Preparing a turkey for Thanksgiving is usually the most cumbersome task of the holiday, often becoming a chore that is annually passed off among relatives. The Volk family of Turlock has been easing consumers’ turkey cooking concerns for years through their company’s trussing and temperature devices. A family owned business that has expanded internationally with offices from Brazil to England and a manufacturing facility in Turlock, Volk Enterprises has made its mark in the meat industry.

Founder Tony Volk worked in the poultry industry before settling in Turlock for a managerial position at Washington Creameries, a turkey processing facility in the 1950s. Tony eventually founded Volk Enterprises to manufacture and distribute several products including ones of his own inventions. Some of the company’s most popular products today include the Pop up Disposable Thermometer and Hok Lok.

“My father created the Hok Lok which is a wire device that holds the drumsticks together for even cooking. It also makes the bird look more presentable in a bag when customers go to purchase their turkey for instance,” said Steve Volk, vice president of Volk Enterprises.

Hok Loks are inserted by processors and are not to be removed by consumers, versus the Pop Up thermometer which can be purchased at grocery stores, especially during the holiday season in booster packs that contain commonly used cooking utensils. The Pop Up thermometer can be found in various meats and serves to eliminate the guess work of cooking meat to an internal temperature. Over 100 million Pop Up thermometers were sold and more than 50 million Hok Loks found their way into consumers’ homes in the last year.