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For Thanksgiving this year, Alexa has learned to make a turkey.
Not literally. Alexa, Amazon's voice-activated personal assistant, has no hands. However, she gained an in-depth knowledge of turkey making through a "Turkey Conversation Line" created by the famous turkey brand Butterball. The "Alexa Butterball Skill" allows users to listen to prerecorded answers to frequently asked questions about turkey by experts stationed for years.
Butterball launched its Turkey Talk Line in 1981 to help nervous home chefs manage the holidays. The line received 11,000 calls in the first year, to which six domestic economists responded. The hotline opened in November and December and attracted more than 100,000 calls from US and Canadian homes. Butterball's turkey lawyers are also available via SMS, live chat, social media and, this year, Alexa.
And so it is decided. For reasons of journalism, Quartz's technical team was preparing a turkey using only Alexa's advice.
1. Acquire the turkey
Quartz / Dave Gershgorn
Choosing the right turkey is important. Alexa can help. Or more specifically, a beautiful old lady named Marge can help you. "Welcome to Butterball," said Marge, when we summoned Alexa's Butterball skill. "Let's talk about choosing the right turkey. You can say things like, "What size of turkey should I buy?"
Marge – and Beth and Christopher, the other voices talking about Alexa Butterball's skill – are real people. Marge Klindera, 80, has been working at the Butterball Hotline for over 35 years, making her the oldest member of the team. "I'm known as the" Butterball Woman "where I live, she told Mic in 2017." It's all around you.
Butterball recommends 1.5 pounds of turkey per person "for generous leftovers," Marge told us. We needed very generous leftovers as we were bringing the turkey Alexa to our Thanksgiving party at the office the next day. My colleague and resident team leader, Dave Gershgorn, therefore bought a 15.5 lbs.
2. Prepare the turkey for roasting
One of the questions Marge answers is "How to cook a perfect turkey?" According to Butterball, preparing a turkey roast is done in five steps.
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit (162 degrees Celsius)
- Remove the shopping bag, drain the juice and dry. (What are the offal?) You can also ask Alexa a question. "Let's talk offal!" Beth replied excitedly.)
- Place the turkey, chest up, on a rack in a roasting pan.
- Flip the wings to hold the neck skin in place.
- Spray or brush the skin with vegetable oil or cooking (we have rubbed ours with butter).
Dave went a bit out of the script and also stuffed our turkey cavity with herbs and home-made maple stuffing. As I said, Dave is a real cook.
Quartz / Mike Murphy
3. Roast the turkey
Alexa has calculated our cooking time for us. "Alright, I can handle that," said Alexa, when asked how long to cook the turkey. She asked how much the turkey weighed (15.5 pounds) and if we cooked it with stuffing on the inside (yes, of course).
"For a stuffed 15.5 lb turkey, you have to cook it for three and a quarter to four and a half hours," said Alexa. "Well, it's interesting to talk about turkey," she added, in a tone of supreme disinterest. Alexa does not enter the spirit of Thanksgiving like Marge.
"Alexa, bring Marge back," I say.
"I'm sorry, I do not think this skill can help," said Alexa.
Quartz / Dave Gershgorn
4. Check the cooking.
While the turkey was cooked, we prepared a pumpkin pie, cranberry sauce and green bean accompaniment. We also blogged because it was a day of work. Outside it was snowing.
Butterball's Alexa experts recommend the use of a meat thermometer to check if your turkey is cooked. The temperature should be 82 ° C (180 ° F) in the thigh, 76 ° C (170 ° F) in the chest and 73 ° C (165 ° F) "in the padding, if you have padding" said Marge.
We prepared the turkey for about 4.5 hours. "I may have seen other recipes," admitted Dave.
Quartz / Dave Gershgorn
5. Sculpt the turkey
Marge understands that cutting a turkey can be daunting. "If you've never carved a turkey before, do not worry," she says.
After cooking and before cutting, let the turkey rest for 15 to 30 minutes. Then, separate the drumsticks by cutting between the leg and the chest. After that, cut the turkey breast on its side, then slice it starting at the top of the breast.
Quartz / Mike Murphy
"We know that these milestones can be a little tricky," said Marge in a reassuring voice. "So go to Butterball.com to watch our video and get some extra help."
We did not visit Butterball.com because, thankfully, Dave knew what he was doing.
Quartz / Mike Murphy
6. Enjoy the turkey
The experts at Alexa Butterball said they had advice on this too, but their questions were limited to more practical questions: checking the degree of cooking, placing the meat thermometer, cutting a turkey and storing the leftovers (for ensure the safety of your leftovers, keep your leftovers in separate containers within two hours of cooking ").
Anyway, we did not need help to enjoy the turkey. It was delicious.
Quartz / Mike Murphy
Dave Gershgorn contributed to the kitchen, Mike Murphy provided pictures and everyone ate.
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