How to Take the Temperature of a Turkey

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Many supermarket turkeys come with a preinserted timer set to pop when the temperature of the bird reaches 178 degrees Fahrenheit. But if you wait that long your breast meat will be dry and overcooked. We recommend that you remove the bird from the oven when the breast temperature reaches 165 degrees and the thickest part of the thighs reaches between 170 and 175 degrees.
To take the temperature of the breast, insert the thermometer into the deepest part of the breast, holding it parallel to the bird at the neck end. Confirm the temperature by inserting the thermometer in both sides of the breast, being careful to not go so deep as to hit the bone (which can compromise the reading).
To take the temperature of the thigh, insert the thermometer into the thickest portion of the thigh away from the bone. Confirm the temperature by inserting the thermometer in both thighs.
HERE ARE 3 MORE TIPS TO KNOW WHEN YOUR TURKEY IS DONE:
1. Don't be afraid of a little pink meat. Just because a slice of turkey has a pinkish tint doesn't necessarily mean it’s underdone. In general, the red or pink color in meat comes from the red protein pigment called myoglobin in the muscle cells that store oxygen.
2. As long as the meat has registered the prescribed temperature on your thermometer, it's perfectly safe to eat. Dark meat does take longer to cook than white meat because it stores and uses oxygen differently. Turkey legs are composed of active muscles that are fattier, denser, and require more time to come up to temperature.
3. The turkey needs to rest before carving. About 45 minutes or so gives it time to reabsorb the juices; otherwise they’ll dribble out when you slice, and the meat will be dry. Don’t tent the turkey with foil to keep it warm while it’s resting; it’s unnecessary and will make the skin soggy. As long as the turkey is intact, it will cool quite slowly.
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[@rushnerd]

I have a proper temp probe, but I always just went by the plastic probe that comes with the turkey, is that bad?

[@helpfulnatural]

I've seen on many cooking shows, both Cook's Illustrated and Food Network that the little plastic pop up thermometers that come with turkeys are unreliable as they can often pop up too early in the cooking and you'd be serving under cooked poultry. It is recommended to remove it while preparing the bird for roasting. If you're worried about the hole left behind, fill it with softened butter or olive oil to keep it moist. I've done this many times and it worked very well.

[@CorneliusSneedley]

The plastic probes work reliably, they are just set to way too high a temperature for turkey. Around 185 degrees F, as I recall, which makes for dry, stringy breast meat. Cook your bird to 160 in the breast meat, and you will be amazed at how much better it is.

[@mazhu8256]

Cornelius Sneed Normally different turkey size and different personal taste, we need different turkey cooking temperature, from 145F to 185F all are possible. We are disposable turkey timer manufacturer and we can produce it according to customized pre-defined temperature requirement. Please visit our site for more detail: cookingkitchengadgets.com

[@avalon449]

Do we have to use a $100 thermometer?

[@fadoodle]

In the under $100 thermometer category, Cook's Illustrated recommends the ThermoWorks Super-Fast Pocket Thermometer Model RT600C for $24, and the CDN ProAccurate Quick-Read Thermometer DTQ450X (the one I use) is only $18. (Access to information like this is why I've been a CI subscriber for nearly a decade)

[@helpfulnatural]

Any decent digital instant read thermometer will do just fine. I have one I bought at Target for $20.00.

[@ikiruyamamoto1050]

No discussion of carryover temp?! A large roast or bird has a carryover temp of at least 10-15 degrees. That means you're cooking the breast to 175?! Better have a lot of gravy!

[@missmayflower]

Um….that’s not the thigh.

[@nelumbonucifera7537]

160F is too high, unless you like dry meat. 145-150F is more appropriate. And remember that the temperature will continue to rise for some time after removing the bird from the oven.

[@CorneliusSneedley]

This is very good advice, but it is much easier to use a probe thermometer like the Polder. This way there is no need to open the oven until the temperature alarm beeps at the perfect temperature. No guesswork, in other words. With the sort of thermometer shown in this video, you still have to guess regarding _when_ to take the temperature of your bird. And with all the other things going on in a kitchen during the preparation of a holiday meal, it is all too easy to forget to do so until it is too late.

[@QuickQuips]

I agree. Oven thermometers you can mount outside of the oven may need a thicker needle, but it's so convenient to stick in the thickest part of the meat and leave it cooking when they have an alarm based on temperature.

[@tylerkrug7719]

How hard is it to open your oven door. Dam people are lazy

[@partsunknown33]

opening the door screws up the cooking of the bird. THat is why.@@tylerkrug7719

[@MichiganPowersports]

Disagree. I take my turkey out every 30 minutes to baste with the herb butter. I can easy poke the thermometer into the breast and dark meat at this time to see how far along it is. Gordon Ramsay does this, and he is food god.

[@echt114]

@@tylerkrug7719 Whenever you open the oven, you're lowering the temperature in there, which increases needed cooking time.

[@HansEisenman]

too much blah blah blah and not enough show show show

[@echt114]

True. But at least he addressed the issue from the start. Too many of these videos start by blathering some pointless crap like, "We all know that Christmas can be the most festive time of year, and part of that is the joy your family gets from....." etc.