Don't even know how to make pasta? Learn basic cooking techniques, find the best kitchen tools, and get all your cooking questions answered. Don't forget to check out our pantry checklist and easy meal ideas.

Summer is almost over -- so fire up your grill, invite some friends over, and enjoy some seriously tasty food. With our easy tips, techniques, and tools, you’ll be a barbecue pro in no time.

Grilling and burgers -- what could be a better combo? The trick to making a flavorful cheeseburger is to combine chuck and sirloin in each patty and top it with a slice of sharp, nutty Wisconsin cheddar that has been aged one to two years. Blanket the cheese over the beef after your final burger-flip when the grill is super-hot. Keep your burger there for a full minute with the grill lid closed so the cheddar perfectly melts over the meat.

At what temperature is meat “done�?

The proper temperature not only depends on the type of meat, it’s also a matter of personal preference. Do you like your steak still mooing, or completely cooked through? The USDA does have recommended guidelines for the minimum internal temperature meat must be cooked to in order to kill harmful bacteria. However, the internal temperature in meat will continue to rise by as much as 10 degrees after it has been removed from the oven, grill, or burner. Remove meat when it is within 5 to 10 degrees of your preferred doneness to keep it from overcooking.

To check the temperature, insert a digital instant-read thermometer, like the CDN ProAccurate Quick Tip Digital Cooking Thermometer DTQ450 ($18), into the thickest part of the meat. In poultry, it’s the inner thigh area near the breast, but not touching the bone. In steaks, roasts, and chops, it’s the center or thickest area away from bone and fat.

Ground Meat
Beef, pork, veal, lamb 160°
Turkey, chicken 165°

Fresh Beef, Veal, Lamb
Medium-rare 145°
Medium 160°
Well-done 170°

Poultry
Chicken and turkey, whole 165°
Poultry breasts, roast 165°
Poultry thighs, wings 165°
Duck and goose 165°

Fresh Pork
Medium 160°
Well-done 170°
Ham 160°

Fish 145°

HELP! I'm having a Thanksgiving emergency! Who can I call?

Oven on fire? Forgot to remove the giblets? Bleeding? It’s Thanksgiving -- stuffing happens. Scan through my list of holiday disaster reference guides and be prepared for any culinary crisis -- from figuring out where the salad fork goes in a place setting to rescuing a burning bird.

Butterball Turkey Talk Hotline

1 (800) BUTTERBALL

Download a Turkey Talk podcast (find it here) or call with an immediate question. Trust me -- they’ve heard it all (including, "How do you get the smell of bleach off of a turkey?").

USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline (open 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Thanksgiving)

1 (888) 674-6854

Call for on-the-spot answers about cooking temperatures and times.

America’s Test Kitchen Thanksgiving Q&A

The editors of Cook’s Illustrated have anticipated just about every turkey day question a beginner or veteran cook might have. Find out everything you ever wanted to know (but were afraid to ask) in this complete Q&A.

Five Ways to Spend Thanksgiving in the Hospital

Before the first guest arrives, find out how most holiday disasters happen -- and how to avoid them -- with this guide to Thanksgiving no-nos and uh-ohs.

Kitchen Fire Safety

There’s more to putting out fires in your kitchen than “Stop, drop, and roll.� Don't panic. Check out this fire safety 101 to know what to do when the smoke detector goes off (because you do have a smoke detector and a fire extinguisher, right?).

Emily Post’s Table Setting Guides

Impress your mother-in-law (and finally use all of your wedding china and silver).

Guide to Setting up a Buffet

Did you know 94 percent of Americans serve buffet-style on Thanksgiving? (Okay, I made that up, but this guide from The Nest is chock-full of good information on setting up a beautiful buffet.)

Pairing Wine

A great glass of wine (or two) can ease holiday angst and make Aunt So-and-So’s cream-of-something-soup casserole so much more palatable. Find out how to pick a few winning bottles with The Nest's turkey day wine-pairing guide.

We asked Nesties what kitchen gear they couldn't live without -- here's your top 10 must-haves.

See all 10 Nestie-approved picks!

Love everything about a steak house but the bill? Chef Craig Koketsu of NYC resaurant Quality Meats shares how to prepare delicious steaks at home for a fraction of the price.

Pick your beef
Step one of planning your steak night is casting your guest star (aka your cut of meat). Next time you swing by your butcher at the supermarket, keep this in mind:

Know what to look for

• Color The meat should be bright red, with no hints of gray or brown (a sign that it’s not fresh).
• Fat Ladies, this isn’t the time to go fat-free. Marbling, or white flecks of fat, means more flavor.
• Thickness Make sure you buy beef that’s at least 1½ inches thick all around, particularly when you’re choosing porterhouse. If it’s too thin, it’ll cook through very quickly and won’t have the chance to develop a flavorful browned crust.

Get good grades

• Prime The highest quality, you’ll find it at good meat markets. You’ll pay more for its marbling, which is key when you’re choosing a cut like NY strip. Also, opt for Prime porterhouse to ensure the strip side will have marbling.
• Choice A notch below Prime, you can get away with Choice when you buy a tender cut, like filet mignon, or a naturally marbled cut, such as rib eye.
• Select You’ll save a few bucks, but Select is the driest and least flavorful, so it’ll need extra marinating.

Ask your butcher about dry-aging
At quality supermarkets, look for porterhouse, rib eye and NY strip that have been dry-aged for 21 days. This process involves hanging the beef in a cooler, which evaporates moisture from the muscle and breaks down tissue, concentrating flavor in the meat and tenderizing it. And don’t freak out if you detect a stronger smell—it’s from the aging process.

Don’t buy into the hype
You may have heard that Wagyu beef (Kobe comes from Wagyu cattle) and Certified Angus are the grand poobahs of beef. They have a very high fat content and great taste, but you’ll still get big flavor from Prime and Choice. Bottom line: Don’t waste your dough.

Know your cuts

• Filet mignon An extremely tender cut, it comes from the prized tenderloin area of the cow. Because of its very low fat content, it dries out easily and must be cooked right to lock in the juices.
• Porterhouse This cut offers the best of both worlds: a T-shaped bone with meat from the short loin on the larger side (strip steak), and tenderloin (filet mignon) on the smaller side.
• NY strip A steak house favorite, this no-nonsense cut comes from the strip loin (further down on the short loin). Since the strip is all muscle, choosing a Prime cut is key.
• Rib eye The most succulent cut due to its marbling, rib eye comes from the rib. The larger the “eye,â€� or dominant area of meat on the steak, the better. If you buy bone-in rib eye, you’ll get even more flavor.

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