How to Check If Your Turkey's Cooked to the Right Temperature

Want to guarantee that your turkey will be tender and juicy? Throw out the timing charts and forget about cooking "until the juices run clear." Just use a thermometer. It's the only way to guarantee perfectly cooked meat—provided that you know where to check the turkey's temperature and know what temperature it should be. For the best results, you want to check the turkey's temperature in three different locations: the deepest part of the breast, the joint between the thigh and the body, and the joint between the drumstick and the thigh.

This video will show you exactly how to do that.

The government recommends cooking turkey breast to 165°F (74°C). I prefer my turkey breast at 150°F (66°F), at which point it is far, far juicier (especially if you dry brine it!). But is it safe?

ThermoWorks Thermapen ONE

View on Thermoworks.com View on Kingarthurbaking.com

Thermoworks ThermoPop 2

View on Thermoworks.com View on Outdoorhome.com

Well, here's the thing: Industry standards for food safety are primarily designed to be simple to understand, usually at the expense of accuracy. The rules are set up in a way that any cook can follow then, no matter their skill level, and so that they're easily enforceable by health agencies. But for single-celled organisms, bacteria are surprisingly complex, and despite what any ServSafe chart might have you believe, they refuse to be categorized into a step function. The upshot is that food safety is a function of both temperature and time.

What the USDA is really looking for is a 7.0 log₁₀ relative reduction in bacteria. That is, a reduction that ensures that out of every 10,000,000 bacteria living on that turkey to start, only one will survive.

Take a look at this simplified chart I drew using data from a USDA guide.

Pasteurization Time for Poultry With 5% Fat Content (7-log10 lethality)

According to the USDA's own data, as long as your turkey spends at least 3.7 minutes at or above 150°F (66°C), it is safe to eat. In other words, by the time it's done resting (you do let your turkey rest before carving, right?), you should be good to go.

Check out the video for how to take the temperature of your roasted turkey for more details.

The Thermapen remains the Cadillac of kitchen thermometers, with incredible speed, a nice long probe, high accuracy and precision, waterproof design, and a number of other nifty features. But if you don't want to spend $100 on a thermometer, opt for one of the winning models from our review of the best inexpensive digital thermometers (like the $35 ThermoPop 2). Both are accurate and reliable.

FAQs

What's the best thermometer for checking the temperature of a turkey?

There are a few options, including our favorite instant-read thermometer, the ThermoWorks Thermapen ONE, which is lightning-fast and accurate to ±0.5°F. We also like the ThermoWorks Thermopop 2, which is slightly more affordable, and the ThermoWorks ChefAlarm probe thermometer for keeping an eye on the temperature without having to keep opening the oven.

What temperature should a turkey be?

The food-safe temperature for a turkey is 165°F, and it's best to temp between the thigh bone and the breast. But, as we mentioned above, letting your turkey rest can bring it up to this temperature, so you don't necessarily have to take it out when it hits exactly 165°F.

How fast should a thermometer be?

The best thermometers have fast response times—within a few seconds. Our favorite thermometer, the Thermapen ONE, even boasts a blisteringly fast one-second response time.

Why We're the Experts

• J. Kenji López-Alt was the former culinary director for Serious Eats. He is currently a columnist for the New York Times Cooking section.
• Kenji has written numerous cookbooks, including The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking and The Wok: Recipes and Techniques.
• We have extensively tested thermometers (including instant-read and probe), and have numerous recipes for roasting turkeys with tried-and-true techniques.