Butterball's Sherleen Clausen talks turkey

With the holidays approaching, CNN.Com invited Sherleen Clausen, a culinary specialist with the Butterball Turkey Company, to field questions. She prepares products for evaluation, supervises recipe development, conducts preparation research and writes preparation directions for package labels and inserts. Clausen, who prepares several hundred turkey products each year, is relied upon by product managers and marketing specialists for her expert advice and recommendations.

CNN Chat Moderator: Thank you for joining us today, Sherleen Clausen, and welcome.

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Sherleen Clausen: Good morning.

CNN Chat Moderator: What should one look for when picking a turkey?

Sherleen Clausen: Well, probably the first decision to be made is whether to buy fresh or frozen, dependent upon how much time before your meal. With it being the Monday before Thanksgiving, if you purchase a frozen turkey, then it's time to start thawing immediately. And probably refrigerator thawing alone won't be enough; you need to put it in cold water for several hours, or do entirely the cold water method. For the cold water method, allow 30 minutes per pound of turkey. And so for many, a combination of one or two hours in cold water, and several days in the refrigerator, works fine. And if you buy a fresh turkey, you won't have to worry about thawing.

Question from D: Is it safe to leave it at room temp?

Sherleen Clausen: No. One doesn't ever want to leave food of any kind at room temp, for any time. There have been recommendations to let the turkey warm up at room temperature before cooking, but that's not the best for food safety. And most roasting time guidelines, are based on refrigerator temperature turkey. Now, it is possible after thawing to keep turkey in the refrigerator, for several days before cooking. But again, we are keeping it cold.

Question from Sunny1-CNN: How can you tell how fresh a fresh turkey is?

Sherleen Clausen: Okay, I guess a lot depends on the brand and where you are buying a fresh turkey. If you are buying commercial brands in a supermarket, they will probably have a use-by date, so that would be just like milk. You would want to look at the furthest-out date. A big part in quality is also how cold the turkey has been kept in storage, maybe before it's even in the meat case. Turkeys, in this day and age, don't stay in a meat case very long. So I would look for a turkey that felt VERY cold. And when one takes it out of the wrapper (not at point of purchase), a turkey should have almost no smell at all. So, for most, buying at a grocery store, rely on the date, and the familiarity with how the store keeps things cold. With a frozen turkey, it's probably more difficult to tell. I would look for a wrapper that is not torn, with any holes, and that looks clean.

Question from Thomasina Turkey: If we buy frozen, how do we know we're not buying a turkey from 1964?

Sherleen Clausen: Again, with a frozen turkey you want it to feel hard, and had a wrapper that did not look like it was starting to come off and have holes. And individual markets may put dates on their products, so it just depends.

Question from Pat: I'm deep frying a turkey - what do you recommend for seasoning? A rub, injecting - both?

Sherleen Clausen: Well, deep-frying is something that butterball does not promote, from a safety and risk standpoint. I understand that people who deep-fry turkey, often buy a special Cajun seasoning. So one could deep fry without seasoning, and the choice is yours if some specialty food shops have spices, marinades, which can be injected into the breast and thighs.

Question from Haley-CNN: Do you recommend stuffing a turkey?

Sherleen Clausen: Yes, it is fine to stuff turkey, as long as you follow some safety guidelines. You want to make sure the turkey is completely thawed, in other words, not icy in the cavity. And then you want to prepare the stuffing just before putting it in the turkey. So we do not recommend making stuffing one or two days ahead of time. And then you also want to put the stuffing in the turkey just before cooking. And that also means, not stuffing turkey the night before. Then you want to use a cook method that allows the stuffing to be done along with the turkey. There are some fast-cook methods, like even convection oven. The oven bags, where the turkey cooks faster, and then the stuffing may not be done, at the same time the turkey is. So always take a stuffing temperature, and it needs to be 160 degrees, before removing from oven. And then just let the turkey stand, for 10 to 15 minutes, until the stuffing temperature rises to 165 degrees. It's pretty simple if you follow a few guidelines.

Question from Tomgur: Do you believe in injecting the turkey with herbs and liquids to make is more moist?

