Tips to Prepare for Thanksgiving | Chef Anthony's Thanksgiving Day Timeline
Stressed about prepping for Thanksgiving, or even the holidays? We are here to alleviate that stress and give you a general timeline to follow for Thanksgiving, or any big meal you are getting ready for.
Here is Chef Anthony’s general timeline for Thanksgiving Day:
8:00 AM Take turkey out of fridge and allow it to come to room temperature
9:00 AM Preheat oven at 350° (convection roast) or 375° for regular bake
9:15 AM Pat turkey dry, and season. Clean up any feathers and place in oven
9:30 AM Prep sauces like gravy, cranberry sauce, and sides like casseroles, etc.
9:45 AM Prep desserts if necessary
11:00 AM Take sides out of fridge to bring to room temperature
12:30 PM Check turkey temperature
1:00 PM Build your appetizers (meat and cheese boards, veggie boards, etc.)
2:00 PM Turkey will be about ready let it rest for 45 minutes to 1 hour, your sides can go in the oven
2:45 PM Sides are baked and can be taken out of the oven
3:00 PM Carve turkey
3:45 PM Place everything on table and get ready for dinner
4:00 PM Dinner time
A handful of items on this timeline such as casseroles and desserts can even be prepped a few days in advance and placed in your fridge. Then when the time comes, they can go right in your oven. Anything from gravies, to sauces, and casseroles can be ready in your fridge at least 2 days beforehand.
Keep in mind that also goes for any appetizers or vegetables you might need to prep for dishes. You can plate your cheese and meat in advance, wash and cut your vegetables, do any of the tedious things before the day of. You want to be able to focus on the turkey, so eliminating as many distractions as possible can help you stay on track.
Listing your timeline is important, but the most important list is the grocery list. Do your shopping in advance and give yourself time for any missed items in case you have to make any last-minute grocery store runs. You may want to consider shopping as early as 1 to 2 weeks in advance.
Timeline Rundown:
Turkey being the most important thing, you’ll start and end the dinner preparation with this. If your turkey is frozen, you’ll want to thaw this out at least 2 to 4 days in advance.
It takes about 4 pounds per day for a turkey to thaw. If you have a 10-pound turkey, it’ll take 2 to 3 days. A 20-pound turkey will take anywhere from 4 to 5 days.
At 8:00 AM is roughly when you’ll want to take your turkey out of the fridge. It needs to come to room temperature before you roast it. If you start roasting your turkey when it is still cold, you can get an uneven cook. Clean up any loose feathers, take out the insides of the turkey, and make sure to pat both the inside and outside dry. Even cooking is our biggest concern, and if there’s excess moisture on the outer or inner parts of the turkey, this can also cause an uneven cook.
Chef’s Tip: tuck the wings under the bottom of the turkey, since those will crisp up quicker than the rest of the bird.
Around 9:00 AM you can begin to preheat your oven either at 350° on convection roast, or 375° on a non-convection oven.
The time that your turkey takes will depend on weight. It takes about 12 minutes per pound. 10-pound turkeys take 2 to 3 hours, and 20-pound turkeys take 3 to 4 hours.
At 9:15 or when your oven’s preheated, it’s time to prep the bird to go in. Season this however you like, but one of the best combinations you can never go wrong with is salt and pepper, and poultry seasoning. Treat the space between the skin and the breast of the bird as a pocket for seasoning too. Here you can separate the skin from the breast, and tuck butter, fresh sage, and any other seasoning you would like. This will incorporate throughout the entire turkey.
Don’t forget to add liquid to the bottom of the pan your turkey is on, as this will keep moisture in the meat. You can use a roast probe if your oven comes with one. You want the probe inserted into the breast or thigh, wherever the meat is the thickest. For a thorough cook the internal temperature should reach 165° by the end of the 2 to 4 hours.
You can easily monitor the cooking process without a roast probe, just keep in mind that every time you open the oven door you will lose about 175 to 200° of heat inside the oven.
Once your turkey is in the oven at around 9:30 you can focus on preparing your sauces and sides. If you made them in advance you don’t have to worry much about this.
By 9:45 you will want to have desserts in mind. You don’t want to be thinking about making any chocolate sauce or throwing a pie in after you eat dinner. Have all the sides and desserts ready to go right into the oven, or on the table.
At 11:00 after you’ve either made or prepped your sides, take them out of the fridge to bring the chill off them. Again, if you place things cold right into your oven, you can get an uneven cook.
Around 12:30 or halfway through cooking the turkey, you can check the temperature. It should be mostly done at this point, if you’re shooting to eat around 4:00.
While you wait for the turkey to finish, around 1:00 you can build your appetizers. Some people do meat and cheese boards, holiday themed dips, or any kind of snacks to hold your guests over until dinner. This is the time to get these ready.
An hour later at about 2:00, or when your turkey has reached the internal temperature of 165°, you’ll want to take this out of the oven and let it rest for 45 minutes to an hour. Don’t be afraid to coat the outside with butter before you let it sit, since butter will add moisture and flavor back into the skin. It is around this time too that you can place any of your hot sides into the oven to bake. Any casseroles or stuffing even will generally take around 45 minutes to 1 hour.
At 2:45 your sides are hot and ready to come out of the oven.
After everything else is ready to go; at 3:00 carve the turkey. Spare no meat on the bird, because one of the best parts of Thanksgiving is the leftovers.
If you’re on track, you’ll be ready to serve around 3:45 to 4:00.
Your timeline can vary, depending on bake times or if you prepped before.
Hopefully this provides insight on how make Thanksgiving dinner a breeze.
Recipes by Chef:
Turkey
Homemade gravy
Cranberry sauce from scratch
Sweet potato casserole
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