Alton Brown's brined & roast turkey calls for cooking 18 lb turkey at 500 for 40 mins, then 350 for 2.5 hours. How long should a 22 lb turkey cook for

We cooked the 22 lb turkey for an additional 30 minutes and the breast is registering at 160 and thigh at 180. We are nervous it's not cooked. Thanks!

Hillary
  • Posted by: Hillary
  • November 23, 2017
  • 10702 views
  • 3 Comments

3 Comments

Merrill S.
Merrill S. November 23, 2017
A good rule of thumb is 15-20 minutes per pound at 350F, so I would think you'd need an additional 60 to 80 minutes (of course, it could be less depending on a bunch of circumstances like oven temp, how cold the turkey was when you put it in, etc.). And it would be very unusual for the dark meat to cook faster than the breast. Have you tried slicing into the leg with a sharp knife to see if the juices are running clear?
 
Hillary
Hillary November 23, 2017
Thank you so much! We just cut into the dark meat and it's definitely cooked. Happy Thanksgiving!
 
ggoebel
ggoebel November 24, 2020
In the Alton Brown recipe, you place aluminum foil over the breast so that you can cook the dark meat to ~180 F while only cooking the white meat to 161 F. The result being that both the dark and white meat are optimally cooked and juicy.

I would suggest removing your probe thermometer and re-inserting it. There is a good chance you did not put it in the center of the thickest part of the breast. I put thermometers in both breasts... and then wait for the one with the lowest temp to reach 161 F. While you rest the bird, the carry-over temperature will pass 165 F.

I would not recommend cutting the bird to check the juices. As the juices will run out. And the whole point of this recipe is to avoid a dry bird and maximize the amount of juices retained in the cooked bird.
 
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