how long do i cook my 12lb turkey for and what temperature?

Question

also have you any ideas on what to stuff it with before cooking to make it taste nice. somebody told me to put an orange inside.

thanks for the advice gorgeousfluffpot, but i think i will give that one a miss.

Answer 1

Cook I hour for every three lbs. Stuffing I use different Mrs. Cubissons mixed together add chopped celery chopped green onions, walnuts, apples chopped with sausages and bacon already cooked chopped of course , Don't forget to cook your Gizzards you know the stuff that is inside the turkey well boil them and add a little garlic and pour the boiled water to the dressing to soften and cut up the gizzards and add them also.and there you have my mom and grandmas secret recipe. God bless you and have a very Merry Christmas originated in Tucson, Arizona

Answer 2

Defrosting Times:

This is where people can make the biggest errors, either by not allowing enough time for proper defrosting, and or defrosting in an unsafe manner. Although it takes a long time, defrosting in the refrigerator for the whole defrosting time is the safest, but make sure to give yourself ample time, approximately 24 hrs per 5 lb of turkey. The second way is to keep the turkey under a continuous flow of cold running water until defrosted. In my opinion the second option should be used only in an emergency situation, or to finish the last stage of the defrosting, there is more room for food born illnesses to develop


Roasting:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees
2. Remove excess skin and fat from turkey
3. Rinse turkey with cold water and pat dry
4. Tie up turkey legs if desired and tuck wing tips under
5. Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with salt and pepper. You may also combine softened unsalted butter, salt and pepper and stuff it under the skin
6. Place 2 cups of chicken stock along with carrots, onions and celery in bottom of roasting pan (this improves your gravy and injection mixtures flavour. It also inhibits over browning of the breast meat
7. In 45 minutes you can reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees. Also start basting and injecting the turkey at 30 minute intervals or as needed until turkey is done (keep in mind the
more you open and close your oven the longer things are going to take to cook)


How Long Do I Cook It?

Most important is not how long but at what internal temperature to remove it from the oven, 155 – 165 degrees in the thigh (food safe demands that poultry be cooked to 170 degrees). Taking the turkey out and let it rest for at least a half an hour before carving. In that resting period you will see the temperature of the thigh meat rise to 180 – 185 degrees. I’m going to give you an approximate time chart to aid you in timing your meal, but please don’t use this chart as an exact time chart for cooking. It is far less accurate than taking the internal temperature


Weight: 12 – 16 lb (5.5 – 7.0 kg)
Stuffed: 3 3/4 - 4 hrs
Unstuffed: 3 1/4 - 3 1/2 hrs

Answer 3

Well first of all remember to cook from frozen. Then 2 hours at 150C should do it LOL.

No seriously, first of all the turkey must be fully defrosted, a 12 lb bird will take 3 days to defrost in the fridge, so if it's frozen get it in the fridge today.

Then cook it for 3 hours 15 minutes at 190C, or gas mark 5, or 375F. This timing is for an unstuffed bird, if you stuff it then you will need to increase the cooking time accordingly. Lay rashers of bacon across the breast to help with the basting but in any case baste it with the cooking juices after 1 hour and then every 30 minutes after.

Check it is cooked by sticking a knife in, if the juices come out clear it's ready. The 4 hours quoted somewher else is too long. Remember if you overcook it there's no going back.

I also recommend that you cut a lemon in half and put it inside the cavity before cooking, this will keep everything nice and moist. Depending on your taste you can also put in a couple of peeled garlic cloves.

Finally after cooking allow it to rest covered lightly with foil for 15 minutes before you think about carving it. Enjoy!

Answer 4

For Thanksgiving I stuffed my turkey with a red apple, half an onion, and herbs. Then before putting the turkey in the oven I rubbed canola oil all over it to premote browning. I started my turkey out in a 500 degree oven for 30 minutes. All this is supposed to do is brown the skin. After 30 minutes is up, I turned the oven down to 350 degrees and covered the breast up with foil. I also inserted a probe thermometer into the deepest part of the breast until it read 161 degrees. This may seem a little low to most people, but after it reaches 161 degrees, take it out and cover it with foil and let it rest for about 15 minutes. The internal temp will still rise. This is the juiciest turkey I've ever eaten!!!

Answer 5

According to Wegmans.com:

Start the bird at 450 degrees for 15 minutes, then lower the temperature to 350 and continue to roast for about 15 min/lb until turkey internal temp is 165 degrees.

Allow an extra 20 minutes "resting time" before carving for better slicing.

My grandma always stuffs it with pork stuffing.

Answer 6

Failsafe Christmas dinner recipe:
Ply your guests with cheap sherry and nibbles, and plenty of wine. More sherry, more nibbles, more wine. Open the Bols Advocaat and make them a Snowball, and another one. At some point go out to the kitchen and stick everything in the oven ... doesnm't matter what temperature as by the time your guests totter to the table, they will so half cut that they won't notice the half-baked disaster on their dinner plates.
They will wake up the next day with mega hangovers and a vague memory of a dinner, and will probably write you a ice note to thankyou for an excellent lunch!!

Answer 7

350 degrees for about 3 hours, but check it after 2 1/2 if it is in a cooking bag.

Stuff it with celery, onions, parsely and garlic. It will taste yummy.

Answer 8

At 350 degrees
approximately 20 minutes per pound !!

Answer 9

Cook for 20 min to the 1lb plus an extra 20min check juices run clear when put skewer or pointed knife in thickest part of bird cook on 200c

Answer 10

The rule of thumb is one hour for every 4 pounds of bird.So cook it for 3 hours on 350*.I alwaus put an apple and an onion in mine.
Merry Christmas!!