Does anyone make their Thanksgiving turkey the day before?

[maslex]

I have a very small house and will have a total of 6 adults, a 10yr old and three 4 yr olds for dinner. I'd like to get as much done as I can the day before. If you've ever made the turkey ahead of time how do you reheat it in serve it the following day. Would you keep it on warm in a Crock-Pot in turkey broth? Or if you have any other ideas I'd appreciate it

 

[Kitty 34]

One of our sons and family have been coming over for several years the day after Thanksgiving. We always serve Thanksgiving dinner all over again. They always put all the "leftover" food on a plate and microwave it. Some foods we reheat slowly in the oven. I've even made extra side dishes if we didn't have enough. Works for them.

 

[TiggerTrigger]

While I don't think we have, I can offer a suggestion to keep the meat juicy if you go this route.

I intentionally go with an ultra large turkey so that we can have leftovers for a solid week. After Thanksgiving dinner, we fully carve the turkey and put all of the remaining meat in a large storage container and then cover it in all of the leftover giblet gravy. Our gravy is more brothlike, so it really just keeps the meat moist. So, if you make it the night before, I'd just go this angle and separate the meat from the gravy the following day when you're ready to serve.

 

[Disneylover99]

Yes. I’ve been making it the day before for the past several years. It’s way less stressful.

I cook it. Take it out of the oven and it rest a half hour or so, then carve it up. I usually use two Corningware containers, one for dark meat, and one for white. Refrigerate. The next day, I pop them in the oven just to warm a half hour before we eat. It’s usually not dry. If it is, just load it up with gravy.

 

[tvguy]

I know a lot of people make the sides in advance, but turkey, IMHO, has to be made on Thanksgiving. You have to have the smell of roasting turkey all day in the house, and the drama of checking whether it is done. Poking the turkey to see if the juice runs clear or pink.

 

[hardcorestitch]

Nope.

Luckily I will NOT be working on thanksgiving though! I only work 3x a week now.

 

[_19disnA]

My mom used to cook a whole turkey early in the day and then slice it up to put in a baking dish to reheat prior to the meal. Over the years we found the turkey tasted like leftovers the first time it was served. Our family no longer does that and chooses to make a turkey breast instead which doesn't take nearly as long to bake as a whole turkey and frankly has the white meat we all enjoy. Very little of the rest of a whole turkey is edible and usually went in the trash. If preparing for a larger group, you can make 2 turkey breasts instead of one.

For a smaller family, purchase the size of turkey breast that works best for you. Turkey breast will also fit in a much smaller baking dish allowing more space in the oven for the other things that require baking. Preparing the side dishes a day ahead is one way to save time. They are then ready to bake on Thanksgiving. Something like a pumpkin pie can clearly be made a day ahead (or early in the day), since you want it to cool before slicing.

 

[HeatherC]

I always cook a Turkey breast the day before as an extra for leftovers. But it wouldn’t be Thanksgiving without the smell of turkey roasting on the actual day. I do make most of the sides ahead of time and use crockpots to keep hot. (Including the mashed potatoes, stuffing, Mac and cheese, whipped butternut squash, corn and cinnamon apples)

Anything that needs the oven gets reheated while the bird is resting. After so many years we have it down to a science.

 

[barkley]

I always cook a Turkey breast the day before as an extra for leftovers.

I used to do this with a full turkey so it could be precut and packaged to send home with family so they would have leftovers. what I do now to save time is as much prep work ahead of time as possible-

(rough schedule for thanksgiving week)-

Tuesday-precut any veg (celery, onion for the most part)
-premeasure dry items (craisins, pecans)
-boil eggs

Wednesday-pumpkin pie made, all dry ingredients of stuffing combined, all canned items/cheese for green bean casserole drained and put into a mixing bowl that goes in fridge so it just gets put into casserole next day, yams foiled and ready to put in the oven, cranberry sauce into the fridge, turkey pan lined with foil and at the ready.

