Today, a special Thanksgiving episode of The Daily.

Have you come across Turkey in your research?

About the high stakes quest to cook the perfect turkey.

Two foodwriters at the time, Kim Severson, cooking a turkey can be one of the most pain-in-the-ass

exercises in the American kitchen, and Jay Kenji Lopez-Alt.

So the mayo, you know, that one is all about getting the skin sort of flavorful and dark-brown

and sort of extra crispy.

On the hard-fought lessons that they've learned, it's Wednesday, November 23rd.

First, Kim Severson.

So why is Turkey such a vexing culinary challenge?

Okay, first of all, it is a giant bird.

Most people don't even know how to roast a chicken, and this is like five times the size

of a chicken.

Second of all, you only do it once a year.

So even if you made a killer turkey last year, you've probably forgotten what you did

and you have to start from scratch.

The other issue is that Turkey is notorious for needing the white meat to be cooked at

a different temperature than the dark meat, but it's all one bird and it can take hours.

So inevitably, you either have that kind of a gross, chickeny, raw thigh, or you have

breast meat that essentially turns to sawdust when you try to cut it.

And you have to imagine that screwing up the turkey gives all of your in-laws and all

of your friends who don't like you a great opportunity to come down on you.

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