Thanksgiving oven schedule

Reheating leftover turkey: temperature, oven and the 2-hour rule

Two numbers matter for leftover turkey. It has to be in the refrigerator within 2 hours of cooking, and it has to reach 165 °F when you reheat it. The first one is easy to miss on Thanksgiving, because the clock starts when the turkey comes out of the oven. The table below turns that into a time for each dinner hour. USDA's turkey brochure gives the oven setting for reheating, but no time, so the thermometer decides when it is done.

What is published

• Refrigerate in time: Illinois Extension's Storing Leftovers says to store leftovers in the refrigerator "within 2 hours after cooking is completed", with large amounts divided into several shallow containers so they cool faster.
• How long they keep: the same page gives cooked turkey 3 to 4 days in the refrigerator and 2 to 3 months in the freezer, and gravy 1 to 2 days in the refrigerator and 2 to 3 months in the freezer. It also says not to wait until day 4 to freeze the turkey.
• Reheat to 165 °F: Food Safety News lists USDA tips for Thanksgiving leftovers: reheat to an internal temperature of 165 °F, and bring gravy and sauces to a rolling boil. It says leftovers are safe for three to four days. USDA's leftovers page (FSIS) is the original source. I could not open it, so the boil wording here is from Food Safety News. The 165 °F target is also in USDA's own brochure, below.
• Oven reheating, from USDA's brochure Let's Talk Turkey (section "Reheating Your Turkey"): set the oven no lower than 325 °F, reheat the turkey to an internal temperature of 165 °F and check it with a food thermometer, and to keep it moist add a little broth or water and cover. The same brochure says to discard turkey, stuffing and gravy left out at room temperature longer than 2 hours, or 1 hour above 90 °F, to refrigerate or freeze leftovers in covered shallow containers, and to use refrigerated leftovers within 3 to 4 days. Frozen leftovers are best within 2 to 6 months. Illinois Extension says 2 to 3 months, and USDA's 2 to 6 months is the best-quality window, so I use the shorter one.
• Not found: a reheating time. It depends on the size of the pieces, so the thermometer decides.

The 2-hour clock on Thanksgiving

I count from the moment the turkey comes out of the oven, the cautious reading of Illinois's "after cooking is completed". Say it comes out 60 minutes before dinner, the longest wait the planner allows for a rested turkey. The 2 hours then end 60 minutes after dinner is served. Anything on the table has to go into the refrigerator by then. This is my arithmetic from the Illinois rule, not a published schedule. Food Safety News adds that above 90 °F, such as in a hot kitchen, perishable food should be refrigerated within just one hour.

If the turkey sits longer after cooking, the deadline moves earlier by the same amount. The practical version: carve and pack the leftovers into shallow containers while people are still at the table, or as soon as they leave it.

Reheating in the oven

USDA's setting is an oven of 325 °F or higher, with the turkey covered and a little broth or water added, until a food thermometer reads 165 °F. No time is given. My suggestion: use a shallow dish, cover it tightly with foil, and start checking the thickest piece early. Thin slices heat much sooner than a thick chunk.

A lower, slower method is also published. America's Test Kitchen, as described on the ThermoWorks blog, heats foil-wrapped turkey at 275 °F until it reads 130 °F, which keeps it moist. That is below USDA's 165 °F for reheating leftovers, and the same article says 130 °F will not effectively kill bacteria that built up while the meat sat out. This page does not recommend stopping there. If you use a low oven, keep the turkey in until the thermometer reads 165 °F.

Doing it with the sides

• The day after Thanksgiving, the oven is free, so the turkey does not have to share it. If you are reheating the sides too, the side reheating times use 350 °F, and the side dish chart has the rest.
• Gravy goes on the stovetop, to a rolling boil, so it does not need oven space at all.
• Planning to cook the turkey ahead and reheat it for the meal? Then the reheat is the main event. The make-ahead timeline lists what can be done days earlier. I did not find a source that endorses reheating a whole cooked turkey for the dinner, so I do not plan for it.
• Freezing is the other option: portion the turkey, freeze it within the 3 to 4 day window, and use it within 2 to 3 months (the shorter of the two published figures).

More oven timing

• How long to rest a turkey, which sets when the turkey leaves the oven.
• Turkey roasting time chart by weight.
• Thanksgiving timeline by dinner time.