Thanksgiving oven schedule

What time to put the turkey in the oven

Find your turkey's weight, then your dinner time. The cell is the latest clock time the bird should go into a 325 °F (163 °C) oven so it is out 30 minutes before everyone sits down. For a 14 to 18 lb unstuffed turkey and a 2:00 PM dinner, that is 9:15 AM, with the oven turned on at 9:00 AM.

Unstuffed turkey: in the oven by

Wide table: scroll it sideways on a phone. Times are for a thawed bird.

Stuffed turkey: in the oven by

USDA's stuffed times run longer at the long end for most weights, so most rows go in 15 to 30 minutes earlier than the unstuffed ones. The 14 to 18 lb row is the exception: both tables end at 4¼ hours. USDA advises cooking the stuffing in a dish instead; if you stuff the bird anyway, the center of the stuffing has to reach 165 °F (74 °C) as well.

Worked example: 14 to 18 lb for a 2:00 PM dinner

1. USDA gives 3¾ to 4¼ hours for an unstuffed turkey of 14 to 18 lb at 325 °F. Plan for the long end: 4 h 15 min.
2. Dinner is at 2:00 PM. Take 30 minutes off for resting and carving: the turkey comes out at 1:30 PM.
3. Count 4 h 15 min back from 1:30 PM: the turkey goes in at 9:15 AM.
4. Turn the oven on 15 minutes before that, at 9:00 AM. That is the planner's allowance for preheating; give a slow oven longer.
5. Start checking the thermometer at the short end of the range, 3 h 45 min in: 1:00 PM. If it reads 165 °F (74 °C) then, take it out. It rests 60 minutes instead of 30, covered with foil.

Open this in the planner with the sides

The planner opens with this turkey, a 2:00 PM dinner and the one-oven Thanksgiving menu. The sides bake while the turkey rests there, so it comes out an hour before dinner and goes in 30 minutes earlier than the table says. Change any dish and the checklist follows.

Why the 30 minutes, and when to use an hour

• USDA's turkey brochure says to let the bird stand 20 minutes before carving. I added 10 minutes for carving and getting it to the table, which is where the 30 comes from.
• That works when the sides have their own oven, or were baked earlier and only need the stovetop. With one oven, the sides usually bake while the turkey rests, so it comes out about an hour before dinner. Then every time above moves 30 minutes earlier. The timeline by dinner time lays out that one-oven day hour by hour.
• If the turkey has to wait longer than planned, keep it covered. For what changes with a longer wait, see how long to rest a turkey and how to keep a turkey warm before serving.

When the clock and the thermometer disagree

The table is for planning the day. Whether the turkey is done is up to the thermometer: USDA says a whole turkey is safe at 165 °F (74 °C) in the thickest part of the breast and the innermost part of the thigh and wing. An oven that runs cool or a bird that is still partly frozen inside can take longer than the long end. Planning for the long end leaves slack in the other direction: if it's done early, it only rests longer.

Roasting from frozen takes at least 50 percent longer, per USDA, so these clock times don't apply. Start from when to thaw a turkey instead.

Other ovens and other temperatures

• Oven at 350 °F instead of 325 °F: the hours are shorter. See turkey cooking time at 350 °F.
• Short on time: a spatchcocked turkey roasts at 425 °F (218 °C) in about 1 to 2 hours.
• Turkey in an electric roaster, to keep the oven free for sides: roaster oven turkey cooking time.
• Every USDA row with a 5 PM "start checking" time, and breast-only rows: the turkey roasting time chart.

Source

Roasting hours, the 325 °F oven setting, the 165 °F target, the 20-minute stand and the frozen-bird note are from USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service, Let's Talk Turkey: A Consumer Guide to Safely Roasting a Turkey (revised April 2010), published by USDA FSIS, read as the University of Wisconsin-Madison Extension copy. The clock times, the extra 10 minutes and the 15-minute preheat are my own arithmetic on top.