Should you wash a raw turkey? No, and here is what the USDA kitchen study found

Washing the turkey feels like cleaning it. It is not. USDA, along with most food safety agencies, advises against rinsing raw poultry, and a large observational study funded by USDA shows why. On Thanksgiving morning, when one small kitchen is used for raw turkey, salad, rolls and pie, the reasoning matters even more.

What the study found

In 2019, USDA released results from an observational study of about 300 home cooks who prepared raw chicken and a salad in test kitchens while researchers tracked where bacteria from the chicken ended up. The findings, from USDA's summary:

Finding	Share
People who washed their poultry who had bacteria in the sink afterward	60%
Washers who still had bacteria in the sink after trying to clean it	14%
Washers who transferred bacteria from the poultry to their salad	26%
Non-washers who also got the bacteria into their salad	31%

The last line is the important one. USDA attributes it to ineffective handwashing and contaminated sinks and utensils. Not washing removes one route, but hands and surfaces are routes too. The study is published in the Journal of Food Protection (see Sources).

What to do instead

1. Make cold dishes first. USDA advises preparing salads and other uncooked foods before you handle raw poultry. On Thursday, that means washing produce and building the salad or relish tray before the turkey comes out of the fridge, then putting them away.
2. Clear the sink and nearby counters. Move dish racks, sponges and produce out of splash range.
3. Unwrap over a pan, not the sink. Cut the wrapper and drain the liquid into the pan. Pull out the neck and the giblet bag (usually in the body or neck cavity); the giblets guide covers what to do with them.
4. Pat dry with paper towels, then put the towels straight into the trash. USDA's advice for anything you want to remove from the surface is to pat it with a damp paper towel.
5. Wash your hands for 20 seconds with soap and water before touching anything else.
6. Clean and sanitize the pan, the sink, the counters and any utensil that touched raw poultry.

If you brine, the same rule applies before the bird goes in: USDA says not to wash it first. See how to brine a turkey.

The kill step is heat

Washing does not make poultry safe; cooking does. Every part of the turkey must reach 165°F, checked in the thigh, wing and breast. The thermometer guide shows where. USDA also points out that rinsing in vinegar, lemon juice or salt water doesn't destroy bacteria either.

Common objections

“My family always washed the turkey.” Many families do. The habit predates the research. If someone insists, ask them to make the salad first and keep the splash zone clear.

“There are bits of feather or bone.” Remove them with a paper towel or tongs. You do not need running water.

“I want to rinse off the brine.” USDA's dry-brine instruction is to pat the turkey dry. For a wet brine, remove the bird, discard the brine and pat it dry.

Where this fits in the day

The Thanksgiving day host checklist puts the cold prep before the turkey goes in, so the order above costs no extra time. If the turkey is still partly frozen on Thursday, see the cold-water method in the thaw guide rather than running it under the tap.