Return to Transcripts main page
American Morning
Thanksgiving Day: Turkey Tips
Aired November 27, 2003 - 07:22 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.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: OK, so if you have just taken your turkey out of the refrigerator, or worse, if you still have a frozen bird on your hands, there is a number you can call for advice. The Butterball Turkey Talk Line at 1-800-BUTTERBALL. The team there can answer just about any turkey-related question.
Joining us from Talk Line headquarters now in Downers Grove, Illinois is Sherleen Clausen. She holds the coveted title at times like these, Dean of Butterball University.
Sherleen, happy Thanksgiving to you.
SHERLEEN CLAUSEN, DEAN OF BUTTERBALL UNIVERSITY: Well happy Thanksgiving -- Heidi.
COLLINS: I have...
CLAUSEN: We are here at Butterball Turkey Talk Line and it is buzzing already early this morning.
COLLINS: I can imagine. You know there are probably some people at home right now freaking out because they took their turkey out and it's still frozen. Is that maybe the No. 1 problem that you will deal with today?
CLAUSEN: Well it probably is, especially at this time of the morning. It's either completely frozen or probably the other part is it's under thawed. They only had it in the refrigerator for two days and maybe it needed to be in the refrigerator for five days.
So now they are at the point where they are opening up the package and they are finding that there is still icy chunks around the turkey. They are having difficulty getting the neck out, so then it is panic time.
COLLINS: OK, so they don't want to panic. They call you and you tell them what?
CLAUSEN: Well, if they can pull the neck out of the cavity, we want them to pull the neck out of the cavity, to take the giblets out of the neck cavity. And then it probably would be good to rinse it out with some cold water, just to get that ice out of the cavity. And then they need to cook the turkey as they were planning on.
Now if the neck and giblets cannot be taken out of the turkey, then again, you are going to need to start cooking the turkey from that frozen or really cold state. Make sure that you use an oven that's not too hot. We like to recommend 325 degrees. And then it's probably best to use an open shallow pan, like I have here.
COLLINS: OK, so let's talk about a meat thermometer then. If people are putting these turkeys in at 325, they are going to leave them in there for quite some time, how do they know when it's done? And where do you put the thermometer, if you can keep it family friendly?
CLAUSEN: Well the thermometer -- right, the thermometer is key. If the turkey is not stuffed, which you will need to do if it's very frozen, then you are going to put it in the thigh. This is the leg. This is the thigh here. So you want to put it deep in the muscle so that you get that deep inner thigh temperature. It should be 180 degrees when it's done.
Now if you were able to take the neck out of the cavity and you want to put stuffing in, then the stuffing temperature is key. You want to put the thermometer in the center of the stuffing and it should be 160 degrees before you take it out of the oven.
COLLINS: All right. Sherleen Clausen, we certainly appreciate your tips. A lot of people out there trying to get this thing done right today. And we are going to check back in a little bit later on with you, Sherleen, thank you so much.
We want to let you know you have an opportunity here today of a lifetime. If you would like to ask the Dean of Butterball University some questions about your turkey dinner, you can e-mail us right now at AM@CNN.com. Sherleen will be back in about two hours, at 9:00 Eastern or so, to answer your questions.
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 27, 2003 - 07:22 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: OK, so if you have just taken your turkey out of the refrigerator, or worse, if you still have a frozen bird on your hands, there is a number you can call for advice. The Butterball Turkey Talk Line at 1-800-BUTTERBALL. The team there can answer just about any turkey-related question.
Joining us from Talk Line headquarters now in Downers Grove, Illinois is Sherleen Clausen. She holds the coveted title at times like these, Dean of Butterball University.
Sherleen, happy Thanksgiving to you.
SHERLEEN CLAUSEN, DEAN OF BUTTERBALL UNIVERSITY: Well happy Thanksgiving -- Heidi.
COLLINS: I have...
CLAUSEN: We are here at Butterball Turkey Talk Line and it is buzzing already early this morning.
COLLINS: I can imagine. You know there are probably some people at home right now freaking out because they took their turkey out and it's still frozen. Is that maybe the No. 1 problem that you will deal with today?
CLAUSEN: Well it probably is, especially at this time of the morning. It's either completely frozen or probably the other part is it's under thawed. They only had it in the refrigerator for two days and maybe it needed to be in the refrigerator for five days.
So now they are at the point where they are opening up the package and they are finding that there is still icy chunks around the turkey. They are having difficulty getting the neck out, so then it is panic time.
COLLINS: OK, so they don't want to panic. They call you and you tell them what?
CLAUSEN: Well, if they can pull the neck out of the cavity, we want them to pull the neck out of the cavity, to take the giblets out of the neck cavity. And then it probably would be good to rinse it out with some cold water, just to get that ice out of the cavity. And then they need to cook the turkey as they were planning on.
Now if the neck and giblets cannot be taken out of the turkey, then again, you are going to need to start cooking the turkey from that frozen or really cold state. Make sure that you use an oven that's not too hot. We like to recommend 325 degrees. And then it's probably best to use an open shallow pan, like I have here.
COLLINS: OK, so let's talk about a meat thermometer then. If people are putting these turkeys in at 325, they are going to leave them in there for quite some time, how do they know when it's done? And where do you put the thermometer, if you can keep it family friendly?
CLAUSEN: Well the thermometer -- right, the thermometer is key. If the turkey is not stuffed, which you will need to do if it's very frozen, then you are going to put it in the thigh. This is the leg. This is the thigh here. So you want to put it deep in the muscle so that you get that deep inner thigh temperature. It should be 180 degrees when it's done.
Now if you were able to take the neck out of the cavity and you want to put stuffing in, then the stuffing temperature is key. You want to put the thermometer in the center of the stuffing and it should be 160 degrees before you take it out of the oven.
COLLINS: All right. Sherleen Clausen, we certainly appreciate your tips. A lot of people out there trying to get this thing done right today. And we are going to check back in a little bit later on with you, Sherleen, thank you so much.
We want to let you know you have an opportunity here today of a lifetime. If you would like to ask the Dean of Butterball University some questions about your turkey dinner, you can e-mail us right now at AM@CNN.com. Sherleen will be back in about two hours, at 9:00 Eastern or so, to answer your questions.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
