How to Equip Your Kitchen for Thanksgiving

First, the centerpiece of the meal is the turkey. So why not roast it in the best pan for the best results? In our testing, we found you don’t have to spend a ton of money. Our favorite is the Calphalon Contemporary Stainless Steel Roasting Pan and Rack. It's stainless steel and 16 by 13 inches, which we found to be plenty of space; it can hold up to a 20-plus-pound bird. It’s sturdy, with big handles that make it easy to hold even when it’s full of a turkey and hot drippings. It comes with its own U-shaped rack to elevate the turkey off the bottom of the pan to get perfect crispy skin all over. We’ve used this pan in the test kitchen for years and we love it for roasting all kinds of foods, all year round.

Making sure the turkey isn’t overcooked and dry is really important. We like the Thermapen Mk4 by ThermoWorks. It's like the Classic Thermapen but better, with an auto-rotating display and light-up face.

A good fat separator is a great tool to have when you’re making gravy. The Cuisipro Fat Separator is our favorite. It aced every test we put it through, remained leakproof no matter how many times we opened and closed it, and its detachable canister made it easy to clean by hand.

A bench scraper is a baker’s tool that we use all the time, even when we’re not baking. It’s perfect for dividing dough, and scraping it up from the floured board. And when chopping a ton of vegetables, it's terrific for moving them all at once to the pan or bowl. Our favorite is the Dexter-Russell Scraper and Chopper.

When you’ve got all those potatoes and carrots and squash to peel for your Thanksgiving dinner, you want the right vegetable peeler or it’ll feel like you’re never going to get to the end of it. Our favorite (and a real bargain) is the Kuhn Rikon Original Swiss Peeler. This is a Y-shaped peeler that has a fantastically sharp, efficient blade made of carbon steel—like fancy chef’s knives.

A potato ricer, an old-fashioned gadget, makes the best mashed potatoes you’ll ever have. You squeeze the handles, which is easy. And the potatoes are mashed and pressed out a perforated plate, with no lumps or uneven textures. And they’re not overworked into glue—they're just right. Our favorite potato ricer is by RSVP International.

For holiday baking, proper measuring is important for good results. Our favorite measuring spoons are by Cuisipro. They’re oval so they fit in narrow containers, like spice jars. They’re easy to level off, because the bowls and handles are level and flat. And a set has every size from 1/8 teaspoon to a tablespoon.

For side dishes, casseroles and stuffing, the HIC Porcelain 13 by 9 inch Baking Dish is our favorite. This big white ceramic dish with handles on each end works hard and also looks great when you serve from it right on the table. It’s also broiler safe, so you can get crispy browned toppings on your casseroles.

When you bake your pies, you’ll get great results with our favorite (and inexpensive) pie plate by Pyrex. It's made from tempered glass, so it’s easy to monitor browning.

Our favorite pie server by OXO won our testing by cutting neatly into every conceivable type of pie and serving it up perfectly, with a comfortable offset handle, and a sharp wide blade that sliced without crushing and delivered a perfect piece of pie to finish your feast.

*Prices are subject to change

The featured video was shot before our most recent tests for fat separators and instant-read thermometers, so it does not reflect our new favorites in those categories.