Turkey nightmare? Help is here to survive Thanksgiving gone wrong

Last-minute Thanksgiving advice is just a call, click or tweet away:

Turkey

▪ USDA Meat and Poultry: 888-674-6854 (English and Spanish), fsis.usda.gov.

▪ Butterball:800-288-8372, butterball.com, @Butterball.

▪ National Turkey Federation: eatturkey.com.

▪ Jennie-O: Live chat at jennieo.com.

▪ Honeysuckle White Turkey: 800-810-6325, honeysucklewhite.com.

Baking

▪ Crisco: 877-367-7438 (English and Spanish).

▪ Fleischmann’s Yeast: breadworld.com.

▪ Pillsbury: pillsbury.com.

▪ Land O’Lakes: landolakes.com.

▪ Libby’s Pumpkin: 800-854-0374, verybestbaking.com/Libbys.

Stuffing

▪ Jones Dairy Farm: stuffingandmore.com.

Potatoes

▪ U.S. Potato Board: potatogoodness.com.

Cranberries

▪ Ocean Spray: 800-662-3263, oceanspray.com, @OceanSprayInc.

Safety basics

▪ Uncooked turkey can harbor salmonella. Clean up any raw juices with hot, soapy water, and take care not to contaminate other foods via cutting boards or knives.

▪ An instant-read thermometer is the best way to tell if your turkey is safely cooked to 165 degrees. Insert it in the thickest part of the thigh without touching the bone.

▪ Perishable foods should not be left at room temperature for more than two hours. Refrigerate leftovers promptly in shallow containers for quick cooling.

▪ You can safely thaw a turkey by submerging it in cold water that you change every 30 minutes. It will thaw at a rate of 30 minutes a pound, or about 6 to 8 hours for a 12- to 16-pound bird.

Roasting times

Use these USDA-recommended times instead of those found in older cookbooks and references. The times are for an oven temperature of 325 degrees and assume the turkey is unstuffed and fridge-cold:

▪ 8 to 12 pounds: 2 3/4 to 3 hours.

▪ 12 to 14 pounds: 3 to 3 3/4 hours.

▪ 14 to 18 pounds: 3 3/4 to 4 1/4 hours.

▪ 18 to 20 pounds: 4 1/4 to 4 1/2 hours.

▪ 20 to 24 pounds: 4 1/2 to 5 hours.

Missing ingredients

<bullet>Winn-Dixie, Whole Foods, Sedano’s and Milam’s are among the supermarkets that will be open Thanksgiving Day (reduced hours in most cases; call ahead).

▪ Amazon Prime Now offers one- and two-hour delivery in Miami from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., including Thanksgiving. Ingredients, kitchen essentials, favorite games, DVDs and more: amazon.com/primenow.

Dining out

Scores of South Florida restaurants are offering holiday menus on Thursday. Find times and menus at MiamiHerald.com/living.

This story was originally published November 24, 2015 at 6:59 AM with the headline "Turkey nightmare? Help is here to survive Thanksgiving gone wrong."