How to Roast a Turkey: Cook Times, Temperatures, and Tips

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The ideal place to thaw a frozen turkey is in the fridge, which can take up to a week depending on the size of the bird. Here’s how long it takes a typical turkey to thaw in the fridge: – 4–12 pounds: 1 to 3 days – 12–16 pounds: 3 to 4 days – 16–20 pounds: 4 to 5 days – 20–24 pounds: 5 to 6 days

If you’re short on time, however, there are other, faster ways to thaw a turkey, but thawing it in the refrigerator is your best bet when it comes to safe kitchen practices. (It’s also technically possible to cook a frozen turkey; if it’s the day of and you’re stuck with a frozen bird, scroll down to our primer on cooking a frozen turkey.) For more on how to prepare a turkey, click on our guide.

When the time arrives to cook your bird, take the now-thawed turkey out of the fridge and set it on a rack at room temperature for an hour to take the chill off and dry out the skin. (This can be the same rack you plan to roast your turkey on; there’s no need to dirty another dish.)

Your roasting rack should allow the bottom of the turkey to sit at or just below the top of the pan). No roasting rack? A heavy-duty cooling rack set inside a half-sheet pan works too.

Position your oven rack on the lowest rung and set the oven to 350°F. Some recipes have you start roasting the turkey at a high temperature for a brief period before lowering the heat for the duration. The belief is that the high heat “sears” the bird and the low heat gently roasts, yielding a bird that’s more moist and succulent, but we haven’t found that this makes a huge difference.

Plus, the skin gets browned very quickly (often too quickly). Steady heat means not having to check the oven so frequently, leaving you free to do other things, like prep your mashed potatoes.

Set your turkey breast side up on the roasting rack and rub room-temperature salted butter—or your favorite flavored compound butter—all over it. (For a 12- to 14-pound turkey, you’ll need about ½ cup (1 stick) of butter.) Slowly work your fingers under the skin, starting at the neck, being careful not to tear the skin or separate it completely at the large cavity.

Rub most of the butter under the skin, a little inside the large cavity, and the rest over the skin.

For a 12- to 14-pound bird, adding 1½ teaspoons each kosher salt and freshly ground pepper in the large cavity and another 1½ teaspoons each over the skin is plenty. For kosher turkeys, which are already salted, there’s no need to salt the cavity, but do salt the skin! If you’ve chosen to brine your bird (via a wet or dry brine) you can skip this final seasoning.

Sounds random, we know. But stuffing the neck cavity (not the large cavity) with a halved apple—placing the cut side against the turkey’s flesh with the rounded side facing out—helps buffer the breast against heat and protects it from overcooking. But don’t fill the main cavity with stuffing—it’ll only slow down your cooking time. Instead, you can cook the stuffing on the side in a casserole dish. Add some stock to replace the juices the stuffing would have absorbed in the cavity. You can also sauté the turkey liver, gizzard, and neck in butter, cut them up (shredding the neck meat off the bone) and add them to your dressing for more flavor. Read more 6. Stuff the neck cavity with an apple—and don’t stuff the main cavity

This will make the stuffing nearly as rich as if it had been baked in the turkey itself (though don’t forget to make a meatless version if you’ve got any vegetarians on the guest list). Read more 6. Stuff the neck cavity with an apple—and don’t stuff the main cavity

Not stuffing your turkey also means there’s room in the cavity for aromatics, which will add flavor and aroma to the bird and add complexity to the pan drippings used to make gravy. Try placing onion quarters, celery stalks, parsley, thyme, salt, and black pepper inside the turkey before roasting.

At the same time, add a few halved shallots, sliced carrots, some celery, and 2 cups of water to your roasting pan, under the rack. The vegetables will perfume the meat and flavor the drippings as the turkey cooks, while the water keeps things from burning.

Loosely cover the bird with aluminum foil, shiny side out (to deflect heat) at the very beginning. Tenting with foil keeps the skin from getting too dark too soon. Remove the foil about halfway through cooking to let the skin brown.

Traditional recipes call for basting the turkey every half hour to moisten and flavor the bird. Basting is a simple process that just requires opening the oven and carefully spooning (or using a turkey baster to squirt) the pan juices all over the turkey. You can add butter to the roasting pan for a richer basting solution, or have turkey broth simmering on the stove to use if the pan juices run dry.

Basting will certainly help the skin brown up nicely, but opinions vary on whether the liquid actually penetrates the skin to moisten the flesh. And remember: An open oven door lets heat escape, lowering the ambient temperature and lengthening the roasting time.

For these reasons today’s cooking trends favor moistening methods that don’t require basting, such as brining the turkey before roasting, stuffing butter under the skin, or roasting the turkey breast side down (flipping halfway through cooking to get an even brown) so it self bastes.

