As Thanksgiving approaches each year, most people’s thoughts turn to family gatherings, delicious food, and of course, the turkey The centerpiece of the traditional Thanksgiving meal, a perfectly roasted turkey can be a source of pride for the cook However, turkey preparation is not without its challenges, as evidenced by the proliferation of hilarious “how to cook a turkey” memes. These memes have become an essential part of the modern Thanksgiving experience by humorously capturing the trials and tribulations of cooking this temperamental bird.
A Brief History of the How to Cook a Turkey Meme
Memes featuring absurd or exaggerated instructions for cooking a turkey first started appearing around 2010, but really took off in popularity over the last five years or so. Often posted to social media in the days leading up to Thanksgiving, these memes poke fun at the idea that successfully preparing a turkey is extremely complicated (or even impossible).
Most of the memes follow a simple formula – they start with a title like “How to cook a turkey” and then provide a ridiculous, hyper-detailed set of instructions. Steps like “defrost turkey in the microwave for 4-6 months” or “baste the turkey in motor oil for a perfect golden crisp” are clearly jokes, meant to exaggerate the difficulties of cooking a turkey for comedic effect.
Part of what makes these memes so relatable and funny is that cooking a turkey does require care and precision. The memes play on people’s anxieties about undertaking such an important cooking task. Even experienced cooks worry about undercooking the bird, drying it out, burning it, and so on. The memes humorously validate these concerns in their wacky advice.
Why the Memes Caught On
There are a few reasons why how to cook a turkey memes have become a staple part of contemporary Thanksgiving culture:
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Cooking anxiety – As mentioned, even competent home cooks feel nervous about properly preparing a turkey, which is no simple feat. The memes validate this anxiety in an amusing way.
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Generational humor – Millennials and Gen Z love ironic, self-aware humor that pokes fun at traditional customs and skills like cooking a turkey dinner. The memes let them laugh about an event associated with parents/grandparents.
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Relatability – Whether or not someone actually cooks a turkey themselves, the exaggeration of the difficulties resonates with anyone who has hosted or attended a Thanksgiving meal.
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Virality – The memes spread easily on social networks because they pack humor into a concise, easily digestible image with text. People enjoy sharing them.
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Creativity – There is endless room for coming up with funny fictionalized turkey prep advice, so the memes stay fresh and varied.
Breakout Examples of How to Cook a Turkey Memes
While there are countless examples of funny how to cook a turkey memes floating around, a few have become especially popular and helped propel the trend:
Deep Fried Memes
Many memes focus on the concept of deep frying the turkey, taken to ridiculous extremes:
- Submerge fully dressed turkey in vat of hot oil
- Deep fry for 5 minutes per pound at 700 degrees Fahrenheit
- If oil ignites into towering inferno, try basting turkey with gravy
Deep frying a turkey is dangerous and exaggerated deep frying methods are a meme staple.
Microwaved Turkey Memes
Microwaving a turkey is generally not recommended, so jokes about microwave cooking times are common:
- Remove plastic wrapper from turkey
- Microwave turkey on high for 18 days
- If microwave begins sparking, keep finger on “Add Minute” button
- Continue microwaving until nuclear detonation occurs
The absurdity of microwaving a huge bird captures the spirit of exaggeration in many memes.
Over the Top Ingredient Memes
Ingredients you would never associate with a turkey dish are also popular meme fodder:
- Inject turkey with flavored e-cigarette juice for enhanced flavor
- Stuff turkey cavities with spicy Cheetos for kick
- Baste turkey in nacho cheese sauce hourly for crispiness
The absurd ingredients tap into the randomness that defines many memes.
As you can see, the humor of the how to cook a turkey meme comes from exaggerating every aspect of preparation into something comically complex or absurd.
Why the Memes Persist Year After Year
Even though how to cook a turkey memes have been popular for several years now, they show no signs of slowing down. People continue looking forward to the latest funny meme ideas each November. There are a few reasons the memes have such enduring popularity:
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Cooking a turkey is still hard – The underlying anxiety and difficulty that the memes exaggerate has not gone away over time. The exaggeration remains relatable.
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New creative directions – People keep coming up with fresh, funny cooking suggestions, so it doesn’t get old.
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Ritual function – For many, enjoying the memes has become as much a Thanksgiving ritual as watching football or eating pie. The memes are part of the season.
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Timing – Because they spike right around the holiday, the memes capitalize on a captive, turkey-focused audience.
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Humor style remains popular – Ironic, snarky internet humor is still prevalent, which the memes represent perfectly.
As a beloved Thanksgiving tradition rooted in anxiety relief and creative absurdity, the how to cook a turkey meme seems poised to entertain for many more years to come. So as you prepare for this year’s gathering, be sure to keep an eye out for the latest funny memes sweeping social media to get into the holiday spirit! Just don’t take the advice too literally if you want your bird to turn out okay.
As though there wasn’t already enough to get stressed about around Thanksgiving, kids are trolling their parents. People are partaking in an online challenge where they text their mom and ask for instructions to microwave a 25-pound turkey…
As though there wasnt already enough to be stressed about at Thanksgiving, kids are trolling their parents. People are partaking in an online challenge where they text their mom and ask for instructions to microwave a 25-pound turkey.
While its been spreading this month in the lead-up to Thanksgiving, the challenge dates back to late 2016, according to Know Your Meme. Its not totally clear who originated the challenge, but it may have started with a Facebook post by Claudia Francisco. No matter when it started, if your parents buy into the ploy its treading close to that mean/funny territory where Jimmy Kimmels annual Halloween prank lives.
What is the “Turkey Microwave” meme and how do I get in on it?
The challenge that becomes a meme is really nothing but people posting screenshots from their phone of an alleged conversation between them and their mother or another guardian. They text dear ol mum and ask how to microwave a whole turkey.
After you send the text, have the conversation with a straight face as your mother freaks out about what a bad idea it is to microwave a turkey. Then post the conversation for laughs on the internet, as somewhere in the world your parent sits quietly and wonders where they went wrong while raising you.
Though, if youre going to play this game, be sure your mom doesnt have the internet because she might be onto you from the start.
How To Stuff a Turkey
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