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Turkey Tips

Aired November 26, 2003 - 15:19   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: You got turkey questions. Boy, do you have them. We've just been flooded with e-mails. It's not even Wolf Blitzer's show and we've been flooded with e-mails.
Carol Miller with the Butterball hot line, which is -- gosh, the Butterball hot line, how many people are staffed up and ready this year, Carol?

CAROL MILLER, BUTTERBALL TURKEY TALK-LINE: Actually, I'm one of 50 people that answer the phones at the Butterball Turkey Talk-Line. They're back in the office answering questions about thawing right now. That's the big issue today.

O'BRIEN: Ah, OK. But, gosh, 50 people doesn't sound like a lot when you've got a nation of 280 million or so. I bet you get swamped?

MILLER: We do. We'll probably take about 8,000 calls one-on-one turkey counseling tomorrow.

O'BRIEN: Wow, 8,000 calls.

All right, let's get right to the e-mail, because we've got so much of it. I don't want to waste the time that I have.

Mike has this one for us: "I am going to deep fry a 24-pound turkey for the first time tomorrow, and I need help. Any tips would be greatly appreciated."

MILLER: Well, what, Mike needs to do, he needs to read the instructions cover to cover. And he needs to make the promise that he doesn't do that in the garage. Read the directions. Go to Butterball.com. There's a link to the National Turkey Federation, will give you some great information. So promise, not in the garage, Mike.

O'BRIEN: All right. And a lot more people are deep frying turkeys, right? It seems like that's a trend.

MILLER: They are. They are.

But the traditional way to do the turkey is the way that you see right here. That way, the house smells good. This is the open-pan method. Slide it into a 325-degree oven and just relax and enjoy the rest of the day.

O'BRIEN: I hadn't thought about the downside there. You're right. You don't get that smell. (CROSSTALK)

O'BRIEN: Well, go ahead.

MILLER: There's no gravy with a deep-fried turkey. And that's important to a lot of people.

O'BRIEN: That's important. That's important.

All right, James in California has this: "There are so many ways to bake a turkey. Do you prefer to bake the stuffing inside of the turkey or on the outside? Secondly, what is the ideal temperature setting and for how long should I cook the bird?"

Of course, there's a lot of variables in answering this, but see if you give can it a whirl, Carol.

MILLER: There's a lot of different recipes. And if you are going to stuff a turkey, you want to do that just the night before. You want to put the stuffing into the bird right before you put it into the oven.

If you've got things that need cooking in your stuffing, do that the night before. Store them in the refrigerator. And then use a meat thermometer to make sure that the center of the stuffing is up to 160 degrees when the stuffing's done. And we recommend roasting at 325, brushing the turkey with oil, and just putting it in the oven, two-thirds done, cover it with foil, and then, again, check the thigh of the turkey.

That's not the drumstick, but the thigh, with a meat thermometer, 180 in the thigh, 160 in the stuffing. And then your turkey's perfect.

O'BRIEN: All right, so if you use that thermometer and stick to those numbers, you're not going to go wrong. That's good to know.

MILLER: Right. Exactly.

O'BRIEN: And that's an important thing, because you don't want to have a raw turkey. That's a bad thing.

Deborah has this: "When thawing the turkey via the cold water method, why is it necessary to change the water every 30 minutes? It doesn't make sense" to her.

MILLER: Well, what -- the reason for that is, in case there's some turkey juices that might be in there, you don't want those to get warm and cause a problem. So you just put those down the drain, put fresh water in. And it's much safer to do it that way.

It takes about one-half hour in the water for every pound of turkey. So if you haven't started thawing yet, hurry up. You want it thawed. It makes it easier to time tomorrow. And you don't have to worry about cold spots and hot spots, if it's not completely thawed.

O'BRIEN: All right, good point.

All right, Billy in Florida has this: "How long will turkey safely last in the refrigerator for sandwiches and stuff?" I've been eating those turkey sandwiches through August lately. Is that too long?

(LAUGHTER)

MILLER: That's too long, Miles.

When the feasting is done, what you want to do is get the turkey, the stuffing and all the trimmings back into the refrigerator in about two hours. What you can't eat in three days, put it up into the freezer. That way, you can enjoy that Thanksgiving turkey all the way through December.

O'BRIEN: All right, excellent. Carol Miller with the Butterball turkey hot line. And that number is, what, 1-800-BUTTERBALL, right?

MILLER: 1-800-BUTTERBALL. And log onto Butterball.com, where you can become an expert in carving. Just watch the video.

O'BRIEN: All right, excellent tips. And if you're in a jam, that's a good place to call as the holiday approaches.

And happy Thanksgiving to you, Carol.

MILLER: Thank you, Miles.

