Convection oven turkey cooking time by weight
Search for a convection turkey time and you find charts that disagree. One blog roasts at 350 °F, another at 325 °F, and a turkey farmers' association says to go lower still. I opened three of them and put their numbers in one table, so you can see how far apart they are before you pick a start time. Only one of the three offers a rule of thumb: Tasting with Tina says "Convection cooking reduces roasting time by about 30%", without naming the regular oven time it starts from. This page builds no conversion formula from that.
Three charts by weight
Each source uses its own oven temperature and its own weight bands, so the bands do not always line up with my rows. Where my row straddles two bands of a source, the cell shows the band that holds the lower weight. The band each source used is under each time. Canadian Turkey's figures are for an unstuffed bird. The turkey roasting time chart has the regular oven version of these times.
| Weight | It Is a Keeper, 350 °F | Tasting with Tina, 325 °F | Turkey Farmers of Canada, 300 °F |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12 to 14 lb | 1 h 30 min to 2 h12-15 lb | 2 h to 2 h 20 min12-14 lb | no band |
| 14 to 16 lb | 1 h 30 min to 2 h12-15 lb | 2 h 20 min to 2 h 40 min14-16 lb | 2 h 15 min to 2 h 30 min14-18 lb |
| 16 to 18 lb | 2 h to 2 h 30 min15-20 lb | 2 h 40 min to 3 h16-18 lb | 2 h 15 min to 2 h 30 min14-18 lb |
| 18 to 20 lb | 2 h to 2 h 30 min15-20 lb | 3 h to 3 h 20 min18-20 lb | 2 h 30 min to 3 h18-22 lb |
| 20 to 22 lb | 2 h 30 min to 3 h20-25 lb | 3 h 20 min to 3 h 40 min20-22 lb | 2 h 30 min to 3 h18-22 lb |
Read across a row and the gap is large. At 16 to 18 lb, the 350 °F chart says 2 to 2 h 30 min and the 325 °F chart says 2 h 40 min to 3 h. A lower oven temperature explains part of it, and the sources do not say how much. The charts also stop at different sizes: It Is a Keeper goes to 25 lb, Tasting with Tina to 24 lb, and Canadian Turkey to 22 lb.
What the farmers' association says about convection
The Turkey Farmers of Canada guide says that "convection oven cooking temperatures should be 25-50°F (3.9-10°C) lower than conventional oven temperatures", to prevent overbrowning from surface drying. Its table is set at 300 °F. It also warns about crowding: "Avoid overcrowding in the oven when roasting in a convection oven as crowding may inhibit air circulation and slow cooking." Tasting with Tina gives the same advice in other words, saying to keep the pan away from the oven walls so the air can circulate around the bird.
The fan does its work only when air can move. A second pan on the next rack, or a wide roasting pan against the wall, can make the turkey slower than any chart above. If you plan to bake sides at the same time, leave room and expect to add time. Pushing the bird to the long end of the range is the safer guess in a crowded oven (that is my reading, not a rule from the sources).
A 14 lb bird, start times for 5 PM
Here is the same turkey run through each source. I took the long end of each range and a 30 minute rest, which is my choice, so the bird comes out at 4:30 PM. A 14 lb bird fits a band in each source: 12–15 lb for It Is a Keeper, 14–18 lb for Canadian Turkey, and for Tasting with Tina it sits on the edge of 12–14 lb and 14–16 lb, so I used 12–14 lb.
| Source | Oven | Roast time | Goes in |
|---|---|---|---|
| It Is a Keeper12-15 lb | 350 °F | 1 h 30 min to 2 h | 2:30 PM |
| Tasting with Tina12-14 lb | 325 °F | 2 h to 2 h 20 min | 2:10 PM |
| Turkey Farmers of Canada14-18 lb, unstuffed | 300 °F | 2 h 15 min to 2 h 30 min | 2:00 PM |
That is a 30 minute spread in start time between the three, from 2:00 PM to 2:30 PM. Your oven and bird can move it further, so start checking the temperature at the short end of the range.
When it is done
- Convection charts only estimate when to start checking. USDA's safe minimum for a turkey is 165 °F, measured with a food thermometer in the innermost part of the thigh and wing and the thickest part of the breast (see the USDA FSIS guide). Check all three spots, whichever oven setting you chose.
- The sources add their own targets. It Is a Keeper pulls at 165 °F between the leg and breast. Tasting with Tina roasts until the breast reaches 165 °F and the thighs 175 °F.
- Rest: It Is a Keeper says at least 30 minutes (another tip on its page says 20), Tasting with Tina 20 to 30 minutes or up to an hour. How the rest changes your oven schedule is on how long to rest a turkey.
The same turkey in a one-oven dinner
Menu: a 14 lb convection turkey at 325 °F for 2 h 20 min (the long end of Tasting with Tina's 12 to 14 lb row), resting 1 h under foil, then stuffing in a dish, sweet potato casserole and dinner rolls at 350 °F. One oven, dinner at 5 PM. The turkey goes in at 1:40 PM and comes out at 4:00 PM. The 60 minute rest is my pick, because the sides need the oven while the bird waits.
| Time | Step |
|---|---|
| 1:25 PM | Preheat the oven to 325 °F |
| 1:40 PM | Put Convection turkey, 14 lb in the oven (325 °F, 2 h 20 min) |
| 4:00 PM | Take Convection turkey, 14 lb out to rest, covered (1 h before serving) |
| 4:00 PM | Set the oven to 350 °F and let it get there |
| 4:15 PM | Put Stuffing (in a dish) in the oven (350 °F, 45 min) |
| 4:30 PM | Put Sweet potato casserole in the oven (350 °F, 30 min) |
| 4:45 PM | Put Dinner rolls in the oven (350 °F, 15 min) |
| 5:00 PM | Take Stuffing (in a dish) out |
| 5:00 PM | Take Sweet potato casserole out |
| 5:00 PM | Take Dinner rolls out |
| 5:00 PM | Serve |
The roast time is the number you will most likely change. If your thermometer says the bird needs 20 more minutes, open this menu in the planner, set the turkey's cook time to what you chose, and the start times and the oven changes move with it.
Related
- Short on oven time? A spatchcocked turkey roasts in 1 to 2 hours and frees the oven for the sides.
- Full menu, one oven: Thanksgiving dinner with one oven.
- Cooking time for the regular oven: turkey roasting time chart.