Just in time for Thanksgiving, we caught up with Alton Brown and chatted about his plans for the upcoming food-focused holiday.

Speaking of his Turkey Day tradition at home with his family, Alton said, “It’s really simple. Really simple.  I’m not one of those guys who wants to cook for 13 hours and eat for five. So it’s very, very basic stuff.” What exactly is on his menu? “I handle the turkey. There’s some dressing.  My mother-in-law makes a pecan pie. I like Brussels sprouts. And we, like, cook some sweet potatoes, and it’s done.” he said. I bet Alton makes a mean batch of Brussels sprouts.

We also talked with Alton about his Good Eats Roast Turkey (pictured above), Food Network’s most popular turkey recipe, boasting a 5-star rating and more than 3,400 user reviews.

Of that easily brined bird, Alton said, “That turkey is done as well as it’s done because it is repeatable and completely doable.” He assured us that even casual home cooks could approach this recipe with ease. “They’ll have a 97 percent success rate with it because it’s very elemental, and it’s very simple to follow.  There are no mysterious steps in there,” he said. Alton suggests first roasting the bird in a 500 degree F oven for just 30 minutes, to give it perfectly crisp skin of a glowing golden color, before lowering the temperature to 350 degrees F for a few hours to finish cooking the inside. This no-fail method will yield tender, juicy meat time after time.

When asked what he can attribute the success of his famed turkey, Alton simply noted, “Turkey freaking rocks.” That is so true, Alton. Well said.

Catch Alton Brown as the host of The Next Iron Chef: Super Chefs on Sunday nights at 9m/8c.