• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Marge Perry's A Sweet and Savory Life

  • Recipes
  • Articles
  • Calendar
  • About
  • Contact

How to Time Thanksgiving Dinner

November 13, 2017 By Marge Perry Leave a Comment

 

Even on Thanksgiving, timing is everything. (Okay, not really everything— because certainly the most important part is that everyone is together.)

Last week I taught my annual “Thanksgiving Essentials” class at the Institute for Culinary Education, and when I asked students what their biggest concern with hosting Thanksgiving is, timing was at the top of their list. How to know when the turkey is cooked to the perfect point of doneness was a close second.

I’ve got you covered.

Timing

First, choose recipes that can be done entirely or mostly in advance.

  • Most casseroles can be made entirely ahead and reheated. The beauty of roasting that big bird is that after it comes out of the oven, it must rest about 20-30 minutes before you carve. That is the perfect time to put your sweet potato and other casseroles in the now-empty oven to reheat.
  • Many vegetables can be slightly undercooked ahead of time, then can be finished as they are reheated. My favorite two ways to reheat Thanksgiving vegetables are 1. in a skillet on the stove. This works especially well with slightly undercooked green beans. 2. In the microwave. I do believe this is one of the very best uses (besides melting chocolate and butter) for the microwave: place the vegetables in a pie dish, and drape loosely with a damp cloth. If you have a lot of vegetables, do it in batches, transferring the vegetables to a warm covered serving dish.

Pay attention to your serving dishes.

  • Don’t wait until you are ready to put dinner on the table to start pulling out your platters and utensils. Take out every platter, bowl and serving utensil you will need, and mark it with a small post-it note with the name of the dish for which you will use it. That way, you needn’t scramble once the food is cooked, scrounging around your cabinets and drawers while the food either over cooks or gets cold.
  • That brings me to getting food to the table hot. One neat trick is to run your plates through the rinse cycle of the dishwasher. Leave the dishwasher closed until you are ready to use them. Warm plates keep the food hotter for longer. Place them on the buffet with a pretty cloth draped over them right before you bring the food out.

Don’t trust yourself to remember every detail. (Talking to your adorable nieces and nephews is one of the great pleasures of the holiday– don’t miss it because you are afraid of forgetting to do something.)

  • Keep a list on the counter of the dishes you are serving. That way you won’t accidentally leave the cranberry sauce in the refrigerator or the potatoes in the oven. I speak from experience here.

Cooking the Turkey Perfectly

Every year, all of us food writers are required by our editors to come up with the glorious new way of cooking a turkey. The truth is, the classic method of roasting a turkey in the oven can produce great results. The biggest impact on serving a turkey that is tender and not dry, cooked enough to be safe, but not so much that it must be drowned in gravy in order to be palatable, is cooking to temperature.

Here is everything you need to know about how to take a turkey’s temperature, with a photographic guide.

Serving the Turkey: How to Carve

Here is the key: remove the leg and thigh, then the breast. Once you take the entire breast off the turkey, it is easy to get beautiful, even slices. Do not try to carve the breast on the turkey. You will end up with shredded, meat, and it will take you much longer. Here is a step-by-step photographic guide to carving your turkey.

Finally (for now), here are a bunch of recipes for turkey that we created for magazines, websites and corporations.

Wet Brine and Dry Brine Tutorial for Food Network

Cider Bourbon Glazed Turkey (for Circulon)

Spatchcocked Turkey (for Anolon)

Here is my Thanksgiving Pinterest board where you will find links to more of our recipes

This is page of our Thanksgiving recipes put together by California Olive Ranch.

Here are Six Do-Ahead Side Dishes

And here is my absolute favorite Thanksgiving dessert, Pecan Caramel Tart with Sea Salt Crunch


Print Recipe
How to Time Thanksgiving Dinner
Servings
Servings

Filed Under: Great for Gatherings, Poultry: Chicken, Cornish Game Hen, Turkey and Duck, Recipes, Side Dishes

Reader Interactions

Get More Updates!

Sign up to get exclusive updates & tips!

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

I make my living writing, teaching and speaking about food and travel. In the name of work, I (have to!) eat a lot, meet interesting people (many of whom, like me, are passionate about their work) and travel near and far to see where and how food is made, grown or raised. I am saved from a life of extreme obesity by the fact that I truly love to exercise, but I am always one forkful away from not being able to button my jeans. Mine is a sweet and savory life.

I share it with my husband and co-author, David Bonom. Check out our new book, Hero Dinners: Complete One-Pan Meals That Save the Day

To learn more about me, click here →

Subscribe

sign-up here for email updates!

  • Want to see a cool trick for poaching eggs? Check out this video we did for Anolon. The trick comes at :22!

  • Craftsy Blogger Awards - Winner Best Tutorials Badge

    Popular Posts

    How to Cook Tender, Juicy (not dry!) Chicken Breasts

    Grilled or Roasted Spice-Rubbed Chicken Thighs: My Go-To Easy Dinner

    Strawberry Frosted Cupcakes

    Disclosure statement

    Do you have Chicken Anxiety??

    Become a Chicken Master! Make moist, tender, juicy, safe chicken each and every time. My online Craftsy video class, All About Chicken will show you how. Click here to learn more-- and get a special reader discount of half price.

    Footer

    Hero Dinners: Complete One-Pan Meals That Save the Day, our latest cookbook, is available wherever books are sold (including on Amazon).

    Want to see more of my work? Click on "Articles" at the top of the page for links to our recipes, articles and videos in magazines, websites, and social media.

    Feel free to connect/follow via any of the social media buttons below or drop me a line here through my contact page. Read More…

    More From the Blog

    Subscribe

    sign-up here for email updates!

    Copyright © 2023 asweetandsavorylife