Alternately, you can split the difference by treating the bird with a brine and/or butter mix before cooking, then basting it every once in a while—say on the hour instead of every 30 minutes—as it roasts.

The simplest way to figure out turkey roasting times is to calculate 13 minutes per pound at 350°F for an unstuffed turkey (that’s about 3 hours for a 12- to 14-lb. turkey), or 15 minutes per pound for a stuffed turkey. Check the temperature about ¾ of the way through that time, and then again every 10 minutes, and roast until the temperature reads 165°F

(or 150°F as the case may be; more on that below) when checked at the thickest part of the thigh meat and the thickest part of the breast meat. If, however, you prefer to roast your turkey at a higher or lower temperature, follow these guidelines. The following cook times are for unstuffed birds.

(Our rule of thumb is to avoid stuffed turkeys and instead to bake the stuffing alongside so that it can easily reach a safe temperature). If your turkey weighs 8 to 12 pounds, roast it at: – 325°F for 2¾ to 3 hours

If your turkey weighs 12 to 14 pounds, roast it at: – 425°F for 2¼ to 2½ hours – 400°F for 2½ to 2¾ hours – 350°F for 2¾ to 3 hours – 325°F for 3 to 3¾ hours

If your turkey weighs 15 to 16 pounds, roast it at: – 425°F for 3 to 3¼ hours – 400°F for 3¼ to 3½ hours – 350°F for 3½ to 3¾ hours – 325°F for 3¾ to 4 hours

If your turkey weighs 18 to 20 pounds, roast it at: – 425°F for 3½ to 3¾ hours – 400°F for 3¾ to 4 hours – 350°F for 4 to 4¼ hours – 325°F for 4¼ to 4½ hours

If your turkey weighs 21 to 22 pounds, roast it at: – 425°F for 4 to 4¼ hours – 400°F for 4¼ to 4½ hours – 350°F for 4½ to 4¾ hours – 325°F for 4¾ to 5 hours

If your turkey weighs 24 pounds, roast it at: – 425°F for 4¼ to 4½ hours – 400°F for 4½ to 4¾ hours – 350°F for 4¾ to 5 hours – 325°F for 5 to 5¼ hours

To kill all bacteria, a turkey must be cooked to a minimum internal temperature of 165°F. According to the USDA the bird must reach this temperature before you take it out of the oven. As it rests, the temperature will then continue to rise to around 180°F. For juicier meat, however, some people prefer to take the bird out at 150°F, so the temperature will rise only to 165°F as it rests.

Whichever turkey roasting temperature you choose, be sure to use an accurate food thermometer to confirm the final temperature. In the past, home cooks used to look at the color of the meat as an indication of doneness: The turkey was pierced with a knife and if the juices were clear instead of pink it was considered done.

But this is not a reliable method for several reasons. First, pinkness can disappear before a safe temperature is reached. And on the flip side, some turkeys (especially organic and heritage birds) may never lose their pink color, even if they’re cooked to well above 165°F.

To check the temperature of the turkey, you can use either an instant-read thermometer (which you insert after cooking, as it gives a reading immediately) or a remote food thermometer (the type that has a probe you insert before cooking, which connects to a digital display that sits on your counter).

Either way, insert the probe into the thickest part of the turkey’s thigh, being careful not to touch the bone (which will skew the reading). The thigh is the best place to test because it takes the longest to cook, but to be on the safe side; it’s smart to also take the turkey’s temperature underneath the wing.

If you find the skin is getting too dark and the desired internal temperature hasn’t been reached, loosely tent the browned parts with a double-thick layer of buttered aluminum foil to protect them from the heat.

When the turkey has reached the right temperature, it’s essential to let it rest for at least 20 minutes before carving. This gives the juices time to settle into the bird and be reabsorbed; carving it up too soon will just allow the moisture to run out, leaving you with dried-out meat on top of a puddle on your cutting board.

If the breast and thighs have reached a temperature of 165°F, it is not necessary to cover the turkey with aluminum foil while it rests. However, if you’ve taken the bird out at 150°F or you want to hold it for longer, tent it with foil after 20 minutes to make sure it doesn’t cool down too much.

Tented with foil, you can leave the bird in a warm place for up to 40 minutes, which gives you plenty of time to make gravy.

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How to Roast a Turkey: Cook Times, Temperatures, and Tips

1. Thaw your turkey

1. Thaw your turkey

When the time arrives to cook your bird, take the now-thawed turkey out of the fridge and set it on a rack at room temperature for an hour to take the chill off and dry out the skin. (This can be the same rack you plan to roast your turkey on; there’s no need to dirty another dish.)

