What Are You Doing For Thanksgiving?: Matthew Hartings
Matthew Hartings with his son, Jack Erika Hartings Matthew Hartings is an assistant professor of chemistry at American University, where he teaches Chemistry of Cooking. He also regularly blogs about chemistry in society and kitchen chemistry. Popular Science spoke with him about his Thanksgiving plans for this year. What are you eating and/or cooking for Thanksgiving? I will be spatchcocking a turkey for Thanksgiving this year, which involves flattening the turkey out so all of the meat finishes cooking at the same time. Let’s just talk about turkey meat for a minute: the thighs and legs are done when they get up to an internal temperature of 160 degrees Fahrenheit, but the turkey breast is done when it gets up to 145 degrees. By the time you’ve cooked your thighs and legs, the breast has...