Thanksgiving is all about spending time with loved ones and sharing a delicious meal, but it can get overwhelming in the kitchen. Cooking a turkey isn’t something most of us do on a regular basis, so it’s easy to panic when things get hectic, but Butterball is here to help. They’ve been offering advice and support to home cooks preparing their holiday feasts for more than 40 years on their Turkey Talk-Line.
It started as a small service with six people to take calls and it’s grown into more than 50 experts ready to help answer turkey questions during November and December. On Thanksgiving alone, they get more than 10-thousand calls, and over those four decades, some pretty surprising ones have come in.
- Talk-Line expert Astrid Volpert says her most memorable question was about defrosting the bird. “Somebody had wanted to wash their turkey and make sure that it was defrosted at the same time,” she explains. “So, they wanted to put it in a dishwasher.”
- Another caller wanted to know if the turkey was okay to eat after it was left outside to thaw and animals had gotten into it.
- Once a man asked if the oil from the chainsaw he cut the turkey with made it inedible.
- Another called to ask what was the best way to cook a turkey that had been in the freezer since 1969.
- The Talk-Line has also gotten questions about if it was okay to slow-roast the turkey over a few days so the house would be filled with that delicious aroma.
- And one caller didn’t have a question, but offered a tip for getting the bird to fit in any pan. He recommended wrapping it in a towel, then giving it a “few good stomps” to break the bones.
The Turkey Talk-Line is open now through December and you can reach the turkey experts by calling 1-800-BUTTERBALL or texting 844-877-3456.
Source: Tasting Table