How to Cook a Turkey FAST: 90 minute turkey recipe (2024)

FAQs

Can a turkey be done in 2 hours? ›

The trick to having a turkey ready in two hours is to use a hot oven and a small turkey. I learned this recipe originally from Julia Child, but I've changed it along the way. The turkey should be no more than 14 pounds. If the roasting pan is more than 2 inches larger than the turkey, the juices may burn.

There are different thoughts about how low to go, but I like 170-180°F for smaller turkeys and 200°F for larger turkeys (20-24 pounders). Some recipes suggest starting at a high heat for an hour and then lowering it for the remainder of the time but I prefer to keep it simple and keep it low until the very end.

The simplest way to figure out turkey roasting times is to calculate 13 minutes per pound at 350°F for an unstuffed turkey (that's about 3 hours for a 12- to 14-lb. turkey), or 15 minutes per pound for a stuffed turkey.

We recommend preheating the oven to 325°F and not much higher. While higher temperatures will cook a turkey faster, they'll also increase the chances that your bird will singe or even burn on the outside before the inside is cooked through.

Oven-Roasted Turkey

We recommend starting the turkey in a 425 degree oven for 30-45 minutes before tenting the pan with foil and lowering the temperature to 350 degrees until a meat thermometer reads 165 degrees when inserted into the thickest part of the bird.

A 20 pound turkey will take between 4 to 4 1/2 hours to come to temperature if your oven is 325°F. Here are some other cook times if your bird weighs differently: 10-12 pounds: cook 2 3/4 to 3 hours at 325°F. 15-16 pounds: cook 3 1/2 to 4 hours at 325°F.

A 12 pound turkey takes about 3 hours to cook. Start at 325℉ for 2 hours, then increase the temperature to 400℉ for another hour. For a larger bird, increase the initial cooking time (at 325℉) by 15 minutes per pound.

If you are cooking a small turkey, a boned and rolled turkey, or a turkey crown you can use our Turkey cooking time calculator. Otherwise, preheat the oven to 180°C / 350ºF / Gas Mark 4 and allow 20 min per pound (lb) plus 20 minutes.

To achieve a perfectly golden, juicy turkey, let the bird spend time both covered and uncovered in the oven. We recommend covering your bird for most of the cooking time to prevent it from drying out; then, during the last 30 minutes or so of cooking, remove the cover so the skin crisps in the hot oven.

Is it better to cook a turkey fast or slow? ›

The reason that turkey is so often very dry is that it's overcooked. We want to slow cook the turkey. Don't remove the turkey from the oven! Just reduce the heat.

8-12 lb turkey: 1 1/2 to 2 hours; 12 to 16 lb turkey: 2 to 2 1/2 hours; 16-20 lb turkey: 2 1/2 to 3 hours; 20-24 lb turkey: 3 to 3 1/2 hours.

The rule of thumb for an unstuffed turkey is that it cooks at a rate of 13 minutes per pound in a 350ºF oven. At this rate, a 6-pound turkey will take 78 minutes (or 1 hour and 18 minutes). A 15-pound turkey will take 195 minutes (or 3 hours and 15 minutes).

Allow at least 2 inches of space around the oven walls so heat can circulate around the turkey. The use of an aluminum foil tent for the entire roasting time will slow down cooking. A stuffed turkey takes longer to cook.

The bigger the bird, the lower the temperature you should cook it (and for a longer time), Guillard says. "You want to make sure it's (cooked) throughout without getting too brown on the outside," he says. For example, if he had a 20 pound turkey, Guillard says he would cook it at around 300 degrees.

Brush your turkey with olive oil, salt and pepper (if desired). Roast at 450˚F for approximately 70 minutes for a 12 pound turkey. Your turkey is safe to eat when the thermometer registers 165˚F in the innermost part of the thigh, the innermost part of the wing and the thickest part of the breast.