Thanksgiving just isn’t the same in our family unless the dog steals the turkey baster.

Like mashed turnips or my grandmother’s candlesticks, the dog’s gleeful romp into the living room with a dripping turkey baster has become a time-honored tradition. We never really blame her – year after year, it rolls off the counter and onto the floor (though, we often suspect, with a little help from a far-reaching paw).

The standard round-bulb baster is just one of many kitchenware gadgets that we’ve merely tolerated, rather than enjoyed, over the years. But why put up with imperfections and extra steps? We asked cooking experts to offer 10 must-haves that help ease the stress of the year’s most kitchen-intensive day.

HEAVY-DUTY ROASTING PAN

Forget the $8 disposable pan from the supermarket and invest in a heavy-duty roaster. “People buy the aluminum pan because they don’t want to store one, but a disposable pan can be unwieldy, and you run the risk of buckling when you lift it,” said Matt Bunn, vice president of merchandising for Cooking.com. Both Calphalon and All-Clad offer Turkey Kits – priced at $80 and $199, respectively – that include an anodized aluminum roasting pan, nonstick roasting rack, and a pair of stainless-steel turkey lifters, which provide balance and leverage when transferring the bird from pan to platter.

Just do yourself a favor and measure your stove before you buy. “We get a ton of returns the day after Thanksgiving, roasting pans that are still in the box because they were too big for apartment-sized ovens,” said Michelle Aleman, manager of SoHo’s Broadway Panhandler.

OVEN-TO-TABLEWARE

You prepare in one vessel, cook in another, and serve in yet one more – no wonder it takes days to do the dishes. Instead, opt for stylish pieces that are equally at home on the stove or the dining table. Chantal’s latest color for its enameled cookware and bakeware is a holiday-friendly cinnabar, while Lodge Manufacturing, which has been making cast-iron cookware since the late 1800s, recently introduced a line of enamel-coated cast iron in apple green, red, and cobalt blue.

Lodge’s 2-quart oval baker, at $96, is perfect for preparing such Thanksgiving staples as sweet-potato or green-bean casserole, said Jeanne Scholze, product manager for the Tennessee-based company. “You can prepare these dishes days in advance, and after the meal they can return to the refrigerator in the same vessel,” she said.

REMOTE THERMOMETER

To prevent peering in the oven every 20 minutes, opt for a wireless remote thermometer that you wear like a pager, allowing you to leave the kitchen and still monitor time and temperature within a 100-foot radius.

At $34.95, Weber’s Barbecue Beeper Digital Thermometer was originally designed for outdoor use but works equally well for Thanksgiving, Mr. Bunn said. “When heat escapes, your oven has to work doubly hard to come back up to temperature,” he explained. “And by leaving the oven door closed, you’ll have a crisper skin on your turkey.”

EASY-TO-USE PEELER

Is there a chief potato peeler in your family? Show them a little love by trading in the dull blade and arthritis-inducing metal handle. OXO’s Good Grips line includes a traditional swivel peeler and a Y-shaped peeler that lefties will appreciate ($5.99 each); both feature OXO’s signature Santoprene handles for comfort. And this season Messermeister introduced a Serrated Swivel peeler, priced at $5.50, designed to grab the skin. “The edge is so fine you could peel the skin off a grape,” said Norman Kornbleuth, owner of Broadway Panhandler. “It’s also a time-saver, because you can peel a green pepper or tomato without having to char or parboil it.”

POTATO RICER

If you stand firmly in the anti-lump camp for mashed potatoes, try a potato ricer ($19.99 from OXO); it’s making a comeback since its heyday in your grandmother’s kitchen. Potatoes can be cooked whole or halved with skins still intact, which are left behind when pressed through the ricer. “Medium-sized russets work best, because the jackets come off easily,” said Susan Stockton, vice president of culinary products for the Food Network. “You can also use a food mill, which will hold more potatoes.”

Just don’t try to save time by using a blender or food processor, Ms. Stockton advises: “You’ll turn your mashed potatoes into glue.”

FAT SEPARATOR

Thanksgiving is the one day it’s permissible to throw the diet out the window, but you can avoid overindulging by putting your gravy through a fat separator. The latest from OXO and Catamount Glass (priced from $14.99 to $24) solve several often countered dilemmas. “We added a strainer on top to catch all the bits you don’t want in your gravy, as well as a stopper for the spout to prevent fat from escaping with the gravy,” said Michelle Sohn, senior product manager for OXO. “We also made the front of the cup taller than the back, because everyone’s had that moment when fat spills over the top while you’re trying to pour out your gravy.”

HOLLOW-GROUND KNIFE

Instead of a traditional carving knife, try a meat slicer with hollow ground ovals, also known as a granton edge, along the blade. Wusthof’s 10-inch Classic Hollow-Ground Slicer is priced at $115, while Messermeister recently introduced a 9-inch Elite Granton Chef’s Knife for $133. “The hollow-ground ovals create air pockets, so there’s less abrasion or drag as you slice,” Mr. Kornbleuth explained. There’s also no need to go overboard with size, he added: “To me a smaller knife is more controllable; you only need a larger one if you have a 25-pound turkey.”

OVEN LINERS

No one enjoys scrubbing out an oven, and yet the Thanksgiving menu is filled with dishes that love to drip. Save yourself the time and energy by investing in an oven liner: Placed on the bottom of your electric oven, these Teflon sheets catch spills and can be rinsed off or run through the dishwasher. A 23-by-16-inch sheet (which can be trimmed to fit your oven) sells for $26 at Williams-Sonoma.

SILICONE BAKEWARE

Perhaps the hottest thing to hit the kitchen in recent years is food-grade silicone, which offers a wealth of benefits: the flexible bakeware is nonstick, it’s easy to clean and store, and it cools quickly, making it more kid-friendly than metal bakeware.

Ms. Stockton points to Silpats, silicone mats used to line baking sheets or for rolling out pie dough, as a Thanksgiving must-have. “I love, love, love my Silpats – you never have to worry about things sticking to a sheet tray,” she said.

KitchenAid recently introduced a line of baking mats, priced from $14.99 to $24.99, to its silicone collection, as well as Madeleine and mini-cupcake molds, both priced at $24.99. Silicone is also being used for pastry brushes, such as the $14.99 Sili Gourmet Basting Brush by William Bounds, or the $22 Orka Glove, a heat-resistant silicone oven mitt. “It will take temperatures up to 650 degrees, so you could pick the turkey up with your hands if you needed to,” Mr. Kornbleuth said.

FLAT-BULB BASTER

The dog will have to amuse herself with her another favorite tradition: stealing the Christmas ornaments off the tree. This year we’re opting for one of the many flat-bulb basters that have hit the market. OXO’s Turkey Baster ($7.99) comes with a flat bulb and a brush for easy cleaning, while Cooking.com’s Turkey Baster features an angled tip that prevents rolling and allows you to get into the hard-to-reach corners of the roasting pan ($24.95 as part of a two-piece set with a fat separator). Mr. Kornbleuth, meanwhile, favors a silicone Standing Baster from ISI ($9.99), which stands upright on its flat base, “so not even the tip touches your countertop,” he said.

For extra flavor, add an injector tip to your baster. “Instead of just dripping the fluid across the top of the turkey, you can stab underneath the skin and inject the fat back into it, resulting in a better tasting, moister turkey,” Mr. Kornbleuth added.