10 essential tools for cooking a Thanksgiving feast

Preparing a perfect Thanksgiving meal takes effort, but it doesn’t need to be exhausting. Save yourself some time — and dishwashing — with KSL Classifieds list of favorite cooking utensils. It will make your day of cooking that much easier.

1. Roasting pan

Do you need a roasting pan to cook a turkey? While it’s not required, the proper pan makes cooking your main course simple and gives you more consistent results. A roasting dish, usually made of stainless steel or cast iron, typically consists of a deep pan and a removable rack. The rack keeps the turkey off the bottom of the pan, allowing air to circulate so the bird can cook evenly. Line the bottom of the pan with vegetables, where meat drippings will flavor them.

2. Chef’s knife

Whether you’re chopping potatoes, slicing tomatoes or cutting the turkey, a chef’s knife is an all-purpose essential for preparing your feast. The kitchen knife can be used for virtually any ingredient. Quickly rinse or wash it between cutting ingredients, and you’ll only have one knife to clean at the end of the day.

3. Danish whisk

A combo of a wooden spoon, pastry blender and whisk, a Danish whisk is ideal for blending batter, combining bread dough and stirring thick sauces. Use it for making the dinner rolls, then your pumpkin pie filling. It’s open, stiff loops cut right through mixtures while simultaneously blending them.

4. Dough scraper

The dough scraper may seem an unnecessary extra, but wait until you try it. You’ll feel like Edward Scissorhands, but without all the accidental cutting. Use it to quickly scoop up chopped vegetables, deftly divide dough and easily lift pie crusts. A flexible version also allows you to scrape out the inside of a mixing bowl in one smooth swoop. You can even use it to chip off bits of stuck-on food on your countertop.

5. Adjustable measuring spoon

Making a Thanksgiving meal requires many ingredients and a lot of measuring. Instead of rifling through your drawer looking for different sizes, use an adjustable measuring spoon. With just one spoon, you can measure ½ teaspoon of pepper, 1¾ teaspoons of salt and 1 tablespoon of poultry seasoning.

6. Liquid measuring cup

Another time saver, use a 4-cup liquid measuring cup. You can quickly measure all your wet ingredients, from cream to oil to eggs, and only get one dish dirty. And when you make turkey soup the next day, use it to easily fill your pot one quart at a time. Choose a cup with both imperial and metric measurements, so you can accurately prepare the European recipe you found online.

7. Bamboo spatula

Gently saute onions for your stuffing with a bamboo spatula. It’s both odor and stain resistant, so you won’t taste those same onions the next week when you’re caramelizing bananas. Similar to plastic, bamboo cookware won’t damage non-stick cookware. It’s also temperature resistant, so it won’t melt when your “helper” lets it touch the bottom of the pan too long. Bamboo is 100% biodegradable, so you’re being kind to the earth, too. Plus, it’s pretty.

8. Marble rolling pin

There are plenty of tricks for rolling out pie crust: put it between sheets of parchment, stick it in a plastic bag, wrap the roller in an old tube sock. You don’t need any tricks when you use a marble rolling pin; the cold, heavy marble gently rolls the pastry with little effort. If you anticipate sticky dough, put the rolling pin in the refrigerator to chill even more, then use the lightest dusting of flour.

9. Parchment paper

The biggest problem with cooking a huge meal: dishes. Loads and loads of dishes. Cut down on your cleanup time with parchment paper. Use it for all your baked goods; it can be cut to line any size pan. Baked sweet potatoes can leak all they want, you can just throw the paper away and put your pan back in the cupboard. Each piece should be good for several bakes, so you can make multiple batches of cookies with one piece.

10. Mixer

For the absolute creamiest and fluffiest mashed potatoes, put away your regular masher. Instead, use your trusty KitchenAid or a hand mixer to mash and whip those potatoes into ethereal clouds of starchy goodness. And that butter, cream, salt and pepper? Perfectly blended.

Need to fit a crowd around your food-laden Thanksgiving table? Find ideas, from setting the table to table decor, on the KSL Classifieds Resource page.