Gathering around the holiday table with friends and family is supposed to be a time for enjoyment. In practice, that’s not always the case, though — real-world Thanksgiving dinners can be stressful. If you’re the host, any number of food-related disasters can beset the bird and its side dishes. We can’t do anything about that one…
My Turkey Came Out Dry
If your turkey is dry, it usually means the bird has been overcooked. Turkey must reach an internal temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit, tested with a thermometer, to be food-safe. Beyond that temperature, though, breast meat dries out quickly.
Your only fix is to moisten the meat. Gravy is your friend, and a slightly thin one works better than a thick one. If you have extra turkey broth or chicken broth on hand, you can use it to stretch the gravy you’ve already made. Alternatively, you can heat the broth, drizzle it right over the turkey meat, and let it stand for 10 to 15 minutes.
A few simple rules will help avoid a dry turkey in the future:
1. Don’t rely on a pop-up thermometer that came in the bird. They’re usually inaccurate, so use an instant-read or meat thermometer instead.
2. Don’t cook your stuffing in the cavity of the turkey. It needs to reach 165 degrees Fahrenheit to be food-safe, and by the time it gets there, your bird will be overcooked. There are ways to stuff the turkey safely, but it’s easier to make your stuffing in a separate dish.
3. Consider alternative methods. Separating the top half, or crown, from the bottom half of the turkey means you can roast them separately. (Don’t worry, you can still stack them back together if you like to carve at the table.) As a chef, I’m a big fan of spatchcocking, or butterflying, my bird. When flattened, the turkey cooks more quickly, stays juicy, and the skin becomes beautifully crisp.
4. Brine your turkey. Brining helps the meat stay moist, even if it spends too long in the oven.
My Mashed Potatoes Are Watery
Mashed potatoes may come out watery if you’ve cooked them for too long, or left the spuds in the water too long before draining. Russets are especially prone to this problem. Here are a few easy fixes for runny mashed potatoes:
1. Leave the pot of mashed potatoes on a low burner, stirring frequently to evaporate excess moisture. This works best when the potatoes are only a bit watery; otherwise, it takes too long.
2. Cook another potato and mash it into the watery ones. The fastest way to do this is in the microwave, where it can cook in 3 to 6 minutes (way quicker than boiling more water).
3. Add some instant mashed potato flakes. It’s a good idea to keep a box of these on hand over the holidays anyway, in case you need extra mashed potatoes in a hurry. If you stir a half-cup or so into your watery potatoes and let them sit for a few minutes, they’ll stiffen right up.
The same fixes also work if you’ve been overenthusiastic about adding milk or cream to your spuds. On the other hand, if you find that your potatoes are now dry or too stiff, you can carefully add a splash or two of warm milk, cream, or melted butter to moisten and enrich them.
My Mashed Potatoes Are Gummy
Potatoes get gummy when you mash them too enthusiastically — especially if you use a stand mixer or food processor to do the work. This happens because too many of the potatoes’ starch cells get broken up, releasing that gummy starch into your mash.
There are a few remedies you can try:
1. Stir melted butter into the gummy potatoes. It lubricates the starch molecules and helps keep them from glomming together in a sticky mouthful.
2. If you have time, mix the failed mashed potatoes with a creamier batch. Cook more potatoes, and mash them (gently!) with some hot milk or cream and melted butter. Then fold in the gummy potatoes, a scoop or two at a time, until there’s enough for your guests or the gumminess starts to become detectable again. Combining this with the first tip and adding more butter also helps.
3. Use instant mashed potatoes in the same way, especially if you don’t have enough time or extra spuds to cook more from scratch.
4. Turn the gummy potatoes into a casserole. Stir in extra butter (and optionally, cheese) and top them with breadcrumbs for a textural contrast that will mask the potatoes’ gumminess. Give the dish 10 to 15 minutes in a hot oven to brown up before serving.
