How to properly oven roast a turkey

It’s funny when I hear people talk about cooking a turkey for Thanksgiving or Christmas.  A state of panic sets in but why?  My approach when I cook a bird is pretty straight forward.  To me it’s just a big chicken.  It’s bigger, fatter, heavier and stuffed with more stuff.  So I just adjust my cooking times and temp and just let my oven work it’s magic. That being said I went straight to my trusty source to get the facts to share with you.

Important Tips

♥ Make sure when you put your turkey in a roasting pan you put it on a roasting rack, breast side up.  If you don’t have a rack just crumple up some tin foil and line the bottom. You don’t want the bird to sit on the bottom of the pan
♥ Your turkey is done when the temperature with a meat thermometer is 180° F in thigh and 165° F in breast or stuffing.
♥ Cover neck and exposed stuffing with foil to prevent over-browning for turkey breasts.
♥ When the turkey is about 2/3 done, loosely cover breast and top of drumsticks with a piece of foil to prevent overcooking.
♥ When your turkey is up to temperature, remove it from the oven and the roasting pan. Place on a platter and let to sit for at least 25 minutes prior to carving.

Cooking Temps

♥ For whole turkeys, turkey breasts or even a boneless bird cook them at 325F  (standard or convection). Your bird will state what temperature to cook it at.  Some manufacturers say 325F while others say 350F. I personally go with 325F as that falls into alignment with the USDA.

Cooking Times

For more details see the USDA site about turkey cooking.

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