Turkey questions? Butterball talk-line expert has answers
Phyllis Kramer has fielded some pretty wacky questions from anxious cooks during her two decades as a Butterball Turkey Talk-Line expert. Like these:
• Can you defrost a turkey in the dishwasher?
• Should I wrap an electric blanket around it to help it thaw?
No and no, answered the pros at 1-800-288-8372.
Kramer also remembers the panicked cook who put her on a speaker phone in the kitchen, insisting the turkey she’d cooked for a house full of guests had no meat on it.
Turns out she had the turkey upside down and was trying to carve its back instead of the breast. Once the bird was turned over, the Thanksgiving crisis was averted.
These queries might seem funny to accomplished cooks, but to Thanksgiving rookies or cooks who waited too long to prepare for the holiday, it’s far from a laughing matter. Kramer can feel their stress from the other side of the phone.
“We talk them through as best as we can,” she says of the SOT (Save Our Turkey) calls. And really, who wants to be frazzled on Turkey Day?
Launched in 1981 with six Illinois home economists working the phones, the talk line has helped nearly 3 million distressed cooks avert a culinary tragedy. On Thanksgiving Day alone, its 50plus food experts — who started taking calls Nov. 1 — expect to offer real-time help to more than 15,000 stressed-out callers.
“And it’s very far reaching,” notes Kramer, with people calling from over the world (including from international military bases) in addition to all 50 states.
It’s advice callers can count on: All of the experts have extensive, professional backgrounds in food — they include chefs, dietitians and food scientists along with home economics teachers. Everyone has to go to the full Butterball University in their first three years, followed by other training and refreshers each year after.
Less than a week out from Thanksgiving, “we are crazy busy,” says Kramer, a retired home economics teacher from Aurora, Il., who also taught food science for a while.
But it’s a good crazy, because the people they talk off the edge or refer to the Butterball website for tips and tricks are “just so grateful.”
“You get involved in people’s lives and help them,” she says.
So much has changed since the talk line’s inception 40 years ago, including the turkeys. Americans now cook fresh and frozen turkeys, and they’re roasting more parts than ever before, with and without bones.
The most common questions are about thawing, says Kramer, and it turns out many of us are doing it wrong.
Thanks to more efficient compressors and better insulation, today’s refrigerators keep things colder. That means it will take longer for a frozen bird to thaw completely. It takes 24 hours for every 4 pounds of turkey, or five days for a 20-pound bird.
“People have a hard time realizing they can’t put a big turkey in the fridge on Sunday night,” Kramer says.
the bird is still partially frozen on feast day, talk-line experts advise using the cold water thawing method: submerging the turkey in its unopened wrapper in enough cold water to cover it. Allow 30 minutes for every pound of turkey. You also need to change the water every half hour.
People also want to know about cooking times. The experts say to rely on internal temperature instead of minutes per pound — 165 degrees in the breast and 180 degrees in the thigh.
“Which is why it’s important to have a good meat thermometer,” Kramer says.
On the positive side, today’s turkeys don’t require basting, though you will want to brush the turkey with oil or butter to get that glistening brown skin everyone loves.
“I say to everyone, ‘Turkey is the easiest part of your dinner, so don’t stress over it.’”
As the talk-line has grown with the times, so, too, has the way turkey cooks can get in touch with experts.
In addition to chatting with the Butterball Turkey Talk-Line experts by phone (1-800-288-8372), text (844-8773456), email or live chat, you can reach out via social media: @butterball on Twitter and Facebook and @butterballturkey on Instagram. Butterball also is on Pinterest and YouTube.
Or, if you have an Alexa-enabled device, just say, “Alexa, ask Butterball .....”
This year, for the first time, Butterball is trying out viral “Taste Kitchen” recipes and how-to videos on TikTok.
And there’s a lot of good information on at Butterball.com, including recipes and carving instructions.
The talk line runs daily from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. thru Dec. 24.
“Our focus is to give people confidence and help them relax and be inspired, so they can enjoy the holiday with less stress,” Kramer says.
“We listen carefully and try to be patient and empathetic,” she says.
And yes, she adds with a laugh, she will probably know where you’re calling from. As a former Pennsylvanian, she can always tell if a caller is from Pittsburgh “because of the accents.”