The bird is the one dish with no second attempt, and every number you find contradicts the last one. Here is the trail a careful cook walks — the next seven searches, in order, each with the two-sentence answer and the query to run.
Work backwards from when you want to eat — thawing is the part that ruins plans, not roasting.
At 325°F, unstuffed: roughly 2¾–3 hours for 8–12 lb, 3–3¾ for 12–14 lb, 3¾–4¼ for 14–18 lb, and 4¼–4½ for 18–20 lb. Add about 30 minutes if it is stuffed.
About 24 hours for every 4–5 lb, so a 20 lb bird needs four to five full days in the fridge. This is the number people discover too late — start counting backwards from dinner before you buy.
Cold water, breast down, still in its wrapper: 30 minutes per pound, changing the water every 30 minutes. A 16 lb bird is eight hours of babysitting, and it must be cooked immediately afterwards.
Every alternative to roasting changes the timing rule completely.
About 3–4 minutes per pound at 350°F, so a 14 lb bird is under an hour — the speed is the whole appeal. The bird must be completely thawed and patted dry, because water hitting hot oil is how fryer fires start.
Roughly 30–40 minutes per pound at 225–250°F, which puts a 14 lb bird at seven to nine hours. Smoking below 325°F holds the bird in the danger zone longer, so keep it under 12 lb and stay on the thermometer.
The reading that ends the cooking, and the clock that starts immediately after it.
The stuffing itself has to reach 165°F, not just the meat — which usually means overcooking the breast to get there. Cooking the stuffing in a separate dish is the fix most cooks eventually make.
Three to four days in the fridge, and the two-hour countdown starts when the bird comes out of the oven — not when dinner ends. Carve it down and refrigerate within that window rather than leaving the carcass out through the evening.
Times assume a 325°F oven and are USDA FSIS guidance for planning. They are a schedule, not a doneness test — the bird is done when a thermometer reads 165°F in the innermost thigh, whatever the clock says