30 Thanksgiving Hosting Mistakes You’re Probably Making

The Thanksgiving dinner is just one day but it takes days, if not weeks, to plan. Find out how many people are coming about two weeks in advance so you know at least how much food to buy. Begin the preparations — food and drinks menu, grocery shopping, and ensuring you have enough chairs and silverware — about a week before the big dinner.

Ideally, you should buy everything you need at the store in one trip. Realistically, however, that’s not possible — unless you have a list of all the ingredients — from the big bird to the spices you’re going to use for every side dish — written down. It will take much longer if you have to go back to the store several times.

Don’t try to be Superman or Superwoman. “I’d love some help” can do magic. Thanksgiving dinner is a massive meal and no one expects you to do it alone. Ask the kids to help. You never know — they may even find it fun, especially if asked to assist with making desserts.

How big should the turkey be? That’s why you need to know how many people are coming over. But then what? The rule of thumb is about 1 ½ pounds per person. That means, for example, a 12-pound turkey for eight guests.

Obviously, the star of the evening is the turkey. But what about the opening act? Keep some possibly hungry guests at bay with some bites and crackers to dip. Pretty much any finger food will work. Don’t overdo it, however, as you don’t want people to get too full before the headliner.

If your recipe has withstood the test of time, don’t mess with it now. A new dish may be a hit, but what if it’s not? Test out any new recipes a few days in advance to make sure you like them as much as your old ones.

Recipes exist for a reason. There is an ideal way to cook most food and chefs have gone through many trials and errors to find out what that is. Don’t underestimate the power of ratios. If you have to put in half a cup of flour and one tablespoon of lemon juice, do it. Do you want your pie to be too dry or your stuffing too salty?

Thanksgiving is sometimes called Friendsgiving. It is a celebration of thankfulness for one’s friends and families. And while you don’t want to leave anyone out, especially during a holiday that is all about spending time with the people you love, you have to be realistic about how many people you can host. How much time do you have and how big is your home? If you have room to fit 15 people, don’t invite 40 because they might just show up.

Unless you are recruiting people for an experiment aiming to debate whether eating while standing up is bad for you, make sure you have enough chairs to seat your guests. Standing and mingling with others is fun but everyone needs to sit down at some point.

This is a potentially very serious mistake. Do you have several epipens around the house? If not, make sure you know if some of your guests are allergic to any of the foods you’re serving. The most common food allergens are cow’s milk, eggs, nuts, and shellfish.

Disaster can certainly strike on Thanksgiving. Don’t be that host with the raw turkey that you thought was “cooking” all day. You’ve probably heard at least some stories about how someone forgot to turn on the oven. Don’t join the group of such hosts and make sure your oven is in working order.

Unless you are on a version of the Santa Clarita diet, make sure the turkey is cooked. The ideal temperature for cooked turkey meat is about 165 degrees F for the breast and 170 degrees F for the thigh. Estimate the cooking time for the bird using a chart, but then, about 30 minutes before you think it will be done, start checking with a thermometer about every 10 minutes.

Don’t rely on your intuition. Use a meat thermometer to check when the meat is done. Supermarket turkeys often come with a small indicator inset into the breast that’s supposed to do the work of a thermometer, but by the time these pop up, the turkey is often already overcooked. The thermometer should be inserted into the thickest part of the breast on one side of the turkey, holding it parallel to the bird’s neck. Don’t let it touch the bone.

Your parents and grandparents probably always stuffed their turkeys. But that’s no longer advisable. The stuffing, which usually involves breadcrumbs or some other porous substance, absorbs the raw turkey juices as the bird begins to cook, and those juices are often contaminated with bacteria. Bake the stuffing separately in a pan or casserole dish.

Don’t let the pan drippings, including any browned bits sticking to the bottom, go to waste. They are the makings of a great gravy, a key addition to every Thanksgiving table. The turkey juices, fat, and browned bits all contribute flavor to the gravy.

