A Look Inside The Butterball Turkey Hotline
NAPERVILLE, Ill. (CBS) - When you call a toll-free number to get some help, you never known what country will end up receiving your call.
But if you need help with your Thanksgiving feast, that phone call will be answered by someone right in your own backyard.
As CBS 2's Don Schwenneker reports, on Thursday, the Butterball turkey hotline is a call center like no other. On Thanksgiving Day, they will speak with more than 10,000 people who just want to make the perfect turkey.
We all hope for that perfect bird, for a Thanksgiving right out of a Norman Rockwell painting. But sometimes, it turns out more like Clark Griswold's mishap in "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation."
But thanks to these ladies at the Butterball hotline in Naperville, that the perfect turkey is just a phone call away. They say even if you don't have a bird yet, it's still not too late to get cooking.
"Get out and buy one," said Butterball hotline staffer Carol Miller. "Get a fresh one, because it's already thawed. You don't have to do the thawing. If you can't find a fresh turkey, buy one of our frozen turkeys. Put it in the water – 30 minutes a pound – leave the wrapper on, then put it in the refrigerator."
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And while for most folks it's a holiday, these ladies actually love to work on work on Thanksgiving Day.
"Before Thanksgiving, it's one person on the phone. Thanksgiving Day, it's the house full of people," said Butterball's Marty Van Ness. "Every generation – grandma, the grandkids – they're all there celebrating Thanksgiving, and if you say, 'Yes, I think your turkey's done,' they give you a round of applause."
But the process isn't always so pretty. Phyllis Kramer is an eight-year veteran and has kept a calm demeanor for all the callers, no matter how panicked they get.
Once, Kramer said, a caller asked her about settings on an electric blanket to help thaw a frozen bird.
In case you are wondering: That's not the way to do it. You can use the Butterball Thawing Calculator for assistance.
If you need help with thawing, cooking or otherwise preparing your turkey, call 1 800 BUTTERBALL. Butterball help is also available on Facebook and Twitter.
CBS 2's Don Schwenneker and WBBM Newsradio 780's Dave Berner contributed to this report.
