Cooking Hotlines and Holiday Helplines for Thanksgiving and Christmas

There’s so much to keep track of when the holiday cooking season begins to ramp up, but special holiday hotlines have long been a secret weapon for anyone finding themselves in a pickle!

Have a look through these resources and drop us a note in the comments if your favorite cooking helpline is missing from the list!

Online Cooking Resources

Cook’s Illustrated - Always a top-quality resource on all things kitchen-related, Cook’s Illustrated has a site full of answers related to the basics of cooking for Thanksgiving. You’ll have to be a member to view some articles, but these basic tips for Thanksgiving are available free.

Seasoned Advice - A question and answer site for professional and amateur chefs. Search for topics to find previous answers or start a new question.

Food52 Hotline - A forum from Food52 where you can find help from other home chefs.

Cooking on Reddit - Reddit is another forum site where you can go to ask/answer questions or just discuss cooking with others. There are many subsections of Reddit, such as cooking, baking, or even the general food category!

Become a Better Baker - Learn baking basics and get help every step of the way! A great resource to read through beforehand to ease the stress of holiday baking.

Land O’ Lakes Holiday Bakeline - Tips and tricks for holiday baking.

Betty Crocker - General cooking info and tips for including prepared Betty Crocker ingredients in holiday baking.

Perdue Tips from the Kitchen - Get help cooking that Thanksgiving turkey with Perdue’s rules of thumb. Also available at 1-800-4PERDUE® (1-800-473-7383).

Tofurky instructions and recipes- Learn how best to prepare Tofurky or try one of these recipes that are variations on the classic Tofurky.

Field Roast - For a really adventurous vegetarian alternative, cook up one of these recipes using the Field Roast Celebration Roast.


Holiday Recipes

Nestlé Recipes - Recipes using Nestlé products like Libby’s canned pumpkin and Toll House chocolates.

AllRecipes Holiday section - A never-ending treasure trove of recipes, no matter what the holiday! Try not to get too lost in all the possibilities and forget to cook!

Cooking Light’s Ultimate Holiday Cookbook - Try out some new, healthier recipes this year!

Winter Acre’s Christmas Food and Cooking Pinterest Board - We’ve collected many fun Christmas recipes and ideas for Christmas Day snacks.


Toll-Free Holiday Helplines

Feel more comfortable speaking to someone on the phone? Give these toll-free numbers a try:

Ohio State University Food Safety Hotline – 1-800-752-2751 offers answers to questions regarding food safety concerns.

USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline – 1-800-535-4555 or online at USDA.gov offers information to make sure you stay safe in the kitchen.

Betty Crocker Hotline - 1-888-275-2388 offers information on everything from baking cookies to making gravy.

Butterball Turkey Talk Line - 1-800-288-8372 and Butterball.com - The classic Thanksgiving helpline has been offering live help to callers for over 30 years!

Fleischmann’s Yeast Baker’s Help Line - 1-800-777-4959 answers all your questions about breads and rolls.

Hershey’s Consumer Hotline - 1-800-468-1714 offers help and recipes for everything chocolate.

Ocean Spray Consumer Helpline - 1-800-662-3263 or OceanSpray.com Information and recipes using Ocean Spray cranberries.

Reynolds Turkey Line - 1-800-745-4000 or online offers tips about cooking using Reynolds products.

Honeysuckle White How-Tos - Turkey tips and cooking questions online; pre-recorded help at (800) 810-6325

Crisco Pie Hotline - Online guidance for the perfect pie and live pie help available at (877) 367-7438

Foster Farms - Kitchen safety and turkey preparation. Answers also available at (800) 255-7227

Shady Brook Farms - Step-by-step instructions and how-to videos about every aspect of turkey preparation

(Image via Robert Couse-Baker on Flickr)