rank after a week, even if it doesn’t give you food poisoning.

Cooked turkey will last in the fridge for about 3 to 4 days. As for the freezer, the lifespan of your leftover turkey depends on the quality of said freezer. “If you have a really good freezer that maintains a temp of 0°F or below, it’s indefinite,” James says.

four days

“If you do eat a food past the expiration date [and the food] is spoiled, you could develop symptoms of food poisoning,” said registered dietitian nutritionist Summer Yule, MS. The symptoms of foodborne illness can include fever, chills, stomach cramps, diarrhea, nausea, and vomiting.

How to tell if cooked turkey is bad? The best way is to smell and look at the turkey: signs of bad turkey are a sour smell and a slimy texture to the cooked turkey; discard any turkey with an off smell or appearance, do not taste the turkey first.

three to five days

Cooked turkey is safe in the fridge for up to three to four days, so you can get creative with some recipes over the next few days. Remember, if you’re heating up the leftover turkey, ensure it is piping hot throughout. Do not reheat meat more than once.

According to the USDA, you shouldn’t leave turkey at room temperature longer than 2 hours, or for more than 1 hour in temperatures above 90°F.

As a general guideline, the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services recommends eating or freezing turkey and other leftovers within three to four days.

The turkey may be rinsed in cold water the night before and rewrapped for roasting the next day. Be sure to wash your hands after handling raw poultry.

To achieve that balance, the ideal is to let the bird spend time both covered and uncovered: We recommend covering your bird for most of the cooking time to prevent it from drying out, then removing the cover for the last 30 minutes or so to allow the skin to crisp.

Traditional turkey methods are prone to overcooking the breast meat or undercooking the dark meat. The benefits of roasting a turkey breast-side down are twofold: The dark meat cooks faster when it’s closer to the heat source, and the juices trickle down for extra-moist breast meat. Talk about a turn for the better!