Of course, if you have enough potatoes and can manage the time, your best alternative is to make a whole new batch. You can use the gummy potatoes for a different meal (potato soup, perhaps).
My Gravy Is Lumpy
Gravy enhances many dishes in a holiday meal, so it’s frustrating when it doesn’t come out as well as you’d like. Lumps are a minor irritation and easy to fix, but ideally, something you’d like to avoid.
Once the gravy is made, there are two relatively quick fixes:
1. Pour the gravy through a wire mesh strainer to catch the lumps.
2. Blitz the gravy with an immersion blender to break up the lumps.
As for why it happens, that depends on how you make your gravy. If you first make a roux with flour and either butter or fat from the turkey, you’ve probably stirred in the broth too quickly. Take it slowly, and whisk often as you pour. It also helps if you set aside some cold broth and use that first, only adding hot broth once the roux is well hydrated.
If you make your gravy by stirring cornstarch or flour into cold water to form a slurry, lumps usually come from pouring too quickly and not whisking enough. You may also get lumps in your slurry if you haven’t whisked the ingredients thoroughly, and those survive in the finished gravy.
My Stuffing Is Soggy
Most forms of stuffing call for a dry, starchy ingredient (usually bread, sometimes cornbread) mixed with aromatic flavorings and some broth. If your stuffing comes out soggy, it typically means you used too much broth or didn’t uncover the pan soon enough so it could crisp and lose moisture to evaporation.
This situation is a tough one to fix. If you happen to have a box of instant stuffing in your pantry, you can stir the dried bread from that into your soggy stuffing. Then, microwave it, or return it to the oven if time permits, and the dried bread should absorb enough moisture to fix the stuffing. You could also heat it in the microwave or regular oven, stirring frequently, to allow excess moisture to evaporate. Instant mashed potato flakes can help here, too. They will change the consistency and flavor of your stuffing, but only slightly.
The Skin on My Turkey Is Flabby and Pale
You’ll find that this is a common problem if you use a lower-temperature cooking method or a breast-down placement at the beginning of the cooking time. Basting can also be the culprit if the juices you’re basting with have too much liquid and not enough fat.
If you notice this problem developing before the turkey is cooked through, place a wire cooling rack on a sheet pan (line it first with parchment or foil to catch the drips). Then, transfer the bird from its roasting pan to the sheet pan, and crank your oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit. Ten to 20 minutes at this temperature will usually salvage the turkey, resulting in a crisp, golden skin. A few minutes under the broiler will also work, but you’ll need to wrestle the bird onto its sides for even browning and run the risk of some parts of the skin burning.
My Pie Crust Is Soggy
This usually happens if you haven’t started your pie at high heat, so the crust can set and begin to firm up immediately. Another common cause is pouring a still-warm custard filling into the shell without cooling it first.
This one’s tough because once the pie is baked, there’s little you can do to remedy it without spoiling its appearance. On the upside, if you delegate others to clear the table and serve coffee, you’ll have time to mount a rescue operation. A few options include:
1. If you have store-bought pie shells or individual tart shells on hand, transfer the filling of your pie into them. Smooth the top as best you can, and then pipe rosettes of whipped cream or meringue over the top to conceal its messy surface.
2. Bake a hasty batch of graham-crumb crust on a sheet pan while you serve the main course. When it’s set, after 10 to 15 minutes, break it into pieces. Layer the baked crust, the filling from the ill-fated pie, and whipped cream or instant pudding to make a parfait-style, “deconstructed” dessert.
3. Spread the pie filling between cookies to make Thanksgiving sandwiches — dessert-style, that is. Gingersnaps go well with pumpkin or pecan pie, but shortbread or sugar cookies also work.
It’s never a bad idea to have a Plan B in the back of your mind, just in case something goes wrong with a key part of the meal. Stocking up on extra broth, instant mashed potatoes, prebaked pie shells, and — in a worst-case scenario — store-bought desserts, can give you peace of mind.
