Turkey hotlines awaiting your call
Who’s got your back if the turkey is still frozen the day before Thanksgiving? Where will you turn if you need help deciding if the bird’s done?
Just how much turkey should you buy for a dozen adults and four kids, anyway? What if you want leftovers?
Turkey planning tips or last-minute advice are just a call or click away. Here’s a rundown of some of the places to turn for holiday help.
Butterball Turkey Talk-Line
The venerable Butterball Turkey Talk-Line (800-BUTTERBALL) has answers to questions in both English and Spanish. Or, e-mail questions to TurkeyTalkLine@ butterball.com.
Receive turkey texts by sending the word “turkey” to 36888 for buying guidelines, thawing reminders and roasting temperatures.
Online tools will help cooks calculate how much turkey to buy, how much stuffing to prepare, how long to thaw the bird and roasting times and temperatures. It also offers recipes, money-saving tips and even wine pairings.
Reynolds Kitchens
Reynolds (800-745-4000 or www.reynoldskitchen.com) offers turkey roasting ideas, cooking charts and leftover storage tips, along with a Thanksgiving countdown guide to help cooks begin preparing for their holiday dinner up to two weeks in advance.
National Turkey Federation
Go to www.eatturkey.com for the National Turkey Federation’s extensive Web site. There are answers for turkey questions galore, traditional menus, carving instructions and cooking instructions, whether you’re oven-roasting, deep-frying, smoking or grilling the bird. The database includes more than 900 recipes for every course from appetizers to dessert.
USDA Meat & Poultry Hotline
If you’re wondering whether to stuff or not to stuff the bird, call (888) 674-6854 for the latest food safety information from the USDA. Online at www.usda.gov/fsis there are tip sheets for safely cooking stuffing in the turkey and the safe minimum internal temperatures for the bird, as well as other meats for families who choose something other than turkey.
Foster Farms Turkey Helpline
Call (800) 255-7227 for 24/7 help, or go to www.fosterfarms.com for tips, recipes and guides for brining, roasting, carving and reheating.
Crisco
Call the “pie experts” at (877) 367-7438 for a hotline that has recorded tips 24 hours a day.
To talk to a live pie expert, dial in Monday through Friday from 5 a.m. to 5 p.m. (8 a.m. to 8 p.m. EST) now through Nov. 26 and Dec. 15 through Dec. 23. Live experts are not available on Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Eve or Christmas Day.
On the Web at “Pie Central,” www.crisco.com has recipes (including an RSS feed), pie-making videos and troubleshooting tips for common pie crust problems.
Other options
Need more help? Here’s a quick look at other places to turn:
•Ocean Spray: (800) 662-3263 or www.oceanspray.com.
•Land O’Lakes: www.landolakes.com for baking tips and recipes.
•McCormick: www.mccormick.com for recipes and spice information.
•Domino Sugar: www.dominosugar.com for recipes and baking tips.
•Fleischmann’s Yeast Baker’s Help Line: (800) 777-4959 or www.breadworld.com.
•General Mills: (800) 248-7310.
•King Arthur Flour Bakers Hotline: Call (802) 649-3717 or e-mail questions to bakers@kingarthurflour.com.
•Nestle Toll House Baking Information Line: (800) 637-8537 or www.verybestbaking.com.