When you've got six (or more) dishes planned for a single meal, mistakes may happen. But the most common ones are totally avoidable, if you do a little reading up before the big day. If you do end up fumbling, no stress—here’s how to salvage each dish in question.

A still-frozen turkey the day of Thanksgiving can be disastrous, but luckily, you can completely plan ahead to prevent one.

Thaw at Least 3 Days In Advance: It takes 24 hours of fridge time to thaw every 5 pounds of turkey. Plan accordingly.

Don’t Crowd the Thawing Turkey: The fridge is probably bursting with groceries and prepped food, but nevertheless, make sure nothing is touching the turkey. This ensures proper airflow around it.

Contain the Turkey On the Bottom Shelf: Place the turkey on the bottom shelf of the fridge with a shallow container like a sheet tray below it, which will contain any leaking juices.

HOW TO FIX THE FAIL: You can speed up thawing by sealing the bird well and submerging it in cold water (an ice cooler works well for this). Change the water often and make sure it is cold. If the turkey is still not fully thawed on the big day, cut it in half between the breasts or into eighths. Place the turkey pieces on a rimmed baking sheet with aromatic vegetables and herbs, then roast until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees F. The breast pieces will cook faster than the dark meat, so be sure to take them out earlier.

Don’t let your turkey hold up the meal.

Take Your Oven’s Temperature: First, snag an oven thermometer to ensure your oven is at the right temperature. If it’s not, try quick fixes like re-calibrating your oven or making sure the temperature sensor isn’t covered in debris.

Ready Your Instant Read Thermometer: Make sure you ready your trusty meat thermometer to take your turkey’s temperature accurately. Also, make sure your thermometer’s units are on the Fahrenheit setting, not the Celsius setting.

Plan to Cook the Turkey on Its Own: Cooking your turkey with sides slows down the rate at which the turkey roasts. That’s because other pans in the oven block warm air from fully circulating around the turkey. Also, opening and closing the oven door to remove sides drops the oven temperature. Instead, make your other sides ahead of time and re-warm them. Or use other appliances to cook your sides, like the stovetop, slow cooker, air fryer or Instant Pot.

Make a Spatchcock Turkey: If you do need to cook a bunch of sides in your oven at the same time as your bird, or if you’re generally short on time, try making a spatchcock turkey. They cook in about half the time as a regular roast turkey.

HOW TO FIX THE FAIL: Separate the breast from the dark meat. Roast the breast until its done, and continue cooking the dark meat while everyone starts the meal.

Believe it or not, it’s possible to achieve turkey that’s as juicy as a nicely roasted chicken. Here’s how.

Opt for a Smaller Turkey: Our number one tip: Smaller birds (under ten pounds) cook more evenly than large birds, meaning the light and dark meat are typically ready at the same time. If you are feeding a big crowd, it’s better to cook two smaller birds than one large one.

Or Cook Turkey Thighs and Breasts Separately: Skirt the whole issue of breasts being done first. Separate the breast from the legs and cook the light and dark meat separately. You won’t get a grand carving moment, but people probably won’t care when they taste the juiciest turkey meat they’ve ever had.

Position the Legs Correctly: Make sure you truss your turkey legs. This isn’t just for the visual of a neat bird: lifting up the thighs exposes them to more hot air circulation. As well, point the thighs towards the back corners of your stove, which are often the hottest areas.

Brine away: Brining really does make a difference; a dry bry is easier and just as effective.

HOW TO FIX THE FAIL: Your thermometer is off, the oven spiked, the recipe failed — it doesn't matter how it happened. The result is that you're stuck with an overcooked bird. The fix? Warm some turkey or chicken stock, transfer it to a food-safe spray bottle and generously spritz your platter of carved meat. (Alternatively, drizzle it on with a spoon.) For really dry meat, put the carved pieces in a baking dish, pour stock over them, cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees F until warmed through, about 10 minutes. The warm broth will seep into the meat, making each bite juicier.

Moist stuffing is a must-have on any Thanksgiving table. Here are some tips to make sure you don’t dry it out—or burn it.

Start with Day-Old Toasted Bread: It’ll absorb a lot more moisture than fresh bread.

Incorporate Flavorful Fat: Most stuffing recipes call for butter, but you can add extra, flavorful moisture by incorporating ingredients like bacon or Parmesan cheese.

Keep It Covered: Make sure you keep the stuffing covered with foil for the first half of its bake time. Remove the foil at the end to crisp up the top.

Set Two Timers: Many people mentioned they flat-out burned their stuffing. Avoid forgetting it in the oven by setting a phone timer and a good old fashioned physical timer that you can’t snooze or ignore.

Rewarm the Right Way: If the stuffing seems dry, add a splash of stock and some turkey drippings before rewarming it. Keep the dish covered in foil when you rewarm it in the oven and remove the foil during the last 10 minutes.

HOW TO FIX THE FAIL: To moisten overcooked stuffing, combine melted butter and turkey or chicken broth in a bowl, then baste the mixture over the dry stuffing. Cover with foil, return it to the oven and bake for a few minutes until a little steamy.

First things first, start off with a a well tested stuffing recipe that nails the right ratio of liquid for the type of bread you’re using. Then see our tips below.

