My wife traditionally has always cooked the turkey (or whatever) for Thanksgiving. Daughters-in-law or sons bring sides and desserts, and now the grandchildren do much of the cleanup.
Not me. My son (the BBQ pitmaster) will fry a couple of turkeys and probably smoke one in his huge pit. We are invited to his house but will go to MIL's as is our custom. She is 88 so this year we are ordering turkey and ham from a local restaurant for the get-together and everyone contributes a side dish or dessert. It's all the extended family on my husband's side... his siblings, everyone's kids and grandkids, etc., so a big mob of people.
I think I time traveled. When I got to the end, I had to figure out where I was. I think I've mentioned that a woman who was a church goer where I was a church goer uses the Fellowship Hall and the large church kitchen on Thanksgiving for her family and circle of friends. That's where I'll be eating.
Actually, I was not kidding. I would not put meat (especially poultry) in a room-temp oven and let it sit for hours until the timer went off. I hope someone will chime in and teach me different, because it just sounds like everything we have been told not to do...but I bet I'm about ready to learn something. And I gotta admit that my last stove was a very basic "trailer-ish" one hooked up to the propane tank. It was in my prior house when I bought it in the mid 70s. When natural gas was run to my neighborhood 20 years later, I upgraded to the stove I have now (and I kind of wish I hadn't upgraded, since the modern gas ovens will not work if the power is out.) So this is the only stove I've had (or ever really noticed anywhere) that has a Start Timer on it. It's always stuck me as wrong.
We have always had big meals on the holidays since the kids were home and now their families (the half that still live in Alaska) come to our house for the holiday meal. The boys got a road-kill moose yesterday, but that won't be ready yet with aging and such, and I try to avoid game meat these days as it makes me more gout prone.
I'm the same way... no room temperature poultry. Instructions for thawing poultry say never at room temperature, but to thaw in the refrigerator. I believe plenty of people don't follow that rule and have lived to tell about it. I also never stuff a bird because it has to cook longer to make sure the stuffing gets done. Seems like the meat always gets too dry, so I bake the "stuffing" in a separate pan. So we all have our own ways it seems.
I had to go educate myself. When I typed in "Does wild game cause" the top suggestion was "Does wild game cause gout." Apparently it has a high purine content, which causes the liver to produce uric acid. Seafood is another "food to avoid" on the list. That kinda sucks. (My fragmented mind wonders if Purina Mills wasn't named after this compound.) Regarding the moose, all I can say is "You shoulda seen the other guy." My understanding is that moose rarely lose such encounters.
Yeah, purine levels are the primary culprit. For years I had achy joints--usually feet--whenever we got a moose. I never made the connection, but my wife put two-and-two together, so I now avoid game meats. Very sad. Moose usually cause significant damage to automobiles and sometimes even kill the motorist, but a semi or a train can hit them pretty much with impunity. The snow isn't deep yet, so they are not driven to the tracks and the roads, but when the snow deepens, they go where the walking is easiest.
I keep my fridge at 37°F and thaw everything in there, with the exception of vacuum-sealed beef, which I'll thaw in a bowl of cold water on the countertop because it takes less than 1/2 hour. That being said, I gotta believe that most cases of food poisoning are due to cross-contamination (raw chicken juice on a salad), and not to the meat being contaminated. I'm curious as to what Yvonne and Bobby--with their restaurant backgrounds--have to say.
I always wondered, before covid, if people complaining of 'flu' did not actually have food poisoning. The symptoms are similar although the latter clears up faster.
Apparently there is no definitive source for purine levels in meats, just a general "these are higher than others" relative reference. I've had a couple of friends with gout, mostly onset in their 30s. Our bodies can malfunction in so many weird ways... Regarding the moose story: It reminded me of West Virginia years ago where the idiot politicians (akin to your snow-closure guy) decided to make it illegal for people to pick up road kill. Then accident rate went up because the state lacked the resources to keep the kill off of the road. Then the law got rescinded.
Here the motorists involved are not allowed to pick up road kill. The kills or impacts are to be reported to State Troopers, who then go to the scene, dispatch the animal if it is suffering, and call people or charities approved to salvage the animals. It is on a rotating list, and if you fail to respond, you are moved to the bottom of said list. A number of failures will get you removed.
I claim to never have had food poisoning, but I don't really know for sure...I've just never had the "Put me in the ER and pump my stomach" stuff.