Turkey: Ideal cooking times
These cooking times are for a preheated electric fan-assisted oven at a temperature of
180°C, and are based on a breadcrumb stuffing. For other types of oven please see
www.safefood.eu or phone the safefood helpline number below.
Total weight
in kilos
Unstuffed
Neck-stuffed
Cavity-stuffed
Up to 5.4 kg
45 mins per kg
plus 20 mins
45 mins per kg
plus 20 mins
50 mins per kg
plus 20 mins
5.5 kg to 7.4 kg
40 minutes per kg
plus 20 mins
40 minutes per kg
plus 20 mins
45 minutes per kg
plus 20 mins
7.5 kg or more
30 minutes per kg
plus 20 mins
30 minutes per kg
plus 20 mins
40 minutes per kg
plus 20 mins
Unstuffed
Neck-stuffed
Cavity-stuffed
Less than 12 lbs
21 mins per lb
plus 20 mins
21 mins per lb
plus 20 mins
23 mins per lb
plus 20 mins
12 to 16 lbs
19 minutes per lb
plus 20 mins
19 minutes per lb
plus 20 mins
21 minutes per lb
plus 20 mins
More than 16 lbs
14 minutes per lb
plus 20 mins
14 minutes per lb
plus 20 mins
20 minutes per lb
plus 20 mins
Total weight
in pounds
Your Christmas present from safefood:
a safe and tasty stuffed turkey
How to cook your turkey
At Christmas time we previously recommended that it was safest to cook your stuffing
outside the turkey.
• The amount of stuffing you use should weigh no more than 10% of the weight
of the bird
• When stuffing the cavity, pack it as loosely as you can
• Cook the turkey breast up
• Rub the turkey with butter and season with salt and pepper before cooking
• Cover with foil up until the final half hour
• Baste the turkey every hour
• Remove the foil for the last half hour to brown the skin
• Allow to rest for half an hour before serving
• And remember, always make sure your cooked turkey is piping hot all the way
through, with no pink meat, and all the juices run clear.
But we know Christmas isn’t the same without stuffing, so this year we set out to
develop some new advice on how to cook a stuffed bird safely.
For the last few months we have been testing different cooking times in a specialist
laboratory kitchen, with professional tasters on hand to score the results.
Now we can give you some new cooking times, which guarantee that this Christmas
your family will enjoy turkey at its very best – and complete with all the trimmings.
For the safest, tastiest stuffed turkey this Christmas, follow these steps: