Turkey Cooking Time Calculator
Estimate how long a turkey needs in the oven by weight, whether it is stuffed, and what temperature you are roasting at.
What you need
3.58hours
Estimated roasting time — An estimate. Internal temperature decides when it is done.
- Start checking the temperature at
- 2.83 hours
- Works out at
- 15.4 min/lb
About 45 minutes before the estimate, and every 20 minutes after.
Larger birds take fewer minutes per pound than small ones.
Guide figures. Ingredient weights, pan sizes and cooking times all vary — see the assumptions below for the ones used.
Shop this project
Every time on this page is an estimate. A thermometer is the part that is not. Quantities come straight from your calculation above — check them against your supplier's pack sizes before ordering.
Prep & extras
Baster and butcher's twine
Tools & equipment
Leave-in probe thermometer
Stays in the thigh with the display outside the oven, so you stop opening the door to check.
Instant-read thermometer
The only way to know a bird is done. Every roasting time on this site is an estimate; this is the measurement.
Roasting pan with rack
The rack matters more than the pan — it lifts the bird so the underside roasts instead of stewing.
Oven thermometer
Home ovens routinely run 25 degrees off the dial, which matters more once you have changed pan.
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How to use the turkey cooking time calculator
Roasting time depends on weight, on whether the bird is stuffed, and on the oven temperature — but not proportionally, because a bigger bird takes longer per pound to heat through than a small one. Enter yours for an estimate, then let the thermometer make the final call.
Why the clock is only a planning tool
Roasting time depends on the starting temperature of the bird, the true temperature of your oven, how often the door opens, whether the turkey is trussed, and whether it went in straight from the fridge. Any one of those moves the result by half an hour, and recipes cannot know about them.
What the estimate is genuinely for is planning — when to start, when the oven is occupied, when to put the sides in. Treat it as a schedule and let a thermometer tell you when to take it out.
Where to put the thermometer
The thickest part of the thigh, angled in from the side, not touching bone. Bone conducts heat faster than meat and will read high, which is the most common way a turkey comes out underdone. The thigh is the slowest part of the bird, so it is the part that decides.
If the bird is stuffed, the centre of the stuffing needs 165 °F too, and it will get there well after the meat does. That gap is the real argument for baking stuffing in a dish alongside: waiting for the stuffing is what overcooks the breast.
What this calculator assumes
Every estimate depends on figures that vary by supplier and conditions. These are the ones used here, so you can sanity-check the result against your own quote.
- Times follow USDA roasting guidance for a thawed bird at 325 °F in a conventional oven, taken as the midpoint of each published bracket. The 350 °F and 375 °F options scale that estimate down by about 10% and 18% respectively, which is an approximation rather than published guidance.
- The turkey is done when a thermometer reads 165 °F (74 °C) in the thickest part of the thigh without touching bone, and — if stuffed — in the centre of the stuffing as well. That temperature is the standard, not the clock.
- Time does not scale evenly with weight, which is why this uses a published table rather than a single minutes-per-pound figure. A 10 pound bird runs about 17 minutes per pound and a 22 pound bird about 13.
- A convection oven runs roughly 25% faster, and many ovens are 15 to 25 degrees off their dial. Both are larger effects than the difference between the temperature options here.
- Rest the bird 20 to 30 minutes before carving. Internal temperature rises a few more degrees while it rests, and the juices redistribute instead of running out onto the board.
- An unstuffed bird is both faster and more predictable. Cooking the stuffing separately removes the slowest, riskiest part of the job.
Frequently asked questions
How long do I cook a 20 pound turkey?
About 4 and a half hours unstuffed at 325 °F, or roughly 4 hours 40 minutes stuffed. Start checking the temperature around 45 minutes before that, because ovens vary more than recipes admit.
How many minutes per pound for turkey?
Roughly 13 to 15 minutes per pound unstuffed at 325 °F, and 15 to 17 stuffed — but the figure drops as the bird gets bigger, so a single number is misleading at the extremes. A 10 pound turkey needs about 17 minutes per pound; a 22 pound one about 13.
Should I cook a turkey at 325 or 350?
325 °F is the standard and the safer choice for a large bird, because it gives the centre time to reach temperature before the breast dries out. 350 °F saves around 10% of the time and browns better, which suits a smaller turkey. Above 375 the outside outruns the inside.
Is the pop-up timer in my turkey reliable?
Not really. Pop-up timers are generally set to trigger around 180 °F, well past the 165 °F the bird is safe at, so by the time it pops the breast is usually overcooked. Use your own thermometer in the thigh and ignore it.
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