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I have heard mixed advice on how long you should let a turkey rest after cooking.

Last year my wife and I watched a Thanksgiving cooking show with Gordon Ramsey and he said you should let the turkey rest for as long as you cooked it. If you cook it 3 hours, it should rest for 3 hours. That seems like an awful long time to me.

Everything else I've read looks like 30 minutes to an hour is fine. Any suggestions?

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Maybe Gordon Ramsey just likes cold turkey? – Jefromi♦ Nov 18 '11 at 22:35
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I think you may be mis-remembering. All the Gordon Ramsey recipes I can find suggest ~45 minutes resting. – Samuel Walker Nov 20 '11 at 14:41
I thought so too, but I re-watched it again to make sure. Just seemed odd to me. – Shawn Steward Nov 21 '11 at 17:48
I just watched the Gordon Ramsey Christmas show myself and came online...to confirm the setting/cooking time. He definitely stated that he took the advice from another top chef to let it set for the same amount of time that it cooked...and that's why I am here!! It seems a bit too long, especially for a stuffed bird.. – user8493 Dec 28 '11 at 17:02
The Gordon Ramsey Christmas show does say to let the turkey rest, as long as it cooks and it is not stuffed (just an onion in the cavity). – rguenther Dec 28 '11 at 23:01

2 Answers

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The purpose- as with any cooked meat- is to let the meat firm up so it doesn't release juices when you cut into it.

In the case of a turkey it also helps to let it cool enough to not burn you when you are carving and eating it.

Both of these goals will be met in 30 minutes to an hour.

I don't know why that chef would recommend 3 hours. At that length of time the turkey would start to approach room temperature and would be less appealing to eat as well as start the clock on the danger zone.

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Start the clock on the danger zone? The bacteria would be partying and stuffing themselves on turkey by that time. – thursdaysgeek Nov 19 '11 at 1:03
Not quite. It would take about an hour to get the meat down below 140f. Two hours between 40-140f should not compromise food safety, provided the turkey was properly cooked of course. – Sean Hart Nov 21 '11 at 19:34
@Sean The USDA recommends that food should spend no more than 2 hours in the 40-140ºF 'danger zone'. If you need to cook your turkey for a further hour and then follow Ramsey's advice you may very well compromise food safety. – Chris Steinbach Dec 18 '12 at 14:18
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The USDA also calls 140f the danger zone, when in reality temperatures as low as 130f will still pasteurize. And as I said, sitting for three hours could potentially be OK. I never made the same claim for four. – Sean Hart Dec 18 '12 at 16:58
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The USDA--and thus the health codes based on its research--is properly very conservative. Bacteria can be killed with sufficient time at 130, this is true. But its much easier to stick a thermometer in the food item, and say categorically "yes, this is in the safe zone" or "no its in the danger zone" than to monitor the time/temperature curve and document it correctly, although it can be done. Safety in all domains usually involves a... well... safety zone... erring on the side of caution! – SAJ14SAJ Dec 19 '12 at 1:16
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It's to let the juices get absorbed into the meat. The meat doesn't have to be piping hot, as the gravy will be.

It's common knowledge to let the turkey rest for around at least 2 hours. It will completely enhance the taste.

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Yes, good answer +1 for this. I'll add a separate answer on why we rest meat. – spiceyokooko Dec 18 '12 at 17:33
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Resting two hours is NOT common knowledge--I have never heard this. – SAJ14SAJ Dec 18 '12 at 23:56
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Also, resting does not allow the juices be 'absorbed by the meat', in the Modernist Cuisine labs they discovered that it allows proteins that have dissolved during cooking to thicken the natural juices as they cool, so liquid escapes more slowly when the meat is sliced. Source: fauxvictorianrag.com/2011/05/modernist-cuisine.html – Stefano Dec 19 '12 at 10:25

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