The Butterball Turkey-Talk-Line, in Naperville, is open for business through Christmas Eve. Matt Rodrigues paid the kitchen and call center a visit the Wednesday before Thanksgiving for some tips and tricks.
You may not know it, but one of Thanksgiving's most famous traditions -- the Butterball Turkey-Talk Line -- is nestled in the western Chicago suburb of Naperville.
The turkey hotline, known to many as 1-800-BUTTERBALL, began during the holiday season of 1981, when six home economists worked the phones to answer about 11,000 turkey-cooking questions, according to the company's website.
Since then, both the number of calls received and experts manning the phones have grown exponentially, Butterball said, with more than 50 experts regularly answering more than 100,000 questions during the holidays.
"We all have a culinary-related degrees, and we're here to answer those questions," said Turkey-Talk-Line supervisor Andrea Balitewicz, who has been with Butterball for eight years.
NBC 5's Matt Rodrigues paid a visit to the suburban call center Wednesday morning to talk turkey, and find out the most commonly asked turkey conundrums.
"As people get panicked, and it gets closer to Thanksgiving, and haven't thawed their turkey, those are they questions they ask," Balitewicz said.
According to Balitewicz, the hotline is available not just for Thanksgiving, but through Christmas Eve, Dec. 24.
The hotline can be reached by calling 1-800-BUTTERBALL or texting 844-877-3456, Butterball said. Hours are 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.
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