 

[LuvOrlando]

Is your heart set on not cooking the turkey at all on Thanksgiving? I feel like the turkey itself is the most set it and forget it part of the meal so I don't think I'd precook it unless I was in a super warm climate where the oven wold make the house uncomfortable. What I have done in the past is get the turkey completely ready the day before, getting it out of the package is such a pain with all the goo, then patting down with the sage butter and putting it in under the skin first then I wrap it back up and put back in the fridge to wait for the next day to pop in the oven.

I do know someone who loves to use one of those electric roasters that run around $50 at Walmart so her oven is free for all the other stuff but I imagine one of these could be a reheat warmer too

 

[PrincessShmoo]

I have a very small house and will have a total of 6 adults, a 10yr old and three 4 yr olds for dinner. I'd like to get as much done as I can the day before. If you've ever made the turkey ahead of time how do you reheat it in serve it the following day. Would you keep it on warm in a Crock-Pot in turkey broth? Or if you have any other ideas I'd appreciate it

Turkey prep the day before/reheating

Step 1. Roast the turkey.

Step 2. When done, cover it loosely with foil and let it rest for 30-45 minutes. This allows the juices to settle into the meat before it is cut. If you cut it too soon the juices will run out, resulting in a dry turkey.

Step 3. Carve the turkey.

• Cut the turkey breast in 3/4" thick slices. If you slice it too thinly, the turkey won't hold in the juices as well and remain as moist.

Step 4. Place the sliced turkey in a baking pan that will fit in your refrigerator. Keep the sliced pieces pressed together.

Step 5. Cover the sliced turkey with plastic wrap, pressing it down to close any air pockets. This also helps retain moisture in the turkey.

Step 6. Cover the pan with a lid or piece of aluminum foil and refrigerate.



Here's how to reheat and serve the turkey.

Step 7. Remove turkey from fridge and rest on counter for 30-45 minutes to allow it to return to room temperature

Step 8. Remove the plastic wrap and spread out the turkey slices in an even layer. For quick, even heating, it's best to spread the slices in a single layer, overlapping them slightly--don't stack them if you can avoid it.

Step 9. Drizzle chicken or turkey broth evenly over all of the sliced meat. You can use canned broth or make your own. Cover pan tightly with aluminum foil.



Step 10. Reheat the turkey without overcooking it.

If you've taken care to roast your turkey properly so that it has remained moist, you don't want to undo that by overcooking it and drying it out during the reheating process. There are two methods; choose the one that works best for you. With both methods, the turkey should be in an even shallow layer in a baking pan. If it's piled too high, the outside layers will overcook before the center layers are hot.

• FLASH REHEATING at a high temperature is a method often used by restaurants chefs. The concept is simple. Put room temperature food in shallow, covered pans, and put it in a 450 degree oven for approx. 7-15 minutes. It heats the food fast (in a FLASH) without cooking it further. This is the method I recommend if you don't need the oven set to a lower temperature for cooking other dishes at the same time.
• STANDARD REHEATING in a 350 degree oven is another option that normally will take 25-30 minutes for room temperature turkey to be heated through. This method is the best option if you have other dishes that need to cook in the oven at the same time at that temperature.

Either way, the important thing is to remove the turkey from the oven as soon as it's heated through completely without letting it overcook. Ovens and cooking times can vary, so I recommend checking on it about half way into the reheating process to help you gauge when to remove it from the oven.

Step 11. Transfer the hot turkey to a serving platter. I like to use a fish spatula for this--it's nice and long, so I can neatly transfer a whole row of turkey slices at once.

Step 12. Drizzle 2-3 tablespoons of hot broth over the turkey just before serving. There should be some hot broth in the bottom of the reheating pan that can be used for this.

 

[Southernmiss]

I cook our turkey in an electric roaster the day of to keep the stove and oven open for the sides. Or I have also cooked it overnight (using Internet instructions) and it works great. Done by morning, keep it warm and dh can carve it early to clear the mess in the kitchen.