People start planning for Thanksgiving with good intentions and a long list of recipes, only to have the oven smoke or the timer get ignored. There’s always a dish that burns, a pie that goes wrong, or someone who swears they followed the recipe exactly. An online thread about Thanksgiving kitchen disasters showed just how often things go wrong, and how everyone still laughs about it later.
The story
The person who posted on Reddit said they’ve been lucky so far, haven’t faced any disasters, just a few minor burns and one fall from slipping on gravy that spilled onto the floor. Then they asked everyone else to share their Thanksgiving disasters. People filled the thread with stories about kids ruining tables, dogs stealing turkeys, dishes exploding, and pies that went wrong.
The reactions
This hilarious story came from someone who clearly learned not to hand a child tools: “My nephew was about 4 or 5 years old and was underfoot that year. So I handed him a dull butter knife and told him to play screwdriver. He ducked under the dining room table and stayed there. We began loading the table with the prepared food. The table swayed once, twice, and then collapsed, taking all the food to the floor. Nephew had removed enough screws from the underside of the table that the weight of the food brought it down. We had pizza for Thanksgiving dinner and still laugh about playing screwdriver 30 years later.”
Another story was about a pie that went sideways, literally and emotionally, “Watching my single, broke mom work all day on an apple pie with homemade crust. She was mixing up the pie filling and accidentally dumped cumin in instead of cinnamon. Then she kicked a hole in the wall. My worst blunder was trying to make homemade caramel anglaise, which basically turned into scrambled eggs.”
Here is my foolproof apple pie and Crème Anglaise recipe; many people have had success with it, even under stressful circumstances, such as Thanksgiving.
Then someone tried the one thing everyone says not to: frying a turkey. “So I decided to fry a turkey. I did everything I thought was correct, putting the bird in a pot of water to figure out the displacement. I didn’t factor in the oil expanding when it got hot. Thankfully, I was smart enough to turn off the fire when the bird went in, because I suddenly found myself confronted with a geyser of hot oil. It ruined a pair of shoes, and I spent an hour after dinner scrubbing oil off the patio. Never again.”
Every Thanksgiving, there’s a new viral video of someone setting their backyard on fire with a turkey fryer. Most people don’t think that far ahead. But if you follow the correct method, you can enjoy a delicious fried turkey at home.
Remember to preheat the oil first to 350 degrees. You can use a deep fry oil thermometer to ensure the oil is heated to the right temperature. Put the thawed, brined turkey into the oil slowly, and fry for 3 to 4 minutes per pound. This way, you can safely fry it without splashing oil everywhere.
Then there was this story about a dog who knew exactly what she wanted: “I was in high school, and our dog stole the turkey off the table and ran out of the open sliding doors while we were moving the sides to the table. She took off through the neighborhood. We wanted to be mad, but my mom started laughing and we couldn’t stop, we would just glance at each other and burst into laughter the entire rest of the day!”
I don’t even blame the dog. You leave a roasted turkey unattended near a dog, and this is sure to happen. I’ve had cats grab food right off the counter, but a whole turkey? That is a bold move.
Someone shared a disaster about a spice cake: “My wife made the spice cake from scratch. She has done it so many times before that she did it on autopilot. Turns out the cinnamon was right next to the cayenne pepper. We still tell the story about the SPICE cake. My mom, bless her, tried to make her feel better by saying she liked it.”
And then there is the story from someone hosting for the first time: “First year I ever cooked Thanksgiving. I was probably 24 or 25. Just me, my brother, & his wife that year.
I’d never baked a pie before and had no idea what I was doing. Took me four tries to get the crust right. Then the filling cracked, so I called my grandma for advice. She told me to just cover the crack with Cool Whip.
I thought Grandma was a genius, so I grabbed the whipped cream and tried to make that warm pumpkin pie as pretty as I could. Imagine my surprise when I glanced at the pie 5 minutes later and saw it covered in a cool-whip puddle. I also cut the deviled eggs horizontally instead of vertically, so they rolled all over the plate. Everything TASTED good, though.”
That story might be the most honest one. Everyone’s first Thanksgiving looks like that, too many mistakes to count, but still somehow fun. Try making this pumpkin custard pie the night before, to ensure it turns out perfectly. And never ever place whipped cream on warm baked goods!
This next one could only come from a mom who multitasks too well: “My mom used to stuff the turkey with paper towels to dry the inside before stuffing it. One year, she forgot to take them out and stuffed the stuffing in on top of the paper towels. So dad is slicing the breast down, and out starts coming lime green stuff. She said she couldn’t figure out why the stuffing wouldn’t all fit in. We laughed about that one forever.”
Forgetting the paper towels is such a human mistake. When you do too many things at once, mistakes like this can happen, and that is entirely normal. At least, it gives you a good laugh years later.
How to avoid these disasters
Most of these stories happened because people were rushing or distracted. Thanksgiving is busy, and it’s easy to forget small things, but a few simple steps can help you avoid the worst of it.
- Keep kids and pets out of the kitchen. Once the food is hot, make sure to keep kids and your pets (especially dogs, or you’ll lose your turkey) out of the kitchen.
- If you’re frying a turkey, do it outside. Make sure it’s fully thawed before adding it to the oil, and lower it slowly to avoid splashes.
- Don’t move hot glass dishes to cold counters or sinks. The sudden change in temperature can make them crack or explode.
- Stick to recipes you already know. Thanksgiving isn’t the day to test something new. Try the recipes you’re sure about to avoid such disasters.
- Take your time. Nothing good comes from cooking tired or in a hurry.
The takeaway
Families don’t bond over perfect food; they bond over the stories that come from the chaos. Years later, nobody talks about the turkey that turned out fine. They talk about the one that hit the floor. And if the whole meal really does fall apart, that’s okay. Pizza still counts as dinner.
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