New turkey product may ease Thanksgiving dinner prep, but celebrity chef not warm on concept

A turkey offering designed to go straight from the freezer to the oven promises to solve one of the most common Thanksgiving woes, a representative from Butterball told Fox News Digital – although a chef pointed out there are downsides to this preparation. 

Butterball’s “Cook from Frozen” turkey, announced last week, was created to help streamline the turkey-cooking process, Michelle Lieszkovszky, head of innovation at Butterball, told Fox News Digital. 

“After hearing from so many Butterball turkey talk-line callers that they think thawing is the hardest part of cooking a turkey, we knew we had to come up with a solution,” she said.

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“Over 70% of experienced hosts asked for more convenience at Thanksgiving, while our first-time hosts said that cooking a turkey is intimidating,” Lieszkovszky said. 

The Butterball turkey talk-line is a service provided by the company in November and December to answer questions regarding the turkey preparation process. 

This new product, she said, “is all about maximum convenience.” It requires no preparation, brining, thawing or even “previous cooking experience.” 

“There’s also no neck or giblets to remove, which means less time in the kitchen and more time with those who mean the most,” Lieszkovszky said. 

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The “Cook from Frozen” turkey comes pre-brined, according to Butterball, and should not be thawed. 

To cook the product, a person simply has to unwrap it, place it on a rack in a roasting pan breast side up — and brush it with a coat of oil.

After roasting for four hours at 350 degrees, the turkey should be tented with foil to prevent browning, according to Butterball. 

It, like any other turkey, is done when the internal temperature of the breast and thigh reaches 170 degrees. 

This turkey will serve five to nine people “with leftovers.” 

In total, the “Cook from Frozen” turkey will take about five hours to make, Butterball said. It will serve five to nine people “with leftovers.” 

While this preparation option may be the simplest, there is a catch, chef Richard Ingraham said.

Ingraham, based in the Atlanta area, is private chef to former NBA star Dwyane Wade and actress Gabrielle Union.

“This option doesn’t give the consumer the opportunity to prep and season the turkey effectively,” Ingraham told Fox News Digital in an email.

Plus, the cooking time for a frozen turkey is “substantially longer” than a more typical preparation, he said.

The “Cook from Frozen” turkey has to be roasted and cannot be stuffed or deep-fried, for example. 

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“In my opinion, it takes all the fun out of making the traditional turkey for the holidays,” Ingraham said.