O'BRIEN: All right, take care.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired November 26, 2003 - 15:19   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: You got turkey questions. Boy, do you have them. We've just been flooded with e-mails. It's not even Wolf Blitzer's show and we've been flooded with e-mails.
Carol Miller with the Butterball hot line, which is -- gosh, the Butterball hot line, how many people are staffed up and ready this year, Carol?

CAROL MILLER, BUTTERBALL TURKEY TALK-LINE: Actually, I'm one of 50 people that answer the phones at the Butterball Turkey Talk-Line. They're back in the office answering questions about thawing right now. That's the big issue today.

O'BRIEN: Ah, OK. But, gosh, 50 people doesn't sound like a lot when you've got a nation of 280 million or so. I bet you get swamped?

MILLER: We do. We'll probably take about 8,000 calls one-on-one turkey counseling tomorrow.

O'BRIEN: Wow, 8,000 calls.

All right, let's get right to the e-mail, because we've got so much of it. I don't want to waste the time that I have.

Mike has this one for us: "I am going to deep fry a 24-pound turkey for the first time tomorrow, and I need help. Any tips would be greatly appreciated."

MILLER: Well, what, Mike needs to do, he needs to read the instructions cover to cover. And he needs to make the promise that he doesn't do that in the garage. Read the directions. Go to Butterball.com. There's a link to the National Turkey Federation, will give you some great information. So promise, not in the garage, Mike.

O'BRIEN: All right. And a lot more people are deep frying turkeys, right? It seems like that's a trend.

MILLER: They are. They are.

But the traditional way to do the turkey is the way that you see right here. That way, the house smells good. This is the open-pan method. Slide it into a 325-degree oven and just relax and enjoy the rest of the day.

O'BRIEN: I hadn't thought about the downside there. You're right. You don't get that smell. (CROSSTALK)

O'BRIEN: Well, go ahead.

MILLER: There's no gravy with a deep-fried turkey. And that's important to a lot of people.

O'BRIEN: That's important. That's important.

All right, James in California has this: "There are so many ways to bake a turkey. Do you prefer to bake the stuffing inside of the turkey or on the outside? Secondly, what is the ideal temperature setting and for how long should I cook the bird?"

Of course, there's a lot of variables in answering this, but see if you give can it a whirl, Carol.

MILLER: There's a lot of different recipes. And if you are going to stuff a turkey, you want to do that just the night before. You want to put the stuffing into the bird right before you put it into the oven.

If you've got things that need cooking in your stuffing, do that the night before. Store them in the refrigerator. And then use a meat thermometer to make sure that the center of the stuffing is up to 160 degrees when the stuffing's done. And we recommend roasting at 325, brushing the turkey with oil, and just putting it in the oven, two-thirds done, cover it with foil, and then, again, check the thigh of the turkey.

That's not the drumstick, but the thigh, with a meat thermometer, 180 in the thigh, 160 in the stuffing. And then your turkey's perfect.

O'BRIEN: All right, so if you use that thermometer and stick to those numbers, you're not going to go wrong. That's good to know.

MILLER: Right. Exactly.

O'BRIEN: And that's an important thing, because you don't want to have a raw turkey. That's a bad thing.

Deborah has this: "When thawing the turkey via the cold water method, why is it necessary to change the water every 30 minutes? It doesn't make sense" to her.

MILLER: Well, what -- the reason for that is, in case there's some turkey juices that might be in there, you don't want those to get warm and cause a problem. So you just put those down the drain, put fresh water in. And it's much safer to do it that way.

It takes about one-half hour in the water for every pound of turkey. So if you haven't started thawing yet, hurry up. You want it thawed. It makes it easier to time tomorrow. And you don't have to worry about cold spots and hot spots, if it's not completely thawed.

O'BRIEN: All right, good point.

All right, Billy in Florida has this: "How long will turkey safely last in the refrigerator for sandwiches and stuff?" I've been eating those turkey sandwiches through August lately. Is that too long?

(LAUGHTER)

MILLER: That's too long, Miles.

When the feasting is done, what you want to do is get the turkey, the stuffing and all the trimmings back into the refrigerator in about two hours. What you can't eat in three days, put it up into the freezer. That way, you can enjoy that Thanksgiving turkey all the way through December.

O'BRIEN: All right, excellent. Carol Miller with the Butterball turkey hot line. And that number is, what, 1-800-BUTTERBALL, right?

MILLER: 1-800-BUTTERBALL. And log onto Butterball.com, where you can become an expert in carving. Just watch the video.

O'BRIEN: All right, excellent tips. And if you're in a jam, that's a good place to call as the holiday approaches.

And happy Thanksgiving to you, Carol.

MILLER: Thank you, Miles.

O'BRIEN: All right, take care.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com