Share your Thanksgiving cooking disasters here

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:An 18-pound turkey is supposed to cook 4-4 1/2 hours at 325. I doubt that an extra half hour rendered it inedible.

You are cooking your turkey WAY too long. 3 hours tops if you want a moist bird.

[Anonymous]

Pretty much every cooking website disagrees w you.

[Anonymous]

Including Epicurious, Bon Appetit, and BH&G.

[Anonymous]

13-15 minutes per pound, w some variability depending on 325 or 350 degrees. So 18 pounds would be 4 1/2 hours or so.

[Anonymous]

I was slicing a half glazed ham on a board when the doorbell rang. I put down the knife to answer the door, leaving the carving fork in the meat. Five minutes later, I come back to the kitchen and...NO HAM. Perplexed, I see the fork on the floor. Slinking slowly away with what looked like pink earmuffs from the back was our poodle. Big Hunter thought he scored an easy kill.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:13-15 minutes per pound, w some variability depending on 325 or 350 degrees. So 18 pounds would be 4 1/2 hours or so.

I’ve always read 20 min per pound

[Anonymous]

It should have been but wasn’t. Bought a 30 lb Turkey instead of the 20lber I usually get (order online and then pick up - must have clicked the wrong size). It didn’t fit in my roasting pan - looked like it was lounging in a bath tub. I didn’t think there was anyway I’d get it cooked through without drying it out or it would be tough because of its size. Other than taking a little over five hours to cook it was surprisingly moist and flavorful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:13-15 minutes per pound, w some variability depending on 325 or 350 degrees. So 18 pounds would be 4 1/2 hours or so.

I’ve always read 20 min per pound

OMg. For goodness’ sake, please go buy a meat thermometer both of you! No wonder there is a thread about how the Thanksgiving meal isn’t worth it. Serving shoe leather, it wouldn’t be.

[Anonymous]

One year I stopped up the sink drain with sweet potato peelings. DH was not happy to have to fix the sink in the middle of cooking. Trash can peeling only now.

[Anonymous]

Our only disappointment was that the rolls did not rise, at all. Left them in a warm kitchen for hours and they just sat there like little golf balls. Guess I should have tested the yeast first. But nobody really cared than much about skipping the rolls, so I wouldn't call it a disaster.

[Anonymous]

In making a Cajun flavored turkey we injected it with liquid garlic and DD wanted to help. Well, it exploded, all over her head. DH and I cleaned up the kitchen while my sister took DD for a bath and washed her hair. Tasted great though!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Relative used the same cutting board for raw meat as appetizer veggie tray. Half the house got diarrhea.

You win so far

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Mine was a clean-up fiasco. Several years ago, my mother was trying to help by putting away cleaned dishes. She accidentally put a full bowl of mashed potatoes into our china cabinet, which we rarely open, in the dining room, where we rarely go. I entered the room about a month later due to a faint odor, which grew stronger as I approached the cabinet. I swore a mouse had died inside. No, instead, I flung open the cabinet and encountered a vile stench. I opened the bowl and it was crawling with a deep green, shimmering mold.

This is hilarious. Surely not in the moment, but laughing about this one wouldn’t get old

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:13-15 minutes per pound, w some variability dependin on 325 or 350 degrees. So 18 pounds would be 4 1/2 hours or so.

I’ve always read 20 min per pound

Stuffed or unstuffed? Unstuffed is 3.5-4 hours for 18lbs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:13-15 minutes per pound, w some variability dependin on 325 or 350 degrees. So 18 pounds would be 4 1/2 hours or so.

I’ve always read 20 min per pound

Stuffed or unstuffed? Unstuffed is 3.5-4 hours for 18lbs.

Is that assuming you also don’t have as many casserole dishes as possible also stuffed in the oven?