Tuesday, November 21, 2017

7 Tools You Need To Cook Thanksgiving Dinner - My Favorites!

Cooking Thanksgiving is an overwhelming task to many. I have learned the hard way how to make preparing Thanksgiving dinner easier. Shop early and start smart with my 7 tools you need to cook your special meal.

Thanksgiving prep, Thanksgiving meal

My Favorite Tools for Cooking the Thanksgiving Dinner

1. When cooking your turkey, a large granite ware roaster is my favorite pan to cook the turkey in. Nothing fancy. You can buy the insert rack to put the turkey on but I don't have one. I just throw stalks of celery, halved onions and carrots across the bottom and set the turkey on top. It flavors the drippings nicely for good basting and delicious gravy.
splatter ware roaster
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2. Any kind of meat thermometer is nice so you know when you turkey is fully done. I have had batter operated and the old dial kind. Both work well.

3. A turkey baster is nice to have for easy basting. That oven gets hot and it is the safest way to get the hot juices and baste that turkey.

My Favorite Tools for Serving the Thanksgiving Dinner

4. Turkey lifting forks are to me, the easiest way to lift that hot heavy turkey onto your platter or carving board. I inherited mine from my mom but they are inexpensive.

5. A sharp knife. From dicing and chopping but most importantly carving the turkey, a sharp knife is necessary for serving your meal.

6. Throw away aluminum pans. For really simplifying every step of preparing Thanksgiving dinner, you cannot beat these disposable pans. You can cook and freeze in them and then reheat in them and when the meal is done, just toss. This meal is so much much work that I will do trick like this to save me time in the kitchen so we can enjoy the day more.

7. A crock pot is a must have now too. As I learned to start cooking my meal one or more days ahead, have a crock pot is must have for my mashed potatoes. I cook them on Wednesday, adding a bit of extra milk. On Thursday I put them in the crock pot or slow cooker at least 4 hours before the meal and turn on high adding some pats of butter. I stir a few times but they come out light and fluffy and bubbly. No mashing the day of Thanksgiving is the best.

Read my previous post on how to organize and simplify your holiday meal prep.
And watch my video:






1 comment:

  1. These are great tips - I'm going to have to try the mashed potatoes in the crockpot!!

    ReplyDelete