Thanksgiving is one of the most popular holidays when thousands of Americans gather their family for a turkey dinner. If you’re in charge of hosting and preparing the big meal this year, you’ll want to ensure that your turkey dinner is as memorable as it is tasty.
But if you’re stressed about hosting Thanksgiving, here are 10 gadgets and appliances that make it easy to create a delicious Thanksgiving meal for your family.
1. Get Mixing With a Premium, Large Tilt-Head Mixer
Mixing is a lot easier with the right appliance. So if you’re looking for a quiet and convenient gadget to mix pie dough or make creamy mashed potatoes, consider the KitchenAid Artisan Series 5 Quart Tilt Head Stand Mixer.
This mixer is sturdy and features 59 touch points around the mixer bowl to maximize mixing results.
Other great features include:
- 5-quart capacity for small or large batches
- Tilt-head design, so it’s simple to add ingredients or attach an accessory
- 10 different speeds for virtually any task from mixing to whipping
- More than 10 attachments to help you make a variety of different foods
The mixer also comes with a coated flat beater, a dough hook, and a six-wire whip.
2. If You’re Short on Space, Use This Alternative Stove Solution
Many families struggle with kitchen space when Thanksgiving rolls around. With so many dishes that need to be cooked at virtually the same time, there’s often not enough burners or oven capacity to deal with the all the facets of the turkey dinner.
So if you find yourself wishing for a larger kitchen this Thanksgiving, why not use your backyard to cook your turkey dinner? That’s where the 16-in. Outdoor Patio Stove from Bayou Classic comes in. While this is technically a camping stove that hooks up to a gas canister, you can safely use it to fry a turkey to crisp perfection, freeing up your oven for other dishes in the process.
But if you don’t want to use it to make your turkey, you can also make sides on this patio stove as it can accommodate a stockpot of up to 12-in. diameter (or 30-quart capacity).
Another plus is that the 6-in. cast-iron burner is rated at 41,000 BTU (thermal energy) so it has plenty of power to cook whatever you need perfectly.
3. Get Accurate Temperature Readings From This Rotating Thermometer
The impatient wait for that turkey dinner can be a little easier to navigate with the right thermometer. The reliable and accurate ThermoPop 2 temperature gauge from ThermoWorks is aimed at professionals and serious chefs, but it’s sure to be handy on Thanksgiving.
This device features:
- A backlight for dark conditions and big digits to make it easy to read
- Splash-proof seals and buttons
- Solid construction for longevity
- Fast readings in just 2 to 3 seconds
- A rotating display so you can use it in your right or left hand
- A guaranteed accuracy to +/- 1 degree F
You’ll get up to 5,000 hours of performance from the included lithium battery, and the device has a temperature range between -58 and 572 degrees F. It’s light enough to carry it in your pocket so you won’t forget where it is when you need that all-important reading.
4. Get Pinpoint Accuracy With This 3-in-1 Timer
The best recipes require accurate timing, so you need a device that won’t let you down while you have so much on your mind elsewhere. After all, when you’re preparing such a complex meal at Thanksgiving, you’re bound to have multiple dishes cooking at once and you’ll need separate timers to keep track of them all.
Fortunately the TimeStick Trio from ThermoWorks is a very easy-to-use triple timer with three individual displays and their own set, start, and stop buttons.
With just one hand, you can set the times on the sealed and rubberized numeric keypad, and you can pause or continue individual timers at any time.
With this timer, you can:
- Work in dark conditions with a bright backlight
- Hang the device around your neck (with the enclosed lanyard), mount it onto a magnetic surface, or slip it into a pocket
- Avoid any damage with the splash-proof, protective seals
- Lock the keypad to prevent accidental disruption during a timer’s operation
5. Measure Your Turkey Dinner Ingredients Accurately
You’ll need an accurate kitchen scale if you’d rather be precise than “wing it” with measurements. So it may be worth looking into a scale like the Oxo Good Grips 11 lb. Stainless Steel Food Scale With Pull Out Display. This kitchen scale doesn’t take up too much valuable counter space but it’s also very easy to use.
Unlike most kitchen scales, this one’s display is mounted on a tray that pulls out. This way the bowl or vessel on the scale isn’t covering up the all important weight reading.
This device also features unit conversion buttons to measure in oz. or gr. and it also has an accuracy of 0.1 oz. for greater control.