You probably want to show off that perfectly roasted turkey with its crispy, golden skin. By all means, do so. But then take the turkey back into the kitchen and carve it there. There is nothing glamorous about the process. Snapping bones out of sockets and really getting into the nooks and crannies with your knife is not a pretty picture. Certainly don’t do it if it’s your first time as many things can go wrong.

Turkeys are generally big birds and they need a long time to thaw. The best way to thaw them is slowly — in the refrigerator. And you’ll need at least a few days — usually a day for every four pounds.

Don’t underestimate how much food you need for the big dinner. If there is one holiday party when your guests shouldn’t go hungry, it’s Thanksgiving. You also probably want to plan to have enough for leftovers, though these can be a source of contention as some guests may expect to take food home.

No hosts like their guests to get drunk and cause a ruckus, but Thanksgiving dinner without wine is like apple pie without apples. One bottle of wine hold about six glasses. Use that to estimate how many 750-ml bottles you may need.

You probably know you should never talk about politics at Thanksgiving dinner. An effective way to avoid getting into trouble with potentially controversial topics — and to avoid getting bored — is to play dinner party games. Everyone will stay busy while eating delicious food — what more do you want from a party?

Hosting a dinner or a party with a lot of people — especially if some of those guests are kids — can be a recipe for disaster. It’s not unheard of for people to bump into each other, spill drinks, and drop glasses or plates. You can easily avoid any serious consequences by using paper plates and plastic cups and silverware. (Just don’t forget to recycle them!)

It’s not impossible to prepare everything in one day, but that day is going to be hell and will start at the crack of dawn. By the time the table is set, the football game is on, and everyone is ready to eat and have fun, you’ll probably be asleep on the kitchen counter. Make at least some of the dishes or sides in advance so you can enjoy Thanksgiving, too.

Ask anyone to tell you what foods they are looking forward to on Thanksgiving day and you’re most likely going to hear the usual suspects — turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, grandma’s pecan pie… Did any of these sound fancy? There is no need to stress over exotic cocktails or appetizers. The classics are more than enough.

The kitchen is usually a war zone when you’re trying to cook a feast. Spills and splashes are inevitable. So do yourself and your guests a favor and clean up as you go in order to avoid as best you can any possible cross contamination and food poisoning. Also, cleaning up while cooking will save you time cleaning up later.

Most guests will happily take home some leftovers, but they are not likely to take an entire casserole dish of mashed potatoes or a whole pie, right? And do you want to be eating Thanksgiving food for a week after the big day? Probably not. Leftovers are safe in the refrigerator for up to four days. The risk of bacteria growing, leading to food poisoning, increases after that.

Health experts are unanimous: The single worst thing you can do on Thanksgiving is to not eat all day so you have room for dinner. Depriving your body of the food it needs will backfire on you, resulting in overeating, blood sugar spikes, lethargy, and ultimately a food hangover.

Just accept that not everything will be piping hot at dinnertime. The Thanksgiving table probably has about a dozen dishes. Unless you have a dozen ovens with racks, you’re going to have to pick and choose which ones to warm up first. While the turkey has to be hot when you serve it, the rolls, for example, don’t have to come fresh out of the oven and onto the table.

Not having enough table settings and silverware is a rookie mistake you can easily avoid. As soon as you know how many people are coming, remember to count your plates, cutlery, and even napkins. It may be a good idea to plan as if a few more people are coming, just in case.

Thanksgiving dinner is a massive feast. Unless you have several people to help cook while using the multiple ovens and stoves in your fully equipped gigantic kitchen, just buy some of the food — or ask friends to bring a dish. There is nothing wrong with getting the desserts, at least, from the local bakery.

While this is unlikely to happen, unforeseen circumstances can occur and ruin your plans. Research which stores around you carry Thanksgiving dinner packages. Many places offer ready-made Thanksgiving meals, including Whole Foods, Cracker Barrel, and local restaurants.