Safefood

< Back to Turkey Calculator

SMS Service

Text us

Want to know the cooking time for your turkey to ensure the best (and safest) results?

This year it’s quick and simple - just text us the weight of your turkey and we’ll send you your calculated cooking time. And if you stuff your turkey, we’ll also include the maximum amount of stuffing to use.

For an unstuffed turkey Text UNSTUFFED and the weight of your turkey in kilograms to 51500 (Standard SMS rates apply)

• E.g. for a 5.2kg turkey, text UNSTUFFED 5.2

For a stuffed turkey Text STUFFED and the weight of your unstuffed turkey in kilograms to 51500 (Standard SMS costs apply)

• E.g. for a 6.0kg turkey, text STUFFED 6. Don’t worry; we will calculate the weight of the stuffing

Please note our cooking times are based on electric fan assisted ovens only, preheated to 180°C. Other cooking instructions are listed in the cooking section of the safefood Christmas leaflet which you should find at your local butcher shop. Look out for this poster. For more information about cooking your turkey to perfection, including our advice on using different types of ovens, click here.

We have answered many frequently asked questions to our helpline here, but if you can't find the answer you need please phone our Christmas helpline: (NI) 0800 085 1683 (ROI) 1850 40 4567.

Cooking instructions for the online calculator and SMS service cooking times

Our calculated turkey cooking times are for use in electric fan assisted ovens only. See here for guidance on cooking turkeys using other oven types.

The turkey calculator and SMS service cooking times are based on the following cooking advice:

• Preheat your oven to 180°C
• Place the bird breast up on a roasting tray
• If you’re stuffing the turkey, loosely pack the stuffing in the cavity 
• The amount of stuffing used should weigh no more then 10% of the weight of the unstuffed bird
• Rub the turkey with 10g of butter and season with some salt and pepper, prior to cooking
• Cover the turkey with foil and baste it every hour
• Keep the oven door closed as much as possible to keep it at the right temperature 
• Remove the foil for the last half hour to brown the skin
• For the tastiest and juiciest turkey, allow the bird to rest for half an hour before carving.  Cover the bird with foil during this period
• Prior to serving, ensure your turkey is properly cooked – it should be piping hot all the way through with no pink meat left and the juices should run clear when the thickest part of the thigh and breast are pierced with a clean fork or skewer.
• If you are cooking a stuffed turkey, the centre of the stuffing should also be piping hot as this is the slowest part of a stuffed bird to cook.

Cooking your turkey with other types of ovens

Please note that the cooking advice on our online calculator and SMS service is based on cooking your turkey in an electric fan assisted oven only. It is essential that you carefully follow these cooking times and directions to ensure a safe and delicious turkey. This is because our research showed that electric fan assisted ovens are typically more efficient at cooking turkeys than other types of oven, such as gas ovens. This has allowed safe cooking conditions for stuffed turkeys to be defined. Using these cooking times with other types of ovens (e.g. gas ovens, conventional ovens) may not result in your turkey being fully cooked.

If you do not have a fan assisted oven then we recommend that you do not stuff your turkey. With these other ovens, the safest way to cook your stuffing is on a roasting dish or tray separate from the turkey. Our research showed that stuffed turkeys cook differently in other types of ovens and may not be fully cooked and safe if cooking advice for fan assisted ovens is used.   

Advice for cooking unstuffed turkeys in conventional and gas ovens

Weight of turkey	Cooking time
	(Preheated oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4)
3.5-5.5kg	3 hours- 4 hours 20 minutes
5.5-6.5kg	4 hours 20 minutes- 5 hours
6.5-8kg	5 hours- 6 hours 20 minutes
8-9kg	6 hours 20 minutes- 7 hours
9-11kg	7 hours- 8 hours 20 minutes

As with cooking any poultry, always double check that the turkey is properly cooked before serving. Your turkey should be piping hot all the way through with no pink meat left and the juices should run clear when the thickest part of the thigh and breast are pierced with a clean fork or skewer.

SMS Terms and Conditions

• The texting service will commence on 8 December 2009 and end on 26 December 2009
• This service is being provided by safefood (www.safefood.eu)
• You must have the bill-payer’s permission to take part
• This service is only open to residents of ROI and NI
• Neither safefood, nor Púca are responsible for any network delay or non-receipt of messages

SP: Púca (00353 1-2186831 / PO Box 10975, Dublin 4.)