Roast Turkey Cooking Times and Calculator
Whether you’re roasting a whole turkey, or just cooking a turkey crown or turkey breasts or thighs, this page will tell you how to cook a turkey perfectly. It tells you how long your turkey needs to cook and the temperature it needs to reach, hints and tips on the best way to cook your roast turkey, and some ideas for the best turkey – and turkey leftover – recipes around. All you need to do is follow our advice to get the perfect roast turkey dinner, whether it's a Christmas turkey, Thanksgiving turkey or just a fantastic meal!
Turkey Roasting Tips
- Let the meat come up to room temperature before cooking
- Always ensure turkey is fully cooked before eating. You check this by inserting a skewer in the thickest part of the meat and checking that the juices that come out are clear, not pink or red.
- If stuffing your turkey make sure that you calculate the cooking time from the weight of the turkey including the stuffing!
- Don't forget to rest the meat before carving. This allows the meat to relax and distributes the juices throughout. A general rule of thumb used by chefs for resting meat is 1 minute for every 100g of meat.