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Treat Your Family to the Ultimate Thanksgiving

Smart Neighbor has some last-minute tips to get your turkey dinner off to a flying start.

Combine your grandmother’s classic techniques with the latest cooking technology, and you’ll have a holiday meal for the ages. Plus, keep it clean with a few food safety reminders. 

Get Smarter about Meal Prep

Nothing beats sitting down to a dinner table filled with family favorites served year after year. It’s even better when everyone contributes. Include your little ones in holiday meal prep by giving them simple tasks, like washing veggies and looking up recipes on their tablets or phones.  Make it fun and complete the experience for them with a real-life taste test. 

Next, make meal prep easier for you with a smart outlet or a countertop cooking appliance with a built-in timer. Use a slow-cooker to steep potatoes in chicken broth for full-flavored mashed potatoes, or cook crisp 5-minute green beans in our NuWave Pressure Cooker.

Better yet, treat yourself to the NuWave Pro Plus Oven, which cooks a 10-lb. turkey at about 12 minutes per pound. That’s enough to feed 6 hungry adults and still have leftovers! It’s portable too, so bring it along if you’re headed out of town. Your hostess will be thrilled to free up her oven for the rest of the holiday meal.

The holidays are a perfect time for families to try out new technology on traditional cooking techniques.

The Pan That Does It All

Really impress this Thanksgiving by pairing your phone with the portable, professional Hestan Cue Smart Cooking System. The 11” pan and Bluetooth-enabled induction burner lets experienced cooks in the family share their secret ingredients and show the newbies how it’s done, or shows everyone how to learn together with the visual step-by-step instructions and automatic time and temperature control.

Wash Your Hands, Not Your Bird

Now, let’s talk turkey. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) cautions against rinsing raw poultry before cooking. “Washing these foods makes it more likely for bacteria to spread to areas around the sink and countertops,” says FDA consumer educator Marjorie Davidson.

Davidson suggests using separate cutting boards and utensils for cooked and raw foods, and not placing your gorgeous bird on a plate that has held any raw eggs, meat, or seafood.

When in Doubt, Throw it Out

About 48 million Americans feel the effects of food poisoning each year. Reduce your risk by planning ahead. Make sure the fridge is set no higher than 40º F, the minimum safe temperature recommended by the FDA for storing and defrosting food. Allow 24 hours for every 4-5 pounds of turkey to thaw in the refrigerator, or run cold water over a wrapped turkey for 30 minutes per pound.

Poultry is safely cooked when it reaches an internal temperature of 165º F (and stuffing cooked inside the cavity should reach that temperature as well). After dinner is served, leftovers, including pumpkin pie, should be refrigerated within two hours.

Home automation can help you safely freeze, thaw, and roast your turkey, and our tips can keep your food prep area clean. Unfortunately, issues may still arise. If they do, contact Butterball’s Turkey Talk Line at 1-800-BUTTERBALL, or text them at 844 877 3456.

Prep for Holiday Guests with a High Tech Touch

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