Roasting a turkey for Thanksgiving Day

          Here are some basics about roasting a turkey

Brining a turkey

Before your cook a turkey or roast a turkey, you need to brine it. That is, you need a turkey brine recipe.  One that is commonly used is as follows:

1 cup salt
half cup brown sugar
1 gallon vegetable stock
1 tablespoon black peppercorns
1.5 teaspoons allspice berries
1.5 teaspoons chopped ginger
1 gallon iced water

Simply combine all the ingredients in a 5-gallon bucket and keep your turkey completely covered in the brine for at least 12 hours at temperature below 38 oF, that is, in a refrigerator or  a cool place.

For more information, visit One Turkey Brine Recipe

Roasting a turkey time

Turkey roasting times depend on the size of your turkey and your oven temperature and the latter is often pretty much fixed at 325 to 350 oF so the only determinant is the size of your turkey.  To determine how long to cook a turkey per pound, you may use the following timetables:

Un-stuffed

4 to 8 pounds (breast) 1½ to 3¼ hours
8 to 12 pounds 2¾ to 3 hours
12 to 14 pounds 3 to 3¾ hours
14 to 18 pounds 3¾ to 4¼ hours
18 to 20 pounds 4¼ to 4½ hours
20 to 24 pounds 4½ to 5 hours

Stuffed

4 to 6 pounds (breast) Not usually applicable
6 to 8 pounds (breast) 2½ to 3½ hours
8 to 12 pounds 3 to 3½ hours
12 to 14 pounds 3½ to 4 hours
14 to 18 pounds 4 to 4¼ hours
18 to 20 pounds 4¼ to 4¾ hours
20 to 24 pounds 4¾ to 5¼ hours

If you roast a frozen turkey directly, you will need to double the cooking time.

Read How long to cook a turkey per pound for more information.

Roasting a turkey in a roaster oven

If you want to roast your turkey in a roaster oven, please make sure to read the manufacturer's instruction manual carefully.  The most important thing you need to know is that you need to heat the coldest spot in the turkey to a minimal of 165 oF to prevent any potential bacterial growth.

Roasting a turkey in a convection oven

Convection ovens differ from traditional ovens in that they circulate heated air using a fan.  Because of this, using a convention oven to roast a turkey can cut the turkey roasting times by about 25 percent as some claim.

Some cooking time and temperature estimates are as follows:

Assume the cooking temperature is 300 oF, then

for 14 to 18 lbs of unstuffed turkey, you need about 135 to 145 minutes.  For 18 to 22 lbs of unstuffed turkey, you need about 150 to 180 minutes.

for 14 - 18 lbs of stuffed turkey, you need 150 to 180 minutes. For 18 to 22 lbs of stuffed turkey, you need 180 to 210 minutes.

The roasting time varies with many parameters. You may need to adjust it a bit for your turkey and oven.

Happy thanksgiving day!