Determining the weight of your holiday turkey is a crucial step for cooking it to perfection The size of the bird impacts everything from roasting times to how many guests it will serve, Follow this handy guide to learn foolproof methods for weighing your turkey at home
Why Knowing the Weight Matters
Measuring your uncooked turkey’s weight helps ensure
- You pick the right size bird for the number of guests
- Calculate accurate cook times based on 15 minutes per pound
- Buy enough side dishes to complement the portion sizes
- Know if it will fit in your oven and roasting pan
- Determine proper seasoning and brine amounts
- Estimate carving and serving sizes
So while the weight printed on the label is handy it’s wise to verify it yourself before cooking.
Average Turkey Weights
Turkey weights vary considerably based on the type, breed, age, and sex.
- Small Hens: 8-12 pounds
- Medium Hens: 12-14 pounds
- Large Hens: 14-16 pounds
- Small Toms: 16-18 pounds
- Medium Toms: 18-22 pounds
- Large Toms: 22-30 pounds
Hens tend to be smaller than toms. But there can be significant individual variation.
Weighing Your Turkey at Home
You don’t need fancy equipment to weigh a turkey at home. Here are three simple DIY methods:
Kitchen Scale
A digital kitchen scale offers the most precise weight measure. Place the turkey on a tray or plate atop the scale. Be sure to subtract the weight of the container.
Bathroom Scale
Step on your bathroom scale to get your weight, then hold the wrapped turkey and step on again. Subtract your weight from the total.
Water Displacement
Submerge the turkey in a tub of water. Measure the volume of water displaced which equals the turkey’s weight.
Tips for Picking the Right Size
Consider these factors when buying a turkey to match your meal plans:
- Allow 1-1.5 pounds per person
- Add 2 extra pounds if making leftovers
- Make sure your oven/roaster can fit the size
- Allow thawing time for frozen birds
Buy two small turkeys rather than one huge one for easier cooking. Supplement white meat with extra turkey breasts if needed.
Handling Raw Poultry Safely
Take care when handling raw turkey to avoid spreading bacteria:
- Refrigerate immediately and cook within 2 days
- Thaw frozen turkeys in the fridge 1 day per 4-5 pounds
- Use separate plates/containers for raw and cooked meat
- Wash hands, utensils, surfaces after touching raw poultry
- Cook fully to 165°F internal temperature
Get the Perfect Bird for the Best Feast
Knowing the weight of your turkey removes the guesswork from planning the rest of your meal. You’ll buy the right size bird for your guests, calculate cook times accurately, and carve neat servings.
Weighing a turkey is simple with a kitchen scale or improvised methods. Now you can shop confidently, roast perfectly, and relax knowing your holiday turkey will be a crowning success!
Why the weight is important
There are many reasons an accurate weight is important — for any kind of food product. For one thing, you need to get what you’re paying for (pretty basic!).
In the case of a turkey, obviously you need to know that you’ll have enough for your guests. The general rule-of-thumb is one to one and a half pounds of turkey per person (when you’re talking about a whole bird). If I were serving 10 guests and chose what was labeled an 11+ pound bird, that should have been ample. But if it were actually under 8 pounds? Might be a bit sparse — not what you want on Thanksgiving.
Then there’s the prep and cooking. If you dry-brine — that is, salt the bird a few days in advance of roasting for succulent, flavorful meat and crisp, golden skin — you need an accurate weight to know how much salt to rub on.
Whether you have dry-brined, wet brined or not brined at all, the weight will tell you approximately how long the turkey will need to roast. It won’t be anything like exact — oven temperatures very wildly, and most ovens do not heat evenly or maintain even heat during a long stretch. But at least the weight will help you know at what point to start checking on the turkey for doneness.
Using our Cooks Without Borders recipe, a 12-pound turkey usually roasts in about 2 hours and 45 minutes, but I always start checking at about the 2-hour mark, just in case. Miss the mark, start testing too late, and it’ll quickly go from done to dry and overcooked, particularly the breast.
You want the dark meat to reach 165 degrees F / 74 degrees C, but not go beyond that. The white meat will already be a bit more cooked than ideal at that temperature (which is why many cooks spatchcock). I love the presentation of a whole bird, so I live with less-than-perfect white meat. It’s a choice. It’s still delicious. But not if you go must past that dark-meat-is-done point.
The case of the mis-labeled turkey
In an effort to find out how my turkey was mislabeled, my local Whole Foods’ “Meat Team Leader” contacted someone in corporate, and it went all the way up to a District Vice-President, who personally called me, promising to get to the bottom of it and get back to me. I had to point out to him that still, no one had offered to refund what I had overpaid.
He did, and gave me a $25 Whole Foods gift card for my trouble.
He also got back to me, after contacting the processing center, and told me that they thoroughly looked into it, and determined that my mislabeled bird was an isolated incident — there was no systemic problem. Much appreciated, and I hope he’s right. Please weigh your bird.
Today’s the day to purchase your turkey if you’re dry-brining; that way you’ll have it ready to salt Monday morning. (Or you could purchase first thing Monday and get it going by mid-day.) Here’s the recipe, to guide you, along with recipes for savory sides and appetizers.
Bodybuilding Nutrition Tip: How to Accurately Weigh Cooked Meat
FAQ
How can you tell how heavy a turkey is?
How much does a butterball turkey weigh?
How do you calculate turkey size?
Does turkey weight include neck and giblets?
How much does a turkey weigh in a store?
When a turkey is slaughtered and prepared for sale, parts of the turkey are removed. This is why the live weights are so much higher than the average weight in the store. A turkey which was 41 lbs at slaughter, will be about 24 lbs. in the store. This means a turkey in the store is about 10-15 lbs. less of its live weight.
How much does a turkey weigh in November?
The Shift Towards Smaller Birds: The focus turns to smaller, whole turkeys as summer draws near, which look great on holiday tables. Production is skewed toward these lighter birds from June to November, with an average weight of 17 pounds for hens and 41 pounds for toms. The November Nadir:
How do you know if a Turkey is a male or female?
If you buy a turkey in the store and it is 16 lbs. or less, it was probably a female (called a hen). If it is 17 lbs. or more, it was likely a male turkey (called a Tom). Born in Denver, Colorado as the oldest of 5 children, I learned at a young age that the grill was one of the best ways to prepare food for a crowd.
Do turkeys maintain a constant weight throughout the year?
This feathered friend gives an intriguing look into the world of agriculture and economics, from the seasonal variations in its weight to the geographic distribution of its production. Contrary to popular belief, turkeys don’t maintain a constant weight throughout the year.