4 Things You Should Never Do to Your Thanksgiving Turkey

You may dream of hosting a magical holiday celebration, but now is not the time for magical thinking. No matter how breathtaking your centerpiece or how creamy your mashed potatoes, there's simply no substitute for thorough advance planning and careful organization when it comes to hosting a big occasion.

The turkey is the diva of the dinner, taking up the most space, demanding the most preparation time and attention, boasting a well-earned reputation for being temperamental and unpredictable, and ultimately occupying center stage on the table. For all these reasons, it’s vital to have a prep plan and a schedule for your turkey's starring role. Here’s how to stay one step ahead—and avoid the simple mistakes that can lead to culinary catastrophe.

Don't Wait Too Long to Thaw a Frozen Turkey

If you’re starting with a frozen turkey, the safest and simplest way to thaw it is in the refrigerator. However, this task is not as easy as it may sound.

Make room: First, you need to make room in the fridge (bottom shelf, for the sake of food safety!) amidst all the other groceries from your massive pre-Thanksgiving shopping trip. Then, you need to calculate the thawing time and count backward from when you want to put the turkey in the oven.

How long it takes: To thaw a whole turkey in the refrigerator, it takes approximately 24 hours of thaw time for every 4 to 5 pounds of meat. This means a 15-pound bird needs to spend three whole days in your fridge. If it’s already too late for refrigerator thawing, you can still turn to alternate methods, using cold water or even the microwave.

Don't Wash Your Turkey in the Sink

No matter that Grandma used to do it, rinsing poultry is a food safety nightmare. It’s an ineffective method for washing off bacteria—the heat of the oven does a far better job at killing pathogens than water ever could.

Why it's such a bad idea: The act of rinsing the bird can spread dangerous bacteria all over your sink and into a three-foot splash zone perimeter all around it, including clean dishes, dish sponges, counters, and walls. It’s extremely difficult to do a thorough job of sanitizing your kitchen after giving it this kind of bacteria shower, resulting in cross-contamination, a big no-no of basic food safety.

Don't Stuff Your Turkey in Advance

For many years, food safety experts have been warning against stuffing turkeys. However, this is by far the wisest choice for the health and safety of your guests.

Why you shouldn't stuff ahead: What you should never do is stuff your turkey the night before (or even the morning of) and then put it back in the refrigerator. This is because densely packed, ice-cold stuffing inside an ice-cold turkey will never get hot enough, even after hours in the oven. Instead, the stuffing is likely linger at dangerous in-between temperatures that are just right for breeding and multiplying bacteria—which there will be plenty of since it’s entirely surrounded by raw poultry.

If you must stuff: Even the experts acknowledge that some traditions aren’t easily broken, so they offer a safety compromise for cooks who just can’t give up on stuffing the old-fashioned way: wait to stuff the turkey until the moment before you’re ready to slide it into the oven.

Don't Assume the Turkey Will Fit in Your Oven (or Pan, or Refrigerator)

It’s something you probably never even need to consider during the other 51 weeks of the year: is my food too big for my kitchen? But when it comes to cooking a 15 to 20+ pound beast, don’t wait til the last minute to find out which is bigger, your oven or your turkey. Same goes for your roasting pan.

Does it fit? It’s wisest to measure your oven, your pan, and your refrigerator shelf before you buy the turkey. Bring a tape measure to the grocery store with you to help choose the perfect bird, and watch other shoppers get jealous of your next-level organization skills.