Add Liquid Slowly: Don’t add your stock all at once. Instead, add it gradually, waiting for the bread to absorb the liquid before adding more. This prevents oversaturation.

Don’t Cook It In the Turkey: Aside from food the safety issues, cooking stuffing inside the bird typically yields a mass of unappealing, soggy stuffing. Cook it in a baking dish or on a sheet tray instead.

Made an Extra Crispy Top: Calling all crispy stuffing lovers. If you want an extra crispy top, try brushing the top of the stuffing with butter or sprinkling some crushed Ritz crackers over the top, which absorb the moisture on the surface and crisp up in the oven.

HOW TO FIX THE FAIL: If your stuffing's too wet, spread it in an even layer on a rimmed baking sheet and return it to the oven until it dries out.

Watery gravy isn’t going to do much for your mashed potatoes or turkey.

Nail the Roux: Make sure you’re using equal parts flour and fat. A great roux is the base of every glossy, thickened gravy.

Use the right ratio of thicker to liquid: Sometimes, thin gravy comes down to the fact that you started with too much liquid. A good rule of thumb? Reach for 2 tablespoons butter + 2 tablespoons flour (roux) for every cup of stock.

HOW TO FIX THE FAIL: To thicken up a soupy gravy, combine equal parts flour and water in a bowl to form a paste. Bring your gravy to a boil and whisk in dollops of the paste until the mixture thickens to the desired consistency. A cornstarch-and-water paste will also do the trick.

Ah, another gravy issue. Stave off the stress of seeing lumpy gravy come together mere minutes before it’s time to sit down at dinner and follow our tips.

Gradually Add the Stock to the Roux: Gradually ladle the hot broth into the flour mixture, whisking constantly.

Use a Whisk, Not a Spoon: While we’re on the topic of combining stock and roux, make sure you combine them using a whisk, which really gets in there and stirs evenly, not a spoon.

Use Instant Flour: All-purpose flour can be incorporated into gravy smoothly, and many of Food Network’s recipes, including our Best Gravy Recipe, call for it. However, if you’d like an added touch of insurance, Wondra flour mixes more easily and reduces gravy lumps.

HOW TO FIX THE FAIL: When you're faced with a gravy full of clumps or one that won't come together, transfer it to a blender — or use an immersion blender — and process until fully incorporated and smooth. Reheat before serving.

Too much whipping (or mashing) will give you sticky — not fluffy — mashed potatoes.

Don’t Overcook the Potatoes: When you cook potatoes, some of the interior cells burst, releasing gluey starch. The longer you cook potatoes, the more cells burst, and the more glue is released. Cook the potatoes just until a paring knife should slide into the potato with no resistance.

Dry the Boiled Potatoes: After draining the potatoes, add them back to the pot you cooked them in and heat them over medium for a couple minutes to dry them. This will prevent watery mashed potatoes, which require more mixing (leading to glue).

Skip the Hand Mixer: Whatever you do, don’t mix your mashed potatoes with a hand mixer. Instead, reach for a potato ricer.

Mash the potatoes, milk and butter while hot: Combining hot ingredients—particularly hot potatoes—makes for the fluffiest results.

HOW TO FIX THE FAIL: For every 1 pound of potatoes, fold in 1 tablespoon of melted butter. Fat helps coat the starchy glue. Or make the best of it and turn them into cheesy mashed potato cups: Mix the potatoes with grated cheddar and an egg, then scoop the mixture into lightly greased muffin cups. Sprinkle the cups with more cheese and bake at 350 degrees F until the tops are crispy and golden.

Lumpy mashed potatoes generally indicate undercooked potatoes.

Cut the Potatoes Into Even Sizes: Doing so makes sure they cook at the same rate, so no pieces are undercooked.

Start the Potatoes In Cold Water: Otherwise, the outsides will cook more quickly than the insides.

HOW TO FIX THE FAIL: If you get to this point and realize you've undercooked your potatoes, just add a little bit of milk or cream, then cook the potatoes over low heat until the lumps begin to soften.

Say goodbye to canyon-like fissures in pumpkin pie and cheesecake. If you’re going through the effort of baking a pie, let’s make sure the top is pristine.

Don’t Overbake Pumpkin Pie or Cheesecake: Cracks are caused by heating the desserts to a temperature that’s too high. When “done” cooking the eggs set these desserts into a creamy custard. When they’re overbaked, the eggs set too solidly and cause cracks. Your desserts are ready to come out of the oven when the edges are solid and domed but the rest of the surface area is jiggly like Jell-O.

Bake Cheesecake In a Water Bath: Place the pan inside a larger pan of hot water to create a slow, even bake.

Cool the Pumpkin Pie or Cheesecake In the Oven: When they’re done baking, turn off the oven, prop it open a few inches and let the pies cool completely in the oven (overnight is fine). Sometimes, the temperature difference between the hot pie and the cool air can cause cracks.

HOW TO FIX THE FAIL: A crack on the surface of your dessert is no big deal; there's nothing a little confectioners' sugar or whipped cream can't hide. Top your cracked pie or cake with one or the other — your guests will admire you for remembering the finishing touches.