2. Air out your turkey

Your roasting rack should allow the bottom of the turkey to sit at or just below the top of the pan). No roasting rack? A heavy-duty cooling rack set inside a half-sheet pan works too.

2. Air out your turkey

3. Prep your oven

Plus, the skin gets browned very quickly (often too quickly). Steady heat means not having to check the oven so frequently, leaving you free to do other things, like prep your mashed potatoes.

3. Prep your oven

4. Butter your turkey

Rub most of the butter under the skin, a little inside the large cavity, and the rest over the skin.

4. Butter your turkey

5. Season your turkey (if necessary)

7. Add some aromatics

At the same time, add a few halved shallots, sliced carrots, some celery, and 2 cups of water to your roasting pan, under the rack. The vegetables will perfume the meat and flavor the drippings as the turkey cooks, while the water keeps things from burning.

7. Add some aromatics

Loosely cover the bird with aluminum foil, shiny side out (to deflect heat) at the very beginning. Tenting with foil keeps the skin from getting too dark too soon. Remove the foil about halfway through cooking to let the skin brown.

8. Cover (and then uncover) the turkey

9. Baste or otherwise moisten the turkey

Basting will certainly help the skin brown up nicely, but opinions vary on whether the liquid actually penetrates the skin to moisten the flesh. And remember: An open oven door lets heat escape, lowering the ambient temperature and lengthening the roasting time.

9. Baste or otherwise moisten the turkey

For these reasons today’s cooking trends favor moistening methods that don’t require basting, such as brining the turkey before roasting, stuffing butter under the skin, or roasting the turkey breast side down (flipping halfway through cooking to get an even brown) so it self bastes.

9. Baste or otherwise moisten the turkey

Alternately, you can split the difference by treating the bird with a brine and/or butter mix before cooking, then basting it every once in a while—say on the hour instead of every 30 minutes—as it roasts.

9. Baste or otherwise moisten the turkey

10. Calculate turkey cooking time and temperature

(or 150°F as the case may be; more on that below) when checked at the thickest part of the thigh meat and the thickest part of the breast meat. If, however, you prefer to roast your turkey at a higher or lower temperature, follow these guidelines. The following cook times are for unstuffed birds.

10. Calculate turkey cooking time and temperature

(Our rule of thumb is to avoid stuffed turkeys and instead to bake the stuffing alongside so that it can easily reach a safe temperature). If your turkey weighs 8 to 12 pounds, roast it at: – 325°F for 2¾ to 3 hours

10. Calculate turkey cooking time and temperature

If your turkey weighs 12 to 14 pounds, roast it at: – 425°F for 2¼ to 2½ hours – 400°F for 2½ to 2¾ hours – 350°F for 2¾ to 3 hours – 325°F for 3 to 3¾ hours

10. Calculate turkey cooking time and temperature

If your turkey weighs 15 to 16 pounds, roast it at: – 425°F for 3 to 3¼ hours – 400°F for 3¼ to 3½ hours – 350°F for 3½ to 3¾ hours – 325°F for 3¾ to 4 hours

10. Calculate turkey cooking time and temperature

If your turkey weighs 18 to 20 pounds, roast it at: – 425°F for 3½ to 3¾ hours – 400°F for 3¾ to 4 hours – 350°F for 4 to 4¼ hours – 325°F for 4¼ to 4½ hours

10. Calculate turkey cooking time and temperature

If your turkey weighs 21 to 22 pounds, roast it at: – 425°F for 4 to 4¼ hours – 400°F for 4¼ to 4½ hours – 350°F for 4½ to 4¾ hours – 325°F for 4¾ to 5 hours

10. Calculate turkey cooking time and temperature

If your turkey weighs 24 pounds, roast it at: – 425°F for 4¼ to 4½ hours – 400°F for 4½ to 4¾ hours – 350°F for 4¾ to 5 hours – 325°F for 5 to 5¼ hours

10. Calculate turkey cooking time and temperature

10. Calculate turkey cooking time and temperature

10. Calculate turkey cooking time and temperature

But this is not a reliable method for several reasons. First, pinkness can disappear before a safe temperature is reached. And on the flip side, some turkeys (especially organic and heritage birds) may never lose their pink color, even if they’re cooked to well above 165°F.

10. Calculate turkey cooking time and temperature

11. Check the temperature of the turkey

11. Check the temperature of the turkey

If you find the skin is getting too dark and the desired internal temperature hasn’t been reached, loosely tent the browned parts with a double-thick layer of buttered aluminum foil to protect them from the heat.

11. Check the temperature of the turkey

12. Let the turkey rest

12. Let the turkey rest

Tented with foil, you can leave the bird in a warm place for up to 40 minutes, which gives you plenty of time to make gravy.

12. Let the turkey rest

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