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Turkey Roasting Time Calculator

Get the roasting time and how many days to thaw your turkey based on its weight.

How it is calculated

Roasting time is the bird's weight multiplied by a time per kilogram: minutes = kg × min/kg. The weight is in kilograms and must be above zero. The optional per_kg input is minutes per kilogram; if it is empty or not positive the tool uses 40, an assumption of roughly 175 °C. Minutes are rounded to a whole number and hours are shown with one decimal. The fridge thaw time is a rule of thumb of about one day per 2 kg: days = kg ÷ 2, shown with one decimal. These are estimates. Oven differences, stuffing, and starting temperature change the real time, so confirm doneness with a meat thermometer.

Worked example

A turkey weighs 5.5 kg and the default 40 minutes per kilogram is used. Multiply: 5.5 × 40 = 220 min. Dividing by 60 gives 3.7 hours. For thawing in the fridge, 5.5 ÷ 2 = 2.8 days, so start about three days ahead. With a slower 45 minutes per kilogram the roast time would be 248 minutes, or 4.1 hours.

Try this example →

Common mistakes

  • Entering the weight in pounds. The tool expects kilograms, so 12 lb must first be converted to about 5.4 kg.
  • Using the weight with stuffing or giblets when the figure assumes the bird alone, or the reverse.
  • Reading the thaw figure as hours. It is the number of days in the fridge.
  • Starting the clock before the oven is hot, or opening the door often, which stretches the real time.
  • Serving by the clock alone. The time is an estimate; check the thickest part with a thermometer before carving.

About this calculator

This calculator estimates roasting time from bird weight using the common guideline of roughly 13 minutes per pound at 325°F (163°C) for an unstuffed turkey — close to what the USDA and most poultry roasting charts recommend, with stuffed birds needing extra time since heat has to reach the center of the stuffing too. It also estimates safe fridge-thawing time using the standard rule of about 24 hours of thawing for every 4–5 pounds of frozen turkey, the slow, food-safe method recommended over thawing at room temperature.

Home cooks planning a Thanksgiving or holiday roast use this to work backward from a serving time — figuring out both when to move the turkey from freezer to fridge and when to put it in the oven — without over- or under-shooting the cook, since roasting time scales with weight but not perfectly linearly across very small or very large birds.

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