Burnt turkey. Bland stuffing. Crumbly pie crust. Don’t let these Thanksgiving nightmares become your reality. Call the cooking experts at these hotlines or check out the websites to save your holiday meal:
Butterball Turkey Talk Line: Imagine fielding a call like this:
“To thaw a turkey, where do I set the dial?”
“The dial?”
“On my electric blanket, where do I set the dial?”
“Sir, we do not recommend you use an electric blanket to thaw a turkey.”
This is just one example of the more than 10,000 personally handled calls the Butterball Turkey Talk Line receive on Thanksgiving. Talk to a real turkey expert at 800-288-8372. The lines will be open through Nov. 21 from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., Nov. 22 and 23 from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., Nov. 24 through 26 from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Thanksgiving Day from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Don’t forget to check out the Butterball Cookbook Plus app for inspirations for holiday meals, nutritional information, gluten-free recipes, and conversion calculators. The app is available for Android and iOS. For more recipes and tips, go to butterball.com.
The National Turkey Federation: For a complete farm to table guide with a video tour of a processing plant, tips on buying and prepping your turkey, and instructions on how to deep fry your bird, visit eatturkey.com.
USDA: Keep your friends and family safe with food safety facts, tips for all types of dishes and videos of how to keep food clean at fsis.usda.gov (click on Food Safety Education). Call the USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline at 888-674-6854, staffed live 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on weekdays and 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day. For those on-the-go emergencies, the Ask Karen app includes answers to common cooking questions as well as live chat 24/7. Go to askkaren.gov or look for it on the iTunes App Store and Google Play.
Crisco Pie Hotline: Crisco reminds you to “keep calm and bake on” with baking tips and trends, solutions to baking and pie problems and a live staffed hotline at 877-367-7438 from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. through Nov. 26 (not available on Thanksgiving Day). For recipes and more baking wisdom, visit crisco.com.
Sara Lee Desserts Pie Hotline: Finish with a sweet smash with the help of Sara Lee Desserts Pie Hotline at 888-914-1247. Lines are open weekdays from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Thanksgiving Day from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. Experts can help with pumpkin pie problems, cherry pie catastrophes, and boysenberry pie burnouts. Visit saraleedesserts.com for recipes, baking tips and how-to videos.
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