Can you half cook a turkey the day before Thanksgiving?

[kjto1]

Cook the turkey on Wednesday, slice it up, put in a pan/pans (pyrex baking dishes or a roaster) in the fridge, then Thursday pop in the oven to heat.

[alabamagal]

Or you could have the friend bring the turkey.

The turkey is the easiest, and usually the cheapest, part .of the dinner.  It is everything else about the dinner that takes time (if homemade) and money

[Shooby]

There is no rule that says you have to make 1000 side dishes either. I cut back a lot on my dinner because my family really are not big eaters. I make turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, stuffing, a vegetable, and some dinner rolls to warm in the over and pumpkin pie. That's all anyone can eat. Oh, and canned cranberry sauce and I am done. The kids don't even like that but I get it for me, lol.

[NancysSummerSip]

A friend of mine cooks her turkey the day before, roasting it with root vegetables (turnips, rutabagas, yams and whole onions). The vegetables cook faster, of course, so they come out of the pan earlier. She slices and stores the turkey, with as much of the skin on as possible, in her fridge. She also covers the cut-up bird in broth-soaked paper towels, to keep the meat moist. I may try doing that this year. Oh, and her root veggie roast is divine.

[bobosensei]

If you can get home by 4:30 I think you can do a 12 pound turkey at 425 in 2.5 hours meaning you can eat by 7:30.  Just prep the bird entirely before work so that when you get home you preheat the oven and pop it in.  Here is a chart www.epicurious.com/articlesguides/howtocook/primers/turkey_stuffingandroasting that shows cooking time and temps.

Since I also have the challenge of a small, European oven I do a lot of my thanksgiving cooking the day before.  I make cornbread for the dressing, any pies, bake the sweet potatoes for the casserole, and make the cranberry sauce the day before.  Then on thanksgiving day I start by making sweet potato casserole which is quick since the sweet potatoes are already cooked, then I get the turkey and dressing ready.  I can only fit about 12 pounds of turkey in the oven which only has one rack, so I start the turkey and about an hour before it is done I put the dressing on the bottom of the oven to cook.  This produces the best cornbread dressing I've ever made.  We usually only do a salad in addition to everything else, and depend on guests to bring other sides if they want them.  We've found that people tend to have a favorite dish they like made the way it was when they grew up.  For DH it is sweet potato casserole and for me it is cornbread dressing and cranberry sauce.

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

But, can I half-cook a turkey the day before, since I don't work on Wednesdays? And finish it on Thursday after I get home

If you want to potentially kill people, sure.

What you're basically going to do is get the turkey warm enough that bacteria will have time to grow as the turkey cools down in your fridge. Then you'll have to pray that by the time it's done cooking all the bacteria have died.

Not how I'd want to be remembered for Thanksgiving of 2014.

If you want to have it easier do what they suggest on Food Network all the time, instead of buying a whole turkey buy the parts. Then you can tailor things to your preferences and that of your guests.  If you have dark meat fans buy a ton of legs. If you have a lot of white meat fans buy an extra breasts.

It will cut down your cooking time significantly.  

[Deleted]

Thanks everybody for the great ideas! I'll see what happens as it gets closer. Either I'll cook it the day before, or if DH can stay home that day, he'll do it. 

Thanks again!

Bobosensei, good point about the small European ovens lol. I do a root veggie dish too.