How do you cook a 20lb turkey

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To some, turkey is a savory, succulent holiday centerpiece—to others it’s primarily a vehicle for gravy. But turkey can be great (delicious even) if you know the ideal turkey temperature and how to roast a turkey properly—yes, even the white meat. Whether you're a longtime turkey-making pro feeling bogged down by the year’s newest trend (is it spatchcocked or dry-brined this year? Or maybe confit? We can’t keep up) or a Thanksgiving newbie preparing a whole turkey for the first time, you can always rely on our foolproof guiding principles. You don’t need a special recipe if you just stick to these basics. Ahead you’ll find everything you need to know to make the perfect turkey. (You can also scroll down and get straight to the turkey cook times.)

1. Thaw your turkey

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.

2. Air out 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.) 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.

3. Prep your oven

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.

4. Butter your turkey

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.

5. Season your turkey (if necessary)

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.

6. Stuff the neck cavity with an apple—and don’t stuff the main cavity

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. 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).

7. Add some aromatics

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.

8. Cover (and then uncover) the turkey

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.

9. Baste or otherwise moisten the turkey

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.

10. Calculate turkey cooking time and temperature

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.

Thermapen Mk4

A meat thermometer comes in handy all holiday season. Tracking the temperature helps to ensure that you get a perfect roast turkey every time.

11. Check the temperature of the turkey

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.

12. Let the turkey rest

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.

The only thing worse than not knowing how to roast a turkey on Thanksgiving morning? Realizing you don’t know how to carve it after you bring it to the table. Check out our illustrated guide to carving so that doesn’t happen to you.

Roasting a heritage turkey requires a different process

With longer thighs and drumsticks, a leaner breast, and a more diminutive size compared to a standard supermarket turkey, heritage birds look, taste, and cook differently than your average Thanksgiving fowl. Heritage birds generally top out at 14 to 16 pounds, so if you plan on serving a larger crowd, you might want to roast two side by side. An added bonus is that smaller birds cook more quickly than their fleshy cousins, so you don'’t need to rise at dawn if you like to eat Thanksgiving dinner at noon.

Because they tend to have a more active lifestyle, heritage turkeys must be roasted differently in order to avoid toughness. Opinions vary on how to achieve this: Some farmers recommend cooking the birds at a higher temperature (425°F to 450°F) for a shorter period of time (no more than 2 hours for a 12- to 14-pound bird). Other people swear by the opposite, roasting their birds more slowly and at a lower temperature than the standard (325°F, 3½ to 4 hours for a 12- to 14-pound bird). Both ways will work—the most important thing is to watch the internal temperature so that you will not overcook the meat. You might even consider undercooking—some turkey farmers argue that the cleaner, drug-free living conditions of heritage birds make them less likely to be infected with the kind of bacteria that require cooking to a higher temperature, and an internal temperature of 140°F to 150°F will yield moist, juicy, more tender meat. Be aware that this could leave the meat with a pinkish hue that may be unappealing to some diners, but a quick fix is to toss their pieces under the broiler for a minute or two if they complain.

A curious difference between a heritage and conventional bird concerns the neck fat. While heritage breeds are typically leaner, many have more neck fat than the Broad Breasted White. If you decide to stuff your heritage turkey before roasting, don’t put the stuffing all the way up into the neck cavity. The excess fat will render into the stuffing, making it soggy and greasy. Instead, stuff vegetables like carrots or onions into the neck cavity. The veggies and fat will add flavor to the extra drippings, ideal for gravy making.

What if I forgot to thaw my turkey?

Editor’s note: This section on How to Cook a Frozen Turkey was contributed by Sam Worley.

Here’s a Thanksgiving FAQ: Let’s say the clock strikes noon on Thursday, November 24, and you've somehow forgotten to thaw your bird. Hey, it happens! We’ve all had a lot on our minds lately.

Problem is, positive (or panicky) thinking won’t thaw that frozen-solid Butterball in the icebox. In fact, there's not a whole lot that will. Thawing a turkey in the refrigerator can take half the week.

But who says you need to thaw that turkey at all? That's the question posed by the test kitchen at ThermoWorks, makers of our favorite quick-read thermometer, the Thermapen digital thermometer. ThermoWorks VP Tim Robinson told us, in no uncertain terms, that to cook a partially thawed turkey is to invite disaster. A rock-hard, fully unthawed turkey, though? Another matter entirely.

In fact, cooking a turkey that’s frozen solid might even help the turkey breasts—the lean parts most susceptible to drying out—to stay moist. They’re the largest part of the turkey, and in the oven they’ll take longer to thaw than the rest of the bird, meaning they’ll be slower to overcook.

The drawback to cooking a frozen turkey is that it does take a little more time to cook—specifically, ThermoWorks figured, about 50 percent more time, at an oven temperature around 325°F. (And the oven really is your only option. You can’t deep-fry a frozen turkey under any circumstance. The temperature differential between the hot oil and the cold turkey can lead to a situation of extreme boiling over, increasing the danger already inherent in deep-frying a turkey of committing injury to yourself and maybe lighting your home on fire.)

Plan on five or six hours of cook time for a 14-pound turkey, divided into two stages. The first stretch, about two to two and a half hours, is a controlled partial thaw. Seasoning won't adhere to a frozen turkey, so you want to get it a little loosened up before you apply the flavors and remove the giblets.

The second stretch is for finishing the turkey. Stick with a temperature of 325°F, which ensures the turkey gets cooked all the way without becoming overdone. As the turkey nears the end of its time in the oven, Robinson said to check it in several different places—in a couple spots in the thigh, where the temperature should hit 170°F, and in the deepest part of the breast.

Take the turkey out of the oven when the breast temperature reads 157 degrees Fahrenheit, and leave the bird to sit at room temperature for half an hour; it’ll continue to cook. If you leave the thermometer in the turkey during this period, Robinson said, you’ll see the temperature rise eventually to 165°F—the temperature of a perfectly done Thanksgiving centerpiece.

Editor’s Note: This article was written by Melissa Clark for Epicurious several years ago. It has since been expanded and updated by the Epicurious team.

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