How to use the online timer
Three hours is a rough figure for a turkey of around five to six kilograms in a moderate oven, but weight drives this more than any other roast, and a bird bought for a full Christmas table will need considerably longer. The common guide is around twenty minutes per 500 grams plus a further twenty, adjusted upwards again if the cavity is stuffed, since the stuffing has to come up to a safe temperature as well.
Turkey is the hardest bird to judge by eye, because the outside looks finished long before the thigh has caught up. A thermometer is close to essential: 75°C at the thickest part of the thigh, kept away from the bone, checked in two or three places. Taking it out of the fridge an hour or two beforehand reduces the gap between breast and leg.
Tent the breast with foil once it has coloured, so the drier white meat is not still roasting while the legs finish, and take the foil off near the end if the skin needs reviving. Rest it for a full thirty to forty minutes under loose foil. That rest is also when the oven is free for roast potatoes at full heat, which is convenient on a day when nothing else is.
Common questions
How long does a larger turkey need?
Roughly twenty minutes per 500 grams plus another twenty, added to if the cavity is stuffed. A bird much over six kilograms will need considerably more than three hours.
How long should it rest before carving?
Thirty to forty minutes under loose foil, which is longer than most roasts and does not risk it going cold. That gap is also when the oven is free for the roast potatoes.
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