If there’s one meal you cook a year that allows little room for error, it’s the Thanksgiving Day feast. That is, unless you’re cooking for only one or two other people who are forgiving of your shortcomings in the kitchen. Otherwise, your bird and all the fixings should be dressed to impress.

Among the most common mishaps: drying out the turkey and stuffing from overcooking; cooking the bird before it’s fully defrosted; failing to remove the plastic-wrapped gizzards from the turkey’s cavity; mashing the potatoes too far in advance, which creates a loss of flavor and moisture; and clumping up the gravy with flour or cornstarch after liquid is added to the base.

If you’re taking the dinner to gourmet extremes, your success will be measured by the amount of experimenting performed well ahead of time, which means skipping the leek and mushroom risotto and lobster tapioca unless you’ve mastered such iconoclastic recipes outside the holiday season.

Yet for those who adhere to traditional roots, the following tips will help earn you the raves that you deserve for sweating blood in the hours prior.

For turkeys 10 to 18 pounds, three to three and a half hours; 15 to 22 pounds, three and a half to four hours; 22 to 24 pounds, four to four and a half hours; and 24 to 29 pounds, four and a half to five hours. Times are based on placing defrosted turkey on a rack in a roasting pan, and into an oven preheated to 350 degrees. For stuffed turkeys, cook an additional 30 to 50 minutes.

The best test for doneness is the temperature of the meat, not the color of the skin. The turkey is safely cooked when the thigh meat reaches an internal temperature of 180 degrees and when the breast meat reaches an internal temperature of 170 degrees. If your turkey has been stuffed, it is important to check the temperature of the dressing as well, which should be 165 degrees.

Bake until the turkey skin is a light golden color and then cover loosely with a foil tent. During the last 45 minutes of baking, remove the foil tent to brown and crisp the skin. Basting is not necessary, though it promotes even browning. Also, always allow the bird to rest after it’s cooked for 20 to 30 minutes, as it will regain juiciness.

For more savory stuffing, substitute about a half-cup of the water or chicken stock listed in your favorite recipe with dry vermouth or good chardonnay.

Avoid using both sage and rosemary together. Save one herb for the stuffing and the other for dry rubbing the turkey, because when the two get cooked in close conjunction to each other they unite to form a bitter, sometimes burnt flavor.

Russet or Yukon Gold potatoes are the best for mashing because of their high starch content. Yet regardless of the cream, extra butter or cheeses you opt to put into them, the best-tasting mashes originate from potatoes that are half peeled when boiling and then their skins removed immediately before mashing. And when using an electric beater, always mash the potatoes on low to medium speed, which will prevent them from turning out gluey.

Whether you’re cooking beans by themselves or in casserole form, add a few ounces of the turkey drippings into them once they’re half cooked for a homier flavor. Also, the addition of baked garlic cloves nicely counters the bitterness of beans that are out of season.

The trick to making smooth, flavorful gravy is to start with a roux that brings together equal parts of flour and fat (butter, oil or meat drippings). A half-cup of roux will thicken four cups of gravy. Any type of liquid can be added slowly to the roux to make gravy, including meat drippings, chicken stock, red or white wine, water, etc. Or add a touch of orange or cranberry juice in the scheme for a subtle fruitier flavor. Always cook gravy over medium heat only while whisking constantly until desired consistency is achieved.