With health officials urging Americans to stay home for Thanksgiving, there's a lot of new cooks looking to make their first turkey. So experts have some advice to make it smoother and keep it healthy.

To start they say give your bird time to defrost in the fridge. Letting it thaw on the counter could cause bacteria to grow. Not to mention It takes about a day of thawing for every 4-to-5 pounds.

After that resist any urge to rinse your turkey because this can also spread bacteria.

Consider buying a meat thermometer since experts say the pop-up ones that come stuck inside turkeys don't always work. A turkey should be 165-degrees at it's thickest part to be done.