Thanksgiving oven schedule

Thanksgiving sides that don't use the oven

Short answer: in my 5 PM example (the planner's default menu, with green beans moved to the stovetop), the turkey takes the same time but goes in later: out at 4:15 PM with stuffing and green beans off the oven, 4:30 PM with sweet potatoes off too, against 4:00 PM.
Fewer dishes compete for the oven after the turkey (2, then 1, against 4) and no side sits waiting.

What changes

The baseline is the default menu of the planner: turkey, stuffing, sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole, rolls, a pumpkin pie, mashed potatoes and gravy, one oven, three dishes at a time. The other two columns change only where the sides cook. Same dinner time, same dishes, same planner.

• A later start, a shorter rest. The turkey roasts the same 225 minutes in every column; it goes in and comes out later. Each side that leaves the oven shortens the window after the turkey: the first two moves take it from 60 to 45 minutes, the third to 30.
• Less sitting on the counter. In the all-oven plan the sweet potatoes come out 15 minutes before dinner so the rolls can go in. From the middle column on, no dish sits after it comes out.
• A tight carving rule becomes workable. If the turkey has to be carved 30 minutes after it comes out, the first two columns still raise a late flag and the third does not.
• The pie moves later too. It goes in at 11:05 AM, 11:20 AM or 11:35 AM, because the turkey follows it into the oven.

Which dishes can leave

• Stuffing. My guess is that a slow cooker takes a full batch. Start time and setting come from your recipe, because the planner has no slow cooker time for it. Counted here as off the oven from start to finish.
• Green beans. Stovetop green beans replace the casserole. They take a burner for a few minutes near the end, and the planner already keeps mashed potatoes and gravy there.
• Sweet potatoes. Fine in a slow cooker if your recipe is written for one. Without a slow cooker recipe, keep them in the oven and use the middle column.
• Mashed potatoes. Already on the stovetop in this plan, so a slow cooker on warm frees a burner. The oven stays the same, so they are not a row above.
• Rolls. They stay in the oven in every column.

Keeping a slow cooker side hot

Two university extension pages give the rules this page relies on. Clemson Cooperative Extension says to heat the food "to steaming (165 °F or above) before placing it into the preheated slow cooker (140 °F or above)", and to fill the cooker no less than half and no more than two-thirds full. Mississippi State University Extension (a 2022 article) says the warm setting is safe for four hours once the food is cooked, that hot food should be held at or above 140 degrees, and that the warm setting should not be used for cooking or reheating. Warm settings differ between models, so check the temperature with a food thermometer.

A dish that finishes early can wait on warm, within those four hours. Instant Pot and other multicookers vary too, so use the times in your own recipe and manual.

Try your own menu

The slow cooker dishes in the planner keep the cook minutes of the dishes they replace, as a placeholder. They do not touch the oven, so only their start time changes: replace it with your recipe's. Open the stuffing and green beans plan in the planner.

Full step lists: the all-oven one-oven plan, and reheating sides while the turkey rests if you would rather cook them ahead and warm them in the oven.

Sources

Slow cooker temperatures and fill level: Clemson Cooperative Extension, Slow Cooker Food Safety. Warm setting and four hours: Mississippi State University Extension, Use slow cookers properly to avoid food-borne illness. All clock times come from the planner for the menu above.