The Timing Rule To Remember For Cooking Your Turkey To Perfection

Mastering the perfect turkey is an important milestone for every home cook, especially around the autumnal holidays. The large bird can feed a crowd and is the centerpiece of the Thanksgiving table, so the pressure to cook it flawlessly is certainly there. One of the trickiest parts of this culinary project is getting the timing just right, so we spoke to Freda Sugarman, Executive Chef at Sarabeth's Greenwich Village, and asked about the ideal cooking time for the turkey. The expert's advice is to keep the turkey in the oven "for 15 to 20 minutes a pound."

That means a 16-pound turkey will cook for at least four hours, so take that into consideration when you're planning your Thanksgiving timeline. Four hours can seem like a dauntingly long time to wait, but cooking a whole bird is not something you can rush. In Sugarman's own words, "I think low and slow is the way to go with a turkey." One of the tips for cooking a perfect turkey is to completely thaw it before putting it in the oven. The safest way to do so is in the refrigerator, but you'll have to take into account some more prep time: Each four to five pounds of weight will take a day to thaw. For a 16-pound turkey, that can mean four days of thawing. It's possible to skip the thawing process altogether and cook the turkey frozen, but that will extend the cooking by at least 50 percent.

Temperature-wise, Chef Sugarman advises cooking the turkey at 325 degrees Fahrenheit and points out that "a well calibrated meat thermometer is a chef's best friend for cooking a turkey." According to the USDA, the turkey is safe to eat when it reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit — that's where the thermometer comes in. You'll want to measure the turkey's temperature in three different places to ensure it's fully cooked: Inside the thigh, inside the wing, and in the thickest part of the breast. If you don't have a good thermometer yet, Alpha Grillers is currently a bestseller on Amazon, and ThermoPro is another great pick.

Knowing the ideal timing and temperature tricks, you're all set to make the perfect turkey — and it doesn't have to be a feast exclusive to the holidays, either. Cooking the whole bird can save you time when meal prepping, as you can cut it up and freeze the different parts to use in later meals. White meat is perfect for sandwiches and salads, while dark meat can be used up in hearty stews, like our turkey vegetable soup or turkey butternut squash chili.