Food Network Magazine Readers' Best Thanksgiving Hacks
We asked readers for their Thanksgiving tips and tricks. Here are some of the best ideas!
Getty
We're not the only ones with Thanksgiving know-how. We reached out to Food Network Magazine readers to hear their smartest hacks, and they delivered—over 1400 of them! From prepping the big meal to quickly cleaning up, here are the ideas we'll be using this year.
“The night before Thanksgiving, I bake two pumpkin pies using the crust recipe from my home economics class in 1976— thank you, Mrs. Holloway! One is for Thanksgiving and one is for sending guests home with a slice.”
—Corinne Dennison Benson
“Don’t set a designated time to sit down and eat. It’s way less stressful if you just eat when the food is finished cooking.”
—Pamela Williams
“I spear potatoes on a corkscrew to peel them. I can get through 10 pounds a lot faster, and I don’t peel my fingers!”
—Jeannine Baer Feinstein
liveslow/Getty
“Putting apple cider mixed with chicken broth in the bottom of your roasting pan creates a steam that keeps the turkey moist, and the turkey drippings combined with the cider and broth make a yummy gravy.”
—Deana Gilmore
“The best shortcut is to chop all the turkey dressing ingredients the day before and put them in individual bags. It’s a big time-saver when you start cooking.”
—Geralyn DaQuila Petronzi
“Do a side and dessert swap with friends! You each pick one dish and the ‘owner’ of that dish makes enough for every person in the group. Then you pick a day to get together and everyone goes home with a full dinner, minus the turkey. You might even find new favorites!”
—Jeannine O’Malley
Anjelika Gretskaia/Getty
“A small amount of instant potato flakes can restore real mashed potatoes if too much liquid has been added or they become gummy.”
—Juli L. Andrews Jacklin
“Use a teapot for the gravy and it’ll stay warm longer than it would in a gravy boat.”
—Sue League
“The best hint I ever heard was from Michael Symon, and I do it every year. I line an ice chest with towels, cook my sides early in the day and place them in the cooler covered with more towels. They stay hot until we serve the meal.”
—Diane Blann
“Instead of doing a whole turkey, we grill three breasts with three different rubs—one Cajun, one with traditional flavors and one with a new and different rub.”
—Marcy Walcer Kostis
krisblackphotography/Getty
“On Thanksgiving I hand each of my four kids—and sometimes guests—a recipe and tell them it’s their responsibility!”
—Stephanie Ziegler Rossi
“I learned this from my late aunt: Fill a large clean garbage can with hot soapy water, leaving plenty of room at the top. When you’re done cooking, put your dirty pots in there to soak. Cleanup after dinner is so much easier.”
—Audrey Rose Weiss
“There’s always a shortage of space in the fridge during the holidays, so the best thing to do is set a cooling rack over bowls of food. Then you can put other items on it.”
—Peggy Ciaravino
“At our house we have a holiday called Pie Day, a tradition my grandma started. My kids, niece and sisters come over the day before Thanksgiving and we make pies together. It’s a blast!”
—Christine Terry
Related content:
