How to Cook a Turkey at a Glance: Cooking Time and More

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1. Thawing: You need to verify that your turkey is fully thawed before putting it in the oven or smoker or frier to avoid disaster. Best thaw method is in the fridge—1 day per 5 lbs.

2. Oven Temps: Best roasting is two stage process—425°F (218°C) for 1 hour, then down to 325°F (163°C) for however long it takes until the turkey is done.

3. Internal Temp Tracking: Track internal turkey temps while roasting, if you can. Place an alarm thermometer probe in the thickest part of the breast (another in the thigh).

4. Verify Turkey Doneness: Be sure to verify your doneness temps with an instant-read thermometer. The lowest reading you find should be 157°F (69°C) in the breast or put it back in the oven or smoker a little longer.

There are a ton of charts and blog posts on "Turkey Cook Times," but they all have the same core problem—no chart can account for all the factors that could truly effect how long your particular turkey will actually need to cook.

But for delicious turkey, you want to cook your turkey until it is done and not a moment longer.

Cook the breast meat to 157°F (69°C) for moist, juicy turkey.

The fact that a whole turkey actually contains two very distinct types of meat—the lean, soft white meat of the breast and the dark, labor-intensive meat of the legs and thighs—adds to the difficulty in this situation.

It's similar to trying to cook a steak and a brisket in the same oven if you cook both simultaneously. We recommend cooking dark meat at a temperature of 175°F to 180°F (79°C to 82°C) since it needs higher temperatures to melt the collagen.

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How to Cook a Turkey at a Glance: Cooking Time and More

1. Thawing: You need to verify that your turkey is fully thawed before putting it in the oven or smoker or frier to avoid disaster. Best thaw method is in the fridge—1 day per 5 lbs.