Cathy Isom tells us why the phone lines are already lighting up and the questions are pouring in to the USDA’s Meat and Poultry Hotline. That’s coming up on This Land of Ours.
Turkey Hotline Busy
We are still weeks away from carving that Turkey, but folks at the Agriculture Department’s Meat and Poultry Hotline report.
We’re Busy.
Marianne Gravely with the Hotline says calls and questions about Turkeys are already starting. Most of them here early in the season are basically…
How long can you keep a turkey in the freezer.
Because people are starting to dig around finding frozen turkeys that may have been in there for… a little while…
and um we have had turkeys as old as 10 years
and their owners are asking if those turkeys are safe to cook and safe to serve.
What we tell people is that a turkey will keep its best quality for a full year – after that it will lose flavor or dry out.
But if its been kept frozen all that time safety’s not the issue it’s quality. For answers to your questions, call the Meat and Poultry Hotline – at 1-888-M-P Hotline (1-888-674-6854), chat online with one of the food safety experts (available weekdays between 10:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time) or go online to askKaren.gov.