Turkey cooking time calculator

The FSIS turkey roasting timetable at 325 °F

These are FSIS’s times for a fully thawed turkey in an oven set to 325 °F (163 °C), with kilograms added. FSIS calls them approximate and says to check the temperature with a food thermometer every time.

* FSIS gives a single unstuffed row for turkey breasts of 4 to 8 lb.

How the calculator reads the chart

• Your weight picks a row. FSIS’s rows share their end points (8 to 12, 12 to 14 …), so a weight exactly on a boundary takes the heavier row and you plan a little more time, not less. A whole turkey under 8 lb or any bird over 24 lb is outside the chart: the calculator says so rather than stretching the numbers.
• Start checking at the short end of the range, and plan for the turkey to be out by the long end.
• Resting: FSIS says to let the turkey stand for 20 minutes before carving so the juices set and it carves more easily.
• From frozen: FSIS says cooking from frozen takes at least 50 percent longer, so the range is multiplied by 1.5 and shown as a minimum.

Where the thermometer goes

FSIS says a whole turkey is safe once a food thermometer reads 165 °F (73.9 °C) in three places: the innermost part of the thigh, the innermost part of the wing and the thickest part of the breast. With an oven-safe thermometer, put it into the thickest part of the inner thigh at the start; once that reads 165 °F, check the wing and the breast. If your turkey has a pop-up indicator, FSIS still recommends checking those places with a thermometer. A stuffed turkey isn’t done until the centre of the stuffing is at 165 °F too.

The UK agencies describe the check differently. The FSA says to probe the thickest part, between the leg and the breast, and accepts any of these: 60 °C for 45 minutes, 65 °C for 10 minutes, 70 °C for 2 minutes, 75 °C for 30 seconds or 80 °C for 6 seconds. Food Standards Scotland says 75 °C or above in the thickest part, with the meat steaming hot, no pink meat and clear juices.

Stuffed or unstuffed?

FSIS doesn’t recommend stuffing the turkey: for the most even cooking, bake the stuffing in a casserole dish and check that it reaches 165 °F. If you do stuff the bird, its own advice is to keep the wet and dry ingredients apart until just before filling, stuff loosely (about ¾ cup per pound), and put it in the oven straight away. Don’t take the stuffing out before it reaches 165 °F, because undercooked stuffing can contaminate the cooked meat, and let the turkey stand 20 minutes before removing the stuffing and carving. The FSA and Food Standards Scotland time an unstuffed bird and also advise cooking stuffing in a separate tin, which is why the UK option has no stuffed time.

Fan ovens, Celsius and the UK rule

325 °F is 163 °C. FSIS says not to roast meat or poultry below 325 °F, because it would spend too long in the 40 to 140 °F danger zone. The FSA’s rule, for an unstuffed turkey in an oven preheated to 180 °C (160 °C fan, 350 °F or Gas Mark 4), is:

• under 4.5 kg: 45 minutes per kg plus 20 minutes;
• 4.5 to 6.5 kg: 40 minutes per kg;
• over 6.5 kg: 35 minutes per kg.

As published, the rule steps at its edges: a 4.4 kg bird works out at 218 minutes but a 4.5 kg bird at 180, and 6.5 kg at 260 minutes but 6.6 kg at 231. The calculator follows the rule exactly; the thermometer settles it. Food Standards Scotland adds that fan ovens may cook the bird more quickly, so check your oven’s handbook, and that a full oven or a door opened often may need extra time. Neither agency gives a fan figure for the US chart, so the calculator doesn’t invent one.

Worked examples

• 12 lb, unstuffed, in at 11:00 am: 12 lb is on the boundary, so the 12 to 14 lb row applies: 3 to 3¾ hours. Start checking at 2:00 pm, have it out by 2:45 pm, carve from 3:05 pm.
• 20 lb, stuffed: the 20 to 24 lb row, 4¾ to 5¼ hours, until the centre of the stuffing reads 165 °F as well.
• 7 kg, UK rule: over 6.5 kg, so 7 × 35 = 245 minutes, 4 hours 5 minutes at 180 °C (160 °C fan).
• 16 lb from frozen: 3¾ to 4¼ hours × 1.5 is at least 5 hours 38 minutes to 6 hours 23 minutes.

Common mistakes

• Trusting the pop-up timer alone. Check the thigh, wing and breast with a thermometer as well.
• Checking only the breast. FSIS names three places, the innermost thigh and wing as well as the thickest part of the breast, and all three should read 165 °F.
• A cooler oven to “go low and slow”. FSIS doesn’t recommend roasting below 325 °F.
• Washing the raw turkey. The FSA and Food Standards Scotland advise against it: it splashes bacteria onto the sink, worktops and nearby food, and only thorough cooking kills them.
• Using the US chart with a part-frozen bird. Times assume a fully thawed turkey; tick “cooked from frozen”, or see the turkey thawing calculator.