How long to rest a turkey before carving

How long to rest a turkey, by size

At least 20 minutes for any whole turkey, and closer to 45 for a big one. The sources start at 15 or 20 minutes and differ on how long to go past it. University of Illinois Extension's roasting guide says 20 to 30 minutes. University of Wyoming Extension says 15 to 20, and Butterball says about 20. America's Test Kitchen goes longest, at about 45 minutes.

Most of the difference is the bird's size. A large turkey holds more heat, so it can sit longer without going cold, and ATK credits a big bird's size and shape for how well it keeps that heat. Our times:

How long it can wait is a separate question, with a longer answer. America's Test Kitchen roasted a 14-pound and an 18-pound turkey and left them uncovered in a 78°F kitchen to see how fast they cooled. Both birds were cooked to 160°F in the breast, a little under the USDA's 165°F.

ATK used 130°F as the lowest temperature for carving a turkey that still eats warm. Its conclusion was that a whole bird stays warm well beyond the standard 30-minute rest, so a late side dish isn't a reason to carve early.

Carryover cooking: what temperature to pull the turkey

Pull it at 165°F, measured in three places, and expect the breast to keep rising for a while after it's out. Illinois Extension's guide has you check the innermost part of the thigh and the wing and the thickest part of the breast, and every one of them needs to read 165°F (74°C). ATK takes the breast out at 165°F too, and wants 170 to 175°F in the thighs, because leg meat needs the extra heat to render its fat and connective tissue and turn tender, as ThermoWorks explains.

The rise after the oven is called carryover cooking. The outside of a roast is hotter than the middle, and that heat keeps moving inward after the oven door shuts. ThermoWorks, which makes kitchen thermometers, says a large roast or a turkey can rise as much as 10 to 15°F, and that the bigger the piece of meat, the bigger the rise. In a test by Thermapen's UK maker, two turkeys of about 9 pounds (4 to 4.5 kg), each taken out at a set temperature, rose another 6°C and 8°C (11°F and 14°F) as they rested, and the first peaked 13 minutes after leaving the oven. A third, roasted for the time printed on its packet, came out at 97°C (207°F), rose no further, and was dry and overcooked.

Some cooks use carryover to finish the breast. ThermoWorks' turkey guide takes the bird out when the breast reads 157°F (69°C) and lets the rest carry it to 165°F, with the thighs already at 175°F or more. Wyoming Extension says turkey is safe as soon as all parts reach at least 165°F, so if you pull early, check the breast again during the rest and don't carve until it reads 165°F. If it stalls short of that, it goes back in the oven.

Should you tent a resting turkey with foil?

Not for a normal rest. ATK says not to tent a resting turkey at all, because foil makes the skin soggy and the bird stays hot without it. The birds in the cooling table above were uncovered the whole time.

Tent it for a wait of more than an hour, a cold room, or a small bird, which loses its heat sooner. Keep the foil loose. ThermoWorks says a tent conserves some heat while still letting air circulate, so the surface doesn't steam, and that skin you want crisp needs extra care. Reynolds, which makes foil, covers the roasted turkey and lets it stand 15 minutes before slicing.

Foil also has a job earlier in the day. Illinois Extension starts the turkey under a loose tent of heavy-duty foil and takes it off after 1 to 1½ hours so the skin browns.

Keeping turkey hot for the table

Carve as late as you can and only as much as the table will eat in the first round. A whole bird holds heat for over an hour, and slices start losing it the moment they're cut.

• Warm the platter. ATK warms serving dishes in a 150 to 200°F oven or by filling them with very hot tap water, then drying them, and says a warm dish keeps food hot for 5 or 10 minutes.
• If the carved meat has to wait, cover it with foil and put it in a low oven. Nebraska Extension says most hot foods hold for 15 to 20 minutes in an oven preheated to 200 to 250°F. For longer, check with a thermometer that the meat stays at 140°F (60°C) or above, and turn the oven up if it doesn't.
• Leave the rest on the bone until seconds. On the bird it stays hot far longer than slices fanned out on a platter.
• Serve the gravy hot. Bring it to a boil just before it goes to the table.

What to do while the turkey rests

Everything that needed the oven. With the turkey out, turn the oven up to around 375°F for the stuffing and casseroles, and finish the gravy on the stove with the drippings. To know when that window opens, the free turkey calculator gives the USDA roasting time for your bird's weight. The Thanksgiving cooking timeline builds Thursday afternoon around that window, and stuffing made a day ahead reheats in it. If the gravy goes lumpy at the last minute, how to fix lumpy gravy has fixes that take less time than the rest.

The potatoes are the dish most likely to go cold during the rest, because they're usually done first. How to keep mashed potatoes warm covers the slow cooker, the double boiler and the low oven.

Write the rest into the recipe as its own step, with a number: “Rest 30 minutes, uncovered.” In Hedgehog Chef's cook mode, a step like that becomes a timer button, and you can run it alongside the timers for the sides. Cook a meal takes the turkey, the sides and the time you want to eat, and schedules every step backwards from it. To shrink or grow a recipe for a different number of guests first, paste it into the free recipe scaler.