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Always check the turkey is cooked before serving: the thickest part of the thigh (or centre of a crown) should reach 74C on a meat thermometer, the juices should run clear and no pink meat should remain. Times are a guide; ovens vary.
What The Turkey Cooking Time Calculator Works Out
- Cooking time: the standard UK guidance at 180C fan (190C conventional, gas mark 5) is 20 minutes per kg plus 70 minutes for birds under 4kg, or 20 minutes per kg plus 90 minutes for 4kg and over, rounded to the nearest 5 minutes. A typical 5kg turkey needs about 3 hours 10 minutes; a 7kg bird about 3 hours 50 minutes. The same timings work for a crown using the weight on the label.
- Stuffed: if you stuff the neck end, weigh the bird after stuffing and the calculator adds 20 minutes. Cooking the main stuffing separately is safer and helps the bird cook evenly.
- Resting time: at least 30 minutes loosely covered in foil, up to an hour for a big bird. It stays hot far longer than you expect and the meat is noticeably juicier.
- Into the oven at: if you enter a serving time, the calculator works the day backwards: out of the fridge an hour before cooking (it should not go in fridge-cold), into the oven, out to rest, carve.
- Resting and fridge time (advanced): override the 30 minute rest and the 60 minutes out of the fridge; both move every step of the plan.
- Your oven (advanced): ovens drift from their dials by 10C to 20C. Choose "runs hot" to trim 10% or "runs cool" to add 10%, which is also sensible if the door will be opened often for basting.
- Extra time if stuffed (advanced): the 20 minute allowance is editable for a heavily stuffed bird.
- This bird feeds and weight you need (advanced): a whole bird on the bone serves about one person per 500g, a boneless crown about one per 300g, both with some leftovers. Enter your head count to see the weight to order; 5kg comfortably feeds 8 to 10.
- Defrosting time (advanced): a frozen turkey needs 10 to 12 hours per kg in the fridge, so a 5kg bird takes over two days. The plan tells you how many days before serving to start. Never defrost at room temperature.
- Start checking the temperature and preheat (advanced): begin probing 30 minutes before the calculated end, and switch the oven on 20 minutes before the bird goes in. The only reliable test of doneness is 74C in the thickest part of the thigh, or the centre of a crown, with juices running clear.
Source and further reading: Food Standards Agency: cooking safely.