Don’t give your bird the “cold shoulder” when you’re preparing your Thanksgiving meal. Jason Taylor, Assistant Director of Washington County Environmental Health, says whether it’s turkey or any kind of meat, be sure your main entree reaches the proper internal cooking temperature, “Your poultry, that would be your turkey, chickens, anything like that, the internal temperature needs to be 165 degrees in one of the thickest parts of the bird. If you’re doing beef roast or into your prime ribs, if you want prime rib fully cooked, you cook it to 145 degrees. And if you’re into preparing any type of ground product, then you want to be 155 degrees.” Taylor says he prefers digital food thermometers because they tend to be more accurate.  But, whatever type you choose, Taylor says you should definitely use one, “Yeah, I feel a lot of people are trying to guess and actually, that pop-up timer on your turkeys, they’re going to pop-up prior to the temperature of 165. I know when I’m in my home kitchen, that timer goes off way before it’s actually 165 degrees. So you definitely want to go out and buy yourself a thermometer. The best way to check your thermometer to make sure it’s accurate is to put some crushed ice in a glass with some water, put your thermometer in it and it should read 32 degrees.” Taylor says another important safety tip when preparing your Thanksgiving meal is to avoid cross-contamination of bacteria from one food to the other, so be sure to clean your kitchen surfaces often