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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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  • 2
    Maybe Gordon Ramsey just likes cold turkey?
    – Cascabel
    Nov 18, 2011 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. Nov 20, 2011 at 14:41
  • I thought so too, but I re-watched it again to make sure. Just seemed odd to me. Nov 21, 2011 at 17:48
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    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, 2011 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, 2011 at 23:01

14 Answers 14

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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. Nov 19, 2011 at 1:03
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    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, 2011 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. Dec 18, 2012 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, 2012 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, 2012 at 1:16
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I heard GR say 3 hours this year too, so you're not misremembering. I recently started letting it rest for 45 minutes to an hour, and it's worked out great. My reason for choosing that amount of time is: that's how long veggies need to roast in the oven.

Once upon a time I used to rest it for 30 min, meaning I needed to at least start roasting the veg while the turkey was still in the oven, and the whole thing was insanely stressful. Now I prep the veggies but put them dry on baking sheets. An hour before I want to eat, or when the turkey is clearly cooked if that happens sooner than I expected, I pull out the bird and get it out of the roasting pan and onto a tray to rest with foil over it. I put the fat and juices from the roasting pan into a measuring cup to settle, and get the fat spooned over the potatoes and in they go. Get the stuffing out of the bird, squash (cut in 8ths or 16ths and buttered) into the oven and the cranberry sauce on the stove, that typically takes 15 minutes, so it's time for parsnips and onions to go into the oven again with some of the turkey fat. Then make gravy in the roasting pan using the not-the-fat part of the settled juices and cook the Brussels sprouts on the stovetop. More room, less panicking, and as long as you understand you will not have a single pause during the final hour, much easier than it used to be.

We have had no consequences of resting it for up to an hour, and I don't see any purpose in resting it longer.

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I've been letting my turkey rest for over 2-3 hours for a couple years now because of this advice from Gordon. It's amazing! I cover with tin foil and then a couple of towels to rest and the bird is still PIPING hot hours later. I'm usually cooking a 25 pounder. The internal temperature actually first goes UP to 180 then settles back to 150 by serving time. There's no safety risk here. You can then have everything done, pots and pans washed and enjoy a beautiful dinner

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I have carved within 20 minutes and within 3 hours. I strongly believe that the longer standing time has created the most outstanding and moist, delicious turkey ever. I have cooked 20-25 lb Turkey's stuffed and unstuffed every Xmas and thanksgiving and have never had a negative result from resting either way. Don't be afraid to try something new. Make sure your turkey is always properly covered with foil when resting and more importantly clean as you go and make sure the raw handling is properly followed by a thorough cleaning with disinfectant wipes or hot soapy wipe ups. Some folks like well done meats and some like moist juicy meats at the optimum temperature. Either way, enjoy your turkey and company and make the day fun and not a chore:)

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A 20-25 pound turkey having roasted for hours will continue to have rising internal temperatures, and will be too hot to safely handle and carve immediately. While waiting three hours to commence carving is more patience than I can muster, I try to let it rest at least one hour after pulling from the oven, and have outstanding results.

My family has not eaten dried out turkey in many, many years.

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I have been cooking my entire life and owned restaurants in the past, and I have never let a turkey rest over one hour.

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It all depends on how you wrap it for resting. I did exactly what GR suggested. I smoked it for 3.5 hours and got the internal temp to 165. Pulled and placed in an aluminum pan, covered with aluminum foil, wrapped all of that in towels and placed all of that in an ice chest. 3.5 hours later I had the best turkey I have ever eaten and it was still steamy hot. It was even better than fried turkey.

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We went to a cooking school last night, and both chefs recommended letting the turkey rest for 3 hours.

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I only researched this to verify that it was ok to leave my sixteen lb bird out for three hrs after cooking for three hrs. I was very paranoid that someone would get sick. Apparently it is ok. I was so concerned that I don't even care about juiciness, flavor or any other etc. I cook two birds and with everything else going on I just had no time to deal with the first bird after it was done. Today almost feel like I dodged a disaster.

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I cooked one FRESH turkey at 17 min a lb for 4.5 hours. Took it out and tented it. It rested for 4 hours like Gordon said and it was still way above danger zone temp. It takes a long time for those things to cool down man. BTW Best turkey I ever had. Remember to pull the stuffing out first.

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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. Dec 18, 2012 at 17:33
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    Resting two hours is NOT common knowledge--I have never heard this.
    – SAJ14SAJ
    Dec 18, 2012 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, 2012 at 10:25
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Turkey is actually unsafe to eat once left out for at least 2 hours. Once this time has passed, any leftovers should be refrigerated. God knows what the chef is talking about 3 hours for. 30 minutes to an hour will do it.

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When it is recommended to let it 'sit', they are not saying to just sit out on the counter. Wrap it heavily in tin foil, then wrap in towels, then put it in a cooler. It'll stay hot for hours. This is a fairly typical approach found in cooking and bbq competitions.

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  • Presumably the person asking the question understands to cover the turkey. In any case, the question is not how to rest it but how long is actually beneficial. Most cooks agree that it's useful to rest for a while before eating to let the temperature stabilize, let juices redistribute, etc. If you have thoughts on how long to do that, you should add them to your answer.
    – Athanasius
    Nov 24, 2015 at 21:47
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I followed Gordon Ramsay's recipe and let the turkey sit for 3hrs numerous times and I've never been sick. He went to culinary school, I'm positive he knows better than us home cooks.

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    Just because the dog hasn't bitten you yet doesn't mean it won't, and going to culinary school does not prevent someone from giving bad advice from time to time.
    – SAJ14SAJ
    Dec 26, 2013 at 16:08

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