Essential cooking and serving techniques to help your Thanksgiving go smoothly and deliciously.
The Food Lab: The Truth About Brining Turkey
Are you thinking about brining your turkey for Thanksgiving this year? You might want to reconsider: Dry-brining delivers juicy meat with more intense flavor.
How to Cook a Spatchcocked Turkey: The Fastest, Easiest Thanksgiving Turkey
Find out why spatchcocking your turkey—that is, cutting out the backbone and flattening it out before roasting—is the fastest, easiest route to a juicy bird.
The Food Lab's Definitive Guide to Buying, Prepping, Cooking, and Carving Your Holiday Turkey
For years we've tested techniques, busted myths, and gotten our hands dirty to bring you real results that actually work. Here's to getting the best out of your Thanksgiving bird, whether it's your first or your fiftieth.
The Food Lab: Roasting Turkey? Throw Out Your Roasting Pan and Reach for Your Baking Stone
The secret to producing a beautifully burnished, deep brown bird with evenly cooked, juicy meat? Harness the power of your baking stone.
The Quick and Dirty Guide to Brining Chicken or Turkey
Nothing but the facts in this quick reference guide to dry-brining or wet-brining your Thanksgiving turkey for moister, juicier results.
The Serious Eats Guide to Carving Turkey
For many folks, the hardest part of cooking a turkey is carving and serving it. Here's the easiest way to carve a turkey, whether you've cooked it whole or spatchcocked it instead.
The Food Lab's Step-by-Step Guide to Smoking a Turkey
The secrets to perfectly smoked turkey are: butterflying, dry-brining, adding baking powder to the dry rub, slow-cooking over indirect heat, and careful monitoring of the turkey's internal temperature. Here's how to do it, step by step.
Step-by-Step: How to Make the Best Pie Crust
Does the idea of making your own pie crust make you quiver in your boots? Never fear, our unique recipe and step-by-step photo guide will lead you to tender, flaky perfection.
How to Blind-Bake a Pie Crust
Our guide to how, when, why to blind bake a crust for single-crusted pies.
The Science of Pie: 7 Pie Crust Myths That Need to Go Away
The world of pie is full of myths. (You can't make good pie dough on a humid day; acid will tenderize the crust; butter will make it tough.) We sort the fact from the fiction.
Step-by-Step: How to Make a Perfect Apple Pie
Step-by-step instructions for perfect applie pie with a bright apple flavor and a tender, buttery crust.
Step-by-Step: How to Make a Foolproof Pumpkin Pie
The secret to extra-smooth pumpkin pie? A little cream cheese in the filling. Here's our step-by-step illustrated guide to doing it just right.
Step-by-Step: How to Make a Pumpkin Cheesecake With a Gingersnap Crust
You want something a little more elaborate for the Thanksgiving table? This pumpkin cheesecake features a gingersnap crust and candied nut topping.
Step-by-Step: How to Make Cranberry Apple Slab Pie
The ideal dessert for a big crowd. Follow our step-by-step instructions for a craberry-apple pie that's large enough to feed over 16 guests.
Step-by-Step: How to Make Pecan Pie
Pecan is the easiest of the classic Thanksgiving pies. Our step-by-step illustrated guide makes it even simpler.