Sherleen Clausen: That's really a personal preference. To get flavor in the muscle, you do need to inject it. Anything you put on top of the skin does not get inside and flavor the muscle. If you are using a frozen turkey, since most frozen turkeys are basted or have added ingredients, including salt, you would want to make sure your added ingredients weren't salty. And the frozen birds are more moist due to the added ingredients. In this instance you may want to use a fresh turkey, without additional ingredients, which would not interfere with the injection.

Question from D: What should I look for in roasting pans?

Sherleen Clausen: Open pan -- keep it shallow for room around the turkey. Covered pan -- make sure it conducts heat well.

Question from Thomasina Turkey: How does one rise to the position of Butterball Turkey culinary specialist? Is one of the perks of your job all the turkey you can eat?

Sherleen Clausen: Well, perks, yes I do have all the turkey I want to eat. This year I have cooked 350 turkeys so far, and I taste most all of them. I look forward to leftovers for my dinner, so it is a perk. 17 years ago I worked on the Butterball Turkey Talkline, and then had the opportunity to join the test kitchen staff. So there's only one of me! Until I quit my job, there is not another opening yet! But experience wise, but I have a Bachelors and Masters degree in Home Economics and lots of on-the-job experience.

Question from Candyce-CNN: A friend of mine roasts her turkey breast side down, she thinks it keeps the breast moister...true? (Personally I think this is just wrong!)

Sherleen Clausen: Well, again, in all the research I have done, I think it's easiest to cook breast-side up. Be sure to use a 325-degree oven, nothing hotter. And then, when using the open roasting pan method, when it's about 2/3 done, put a small piece of aluminum foil over the breast of the turkey. The foil slows down the cooking of the breast, to keep it from over-cooking. I also believe, and my data show, that putting stuffing in a turkey helps keep the breast from overcooking as quickly. So if you decide to do breast-down, there are lots of things from a safety (tipping) standpoint-- the turkey is not as stable in the pan. The thighs could be done before the breast is done. It's impossible to check the temperature of the turkey, without turning it over. So it's difficult to handle a hot turkey, and this method means you are trying to turn it all the time. So I agree, I think it's best breast-up.

Question from Haley-CNN: How long is turkey meat good for after it has been cooked? What should be done with leftovers?

Sherleen Clausen: After it's cooked, refrigerate it as soon as possible, at least within 2 hours. And if you are putting it in the refrigerator, use it within 3 days. If you want to keep the leftover meat longer, wrap well, put it in the freezer. And for best flavor, use within two months. What to do with leftovers: so many things. Soup comes to mind. On butterball.com, we have a wonderful recipe for a pumpkin black bean chili, and I really like using the leftover dark meat, in that recipe. Besides soups, there are always sandwiches, salads, skillet dishes and oven dishes. The good thing is that it is so versatile, and can be used in dishes with many flavors. I never feel like I am eating the same thing, for a whole week after Thanksgiving.

Question from Ainz: Where is the best place to take the temp of a turkey?

Sherleen Clausen: The best place is deep in the thigh. The drumstick is on the leg, and it's connected to the thigh. The thigh is the dark meaty piece of turkey under the leg. A lot of times when carving the leg and thigh off of the turkey, the bone where they disjoint it from the body, down in that low area is where they might likely see pink juices if it's undercooked. So that area that's deep toward the body, that's where you want the tip of the thermometer to be. The end temperature should be 180 degrees Fahrenheit. And when stuffed, in addition to the turkey, the stuffing temperature should be checked in the center. And that should be 160 degrees.

CNN Chat Moderator: Do you have any final thoughts to share with us?

Sherleen Clausen: If you have questions and want to call, you can talk with us at 1-800-323-4848, or you can check out butterball.com. Cooking the turkey is the easiest part of the Thanksgiving dinner. It's not hard. It's easy.

CNN Chat Moderator: Sherleen Clausen, thank you for joining us today.

Sherleen Clausen: I wish you a Happy Thanksgiving, and I wish you luck cooking your turkeys! Thank you for having me.

Sherleen Clausen joined the chat via telephone from Chicago. CNN.com provided a typist for her. The above is an edited transcript of the chat, which took place on Monday, November 20, 2000.

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