Surprising Facts About 6 Favorite Thanksgiving Foods

Some parts might cook faster than others. Those pop-up timers aren’t always reliable because they measure the temperature in only one spot. Plus they aren’t accurate, according to our tests. No bird should be served until all parts have been cooked to a safe 165° F. Use an instant-read thermometer in the inner thigh, wing, and thickest part of the breast.

They aren’t just for Thanksgiving. Simmer them in a sauce with tarragon or thyme to top pork chops or duck. Cook them down until they’re jamlike, blend with whole-grain mustard, and use it as spread on sandwiches.

They freeze beautifully. Stock up while they’re in the market and put them, right in their bags, in the freezer. Rinse before using, but no need to thaw.

You can cut the sugar. Cranberries are tart, so they do need some sweetening. But many recipes call for 1 cup of sugar per 12-ounce bag of cranberries. You can cut that in half and still have a tasty sauce. If you like it a little sweeter, try adding chopped apples or oranges to your sauce.

Pumpkin and pumpkin-pie mix aren’t exactly the same thing. The latter contains spices but also a hefty dose of added sugars. A half-cup of canned pumpkin has 69 calories and 4 grams of sugars, which are naturally present in pumpkin. The mix has 120 calories and 24 grams of added sugars in the same half-cup—about 6 teaspoons. And that’s before it even gets into the pie.

It’s a good source of fiber—with 3.5 grams, a half-cup of pumpkin supplies about 13 percent of your daily needs.

Plenty of pumpkin products don’t contain pumpkin. The pumpkin spice craze has been hot for a few years now, but check the ingredients list on the cookies, cereals, and the like crowding supermarket shelves and you won’t find pumpkin on a majority of them. Usually these products have the classic pumpkin-pie spice flavor—a combination of allspice, cinnamon, ginger, mace, and nutmeg.

Yams is a misnomer. We may call them yams, but the orange Thanksgiving favorites are sweet potatoes. True yams are white, starchy vegetables that grow in the Caribbean. 

They’re packed with beta carotene, an antioxidant that helps fight inflammation and may protect against some types of cancers. And the amount of beta carotene in a medium sweet potato also supplies 165 percent of the vitamin A you need per day. Plus, you get potassium, fiber, and vitamin C.

Storing them in the fridge wrecks the flavor. Refrigerated raw sweet potatoes will develop an off-flavor and turn hard. Instead, store them in a cool, dry place, like your basement. With proper storage, they’ll keep for about two weeks.

Yukon Golds make a better mash. They’re more nutritious than white potatoes because their color comes from carotenoids, the same health-promoting antioxidants in sweet potatoes and carrots. Plus they have a buttery flavor, so you don’t have to add as much cream or butter.

They’re packed with potassium. This mineral helps keep blood pressure low. One small potato supplies more than one large banana.

You want to start cooking them in cold water. If you wait until the water is boiling to add potatoes to the pot, they’ll cook unevenly. 

They’re super nutritious. They’re loaded with antioxidants, including vitamins A, C, K, and folate. Plus they pack in fiber, potassium, and iron for only 30 calories per cup.

Different cooking methods yield different flavors. Roasting brings out the sprouts’ nutty notes; to punch it up even more, dress them with hazelnut or walnut oil. Steamed sprouts taste more like delicate cabbages—just be sure not to overcook. If you’re steaming them whole, start checking for doneness after about 4 minutes. Before cooking by any method, trim the bottom of the stem end and use a small sharp knife to cut an X into the base so that they’ll cook faster and more evenly.

Smaller sprouts are sweeter. The larger ones have more of a strong cabbagey flavor. When shopping for sprouts, look for tightly closed heads with a bright-green color, and no yellowing or browning.