6. Tackle Various Prep Tasks With a Versatile Food Processor
Preparing a turkey dinner often involves multiple stages of food preparation. For example, you’ve got to chop the ingredients for your stuffing or make breadcrumbs for mac and cheese. Here, you can make life a lot easier with a specialty device like the Ninja Professional XL Food Processor.
This gadget allows you to chop, shred, slice, or mix ingredients and is complete with a 12-cup precision processor bowl for extra large capacity work.
This appliance also has:
- A 1200 peak watt motor to make light work of even the toughest task
- An adjustable sliding disc so you can adjust the thickness from thick to paper-thin
- A feed chute with a 3-part pusher that can accommodate any size of ingredient
- 4 separate programs, including pulsing and pausing patterns, which help to eliminate guesswork
- A reversible shredding disc
The bowl, lid, and accessories are dishwasher-safe and easy to clean. Plus, you also get a guidebook with 10 recipes.
7. Try Sous Vide for a Different Style of Cooking Altogether
For a truly different approach to the big turkey dinner this year, consider sous vide. Sous vide is a cooking technique where you seal food and immerse it in hot water that cooks the food without the risk of overcooking.
Typically, people use a big pot or a special plastic tub along with the sous vide device (that resembles an immersion blender without the blade) that attaches to the side that heats the water and tracks the temperature.
One option is the popular Anova Precision Cooker 3.0. This sous vide device works with any size pot, which means you can cook a whole turkey, or just a turkey thigh and leg if you’re hosting fewer people.
This cooker delivers 1100 W of power and can be connected to your smartphone using dual-band Wi-Fi. It also has a two-line touchscreen display to see the temperature and time settings quickly. It can measure temperatures between 32 and 197 degrees F with an accuracy of 0.2 degrees F.
Another plus is that you can monitor your meals remotely from your device if you head into the living room for a break and check recipes from the app simultaneously.
To use this device:
- Attach it to any pot
- Add the food in a sealed bag
- Cook with the direct controls or via the app
- A last optional step is to sear or brown
The device has a two-year warranty and a 100-day money-back guarantee.
8. Create Perfect Textures With This Handy Immersion Blender
If you’ve found a great recipe for butternut squash soup or want to whip up some cream to go with dessert, try the Vitamix Immersion Blender. It allows you to create ideal textures from various ingredients, such as frozen fruit or greens, and you’ll be able to blend in whatever container you have.
This gadget features:
- A powerful motor (625 W) for even the toughest ingredients
- 1-handed operation, so it doesn’t matter if you’re right or left-handed
- 5 speeds and a 4-pronged blade for perfect and precise textures
- A “bell guard” that helps to reduce suction and improve flow while also protecting containers, pots, or pans from scratches
You’ll also get a 5-ft. cord if you struggle to find an available outlet nearby.
9. Carve Your Turkey Dinner With Precision Using This Electric Knife Set
When cooking ends and it’s time to feed everyone, you have to focus on carving. Consider the Electric Knife Set With Cool-Touch Ergonomic Handle and Storage Case from Hamilton Beach for the job. It’s perfect for carving the meat for your turkey dinner guests, slicing evenly and quickly every time with its reciprocating stainless-steel blades.
This gadget is:
- Easy to hold with an ergonomic handle that is cool to the touch
- Compact and easy to store within its own case
- Complete with a 6-in. carving fork and 8-in. carving blades
- Fitted with a simple-to-use trigger control
10. Prepare Some Coffee To Go With Dessert
When it’s time for dessert, your guests will appreciate a good coffee. The Cold Brew Coffee Maker from Oxo Good Grips makes the cold brew process simple and gives you a smooth, low-acid coffee concentrate. All you need to do is to add the water and the grounds and then steep it overnight.
The device distributes water evenly over the grounds, and the glass carafe has markings to make portioning as easy as possible. You can store this coffee maker in the fridge, and it comes apart easily for cleaning and storage when not in use.
Then when you’re ready, dilute the concentrate with hot or cold water, ice, or milk, and you’re ready to go. You can also brew tea with this coffee maker if you need to.
Get Your Kitchen Ready for Your Annual Turkey Dinner With the Best Appliances & Gadgets
A lot of work is involved in preparing the best Thanksgiving for your guests. However, if you have the right equipment, appliances, and gadgets, you can make the big day as stress-free as possible.
So when you’re feeling the strain of Thanksgiving, know that there’s a whole kitchen’s worth of handy tools and gadgets to help you perfect this year’s turkey dinner.
