Page 191 - Turkey Book from Meathead

A clock cannot tell you when food is cooked. Only a digital thermometer can do this. Click here for a list of our Platinum Medal winning thermometers. Turkeys are notoriously unpredictable in the wild and only slightly less so in the oven. The two most important factors in determining cooking time are the cooking temp and the thickness of the thickest piece of meat, the breast. But actual cooking time will vary depending on how well the turkey is defrosted, whether or not you brined or injected, what temp your fridge is, if it sat at room temp for a while, how close your bird is to the gravy pan, how well your cooker holds steady, the quality of your thermometers, airflow within the cooker, humidity in the cooker, and the breast size of your bird. That's a lot of variables!
Now if you are an experienced low and slow cook, you know that low temps keep protein loose, which holds in moisture. But we are cooking at 325°F, not the normal 225°F (the slightly higher temp is needed to crisp the skin), so the bird will cook much faster than you think. Given all those disclaimers, the table here is a rough guide for how long it will take to get the temp to 160°F minimum in all parts of the bird. Do not bet on it. Bet on a good thermometer. If you don't have one, don't blame us if your guests get tummy aches (or worse), if you keep your guests waiting, or if you serve shoe leather.
And please don't ask us how long a stued bird will take. Stued birds are a safety risk as we discuss below, and as we also explain below, stung the bird guarantees overcooked