Home Food The Most Common ‘Thanksgiving Fails’ Americans Make Every Year On Turkey Day

The Most Common ‘Thanksgiving Fails’ Americans Make Every Year On Turkey Day

If you’re hosting Thanksgiving dinner this year, you can expect six things to go wildly wrong, according to new research.

A new survey of 2,000 Americans found that from cooking and preparing to serving their Thanksgiving Day meal, the average American says half a dozen things don’t go exactly as planned.

The odds say that the turkey – the centerpiece of the celebration – will be one of those screw-ups, as more than half (56 percent) of those surveyed say that cooking the turkey correctly is one of the hardest parts about hosting Thanksgiving dinner.

The survey, conducted by OnePoll on behalf of Omaha Steaks, revealed the most common ‘Thanksgiving Fails’ Americans face year in and year out.

While frequent mishaps range from spilling a dish to running out of wine, juggling the timing of the day was the biggest battle: Not getting any of the cooking done before dinner time was the most common fail, followed by having to wait on a dish or two still cooking before finally diving in.

“You’ll never have another Thanksgiving Fail with a complete Thanksgiving meal from America’s Original Butcher, Omaha Steaks,” said Todd Simon, Senior Vice President and Family Owner. “Timing is never an issue either, as we provide you with the ability to create your own custom Thanksgiving dinner by choosing from a selection of main dishes, sides and desserts that were designed to make your dinner easy and memorable.”

And while those blunders are just some of the most common Thanksgiving Fails, the survey also asked each individual respondent their WORST Thanksgiving Fail and mined some delightfully troublesome results.

One respondent said the worst Thanksgiving Fail they ever encountered was that the food served was so bad that everybody stopped eating it after just one bite. Another respondent hosted a dinner party but completely forgot to invite their friends, so nobody wound up coming. A third respondent mentioned that one year, their turkey was stolen from the dinner table!

The study also revealed that Americans are not very enthusiastic about the cooking aspect that comes with America’s favorite gluttonous holiday.

The results showed that nearly 76 percent of Americans surveyed agreed that Thanksgiving would be a much more pleasurable event if all that pesky cooking was erased from the process – a perhaps unsurprising result when 31 percent reported spending 4-5 hours completing their shopping and another 4-5 hours preparing the meal.

“Most importantly, Omaha Steaks Thanksgiving meals save you from spending all day in the kitchen and allows you to spend that time with family and friends, which is what the holidays are all about,” Simon added.

TOP 20 MOST COMMON ‘THANKSGIVING FAILS’
1. Not all of the cooking is done on time                            31%
2. Not all the food is done cooking at the same time         29%
3. Ran out of wine                                                              28%
4. Spilled a dish on the floor                                               28%
5. Forgot an essential ingredient in one dish                      28%
6. One or more dish is cold by the time it’s served             27%
7. Ran out of a dish before everyone got some of it           27%
8. Cooked something incorrectly                                         27%
9. Forgot to take a food allergy into account                       26%
10. Turkey is burnt                                                               26%
11. Turkey is dry                                                                   25%
12. Not enough seating                                                        25%
13. Food doesn’t taste right                                                  25%
14. Turkey is undercooked                                                   25%
15. Forgot the cranberry sauce                                            25%
16. Forgot to thaw turkey ahead of time                               24%
17. Ran completely out of food                                             24%
18. Forgot to pre-heat the oven                                             24%
19. Turkey caught on fire                                                       23%
20. Pet got into the food                                                        20%