If you're planning on frying up your turkey for Thanksgiving, you probably should avoid propane-powered gas fryers. Although some chefs endorse them, often citing fast heating times as one of their reasons, Consumer Reports and product safety-testing nonprofit Underwriter Laboratories (UL), has found them to be unsafe. Most of the dangers pertain to fire risks because the units are highly combustible and a spillover of oil can cause the whole unit to ignite. Most tip over easily and many have no thermostat controls, which would prevent the cooking oil from coming close to "600 degrees [F],...the flash point of oil."

A safer alternative is an electric fryer. UL endorses the Turk N' Surf, which has a safety shutoff and adjustable thermostat. It is also safe enough to use indoors and produces a finely fried turkey.

If you already have a gas fryer and are not planning to replace it before Thanksgiving, keep some of these safety tips in mind:

• Use outdoors on a flat, fireproof surface, away from buildings, pets and children.
• Never leave it unattended and keep a close watch on the oil temperature.
• Use very well insulated pot holders when touching the unit and wear safety goggles to protect your eyes from to possibility of oil splatter.
• Keep an all-purpose fire extinguisher nearby in case anything goes wrong. You might want to have the number for take-out on speed dial, too, as a backup.

[Thanks, Marc!]

The USDA has some comprehensive food safety guidelines to help you cook your Thanksgiving turkey. While some cookbooks, and probably some chefs, might tell you that cooking times and temperatures should be changed to produce a moister bird, at least you'll get a safe bird from using the USDA's guide. First things first, you need to completely defrost your turkey before beginning. Keep the turkey in its original wrapper as it thaws and try to keep it as cool as possible. It should either be defrosted by being submerged in cold water or on a tray in the refrigerator.

Frozen turkey thawing timetable
Weight In refrigerator In cold water
4 to 12 pounds 1 to 3 days 2 to 6 hours
12 to 16 pounds 3 to 4 days 6 to 8 hours
16 to 20 pounds 4 to 5 days 8 to 10 hours
20 to 24 pounds 5 to 6 days 10 to 12 hours

The 'ole silicone whisk and the collapsible calendar. How are these two seemingly unrelated kitchen tools similar? The silicone whisk doesn't rust and get gooey where the tines splay from the handle; the other is useful and saves space. And I expect neither hurts as badly when hurled by a surly cook, or mother.

Now, I don't cook on non-stick cookware except at friend's homes, but sometimes Teflon is necessary. Take care not to scrape and scratch the surface of the pans and you don't have to worry too much about Teflon-related health issues. There are a good set of such whisks here, and I saw some at wallyworld...take your pick.

This collapsible colander is multi-use. These colanders from Chef'n save space and don't fall out of the cupboard when you're trying to get a baking sheet out. They're also great for egg tosses in the backyard.

The Institute of Food Technologists, a nonprofit group with over 22,000 members, studied over 20 years' worth of past research on antibiotics and antimicrobial resistance with a group of food scientists and microbiologists and came to the conclusion that using antibiotics to treat animals is not necessarily harmful to humans. The study was intended to provide a contrast to the claims of organic groups that promote antibiotic free foods as being the healthiest option.

While the results will be officially released tomorrow, scientists emphasize that they are not dismissing "concerns about overuse of antibiotics or antimicrobials," which can certainly be unnecessary and their overuse could even lead to the production of new, antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria. But the fact remains that the health of many animals would suffer if they were never treated with antibiotics; the cost of meat could increase, perhaps to levels that would be prohibitively expensive for some, if food production dropped and the supply of meat on the market went down.

The study does not say that antibiotics and antimicrobials are unconditionally safe, as they can certainly be overused or misused, but it does serve to reinforce the idea that food production doesn't exist in black and white or good and bad, even if there is a hard line between organic and non-organic.

According to some recently updated info on Snopes.com, the answer may be yes. Putting a jar of water and tea bags in the sun will get the water hot, up to about 130° F, but not nearly hot enough to kill any bacteria in the water or the tea itself (that happens at around 195° F). Apparently the caffeine in black tea may help to stave off bacteria for a little while, but it isn't a guarantee. Some suggestions for you sun tea brewing daredevils include: start with a scrubbed, bleached vessel for brewing; don't leave the tea in the sun for more than four hours; don't make more than you can use in a day; refrigerate it immediately; and toss it if it gets "thick or syrupy." Also, don't use any excessively cheery jars that would make getting sick all the more ironic.

Canned tuna has been tested safe by the FDA. After hearing increasing warnings about the levels of mercury in seafoods - particularly canned tuna - the United States Tuna Foundation (USTF) has reported that Food and Drug Administration tests have proven that canned tuna contains less mercury than the national allowance. It is recommended that no more than 1 part per million (ppm) of mercury should be consumed daily, and the canned tuna tested averaged 0.12 ppm, approximately 8 times less than the limit for commercial fish. The USTF director, David Burney, said that the "FDA's latest findings about mercury levels in canned tuna should end the debate over whether canned tuna is a safe and healthy food for all Americans. No one is at risk from the minute amounts of mercury in any form of canned tuna."

Tuna is high in omega-3 fatty acids and is an excellent source of lean protein. It is also a good source of a variety of minerals and nutrients, including selenium, magnesium, potassium, niacin, folic acid, B1 and B6. The national dietary guidelines and organizations such as the American Heart Association advocate eating at least two servings of fish per week, and canned tuna is perhaps the most convenient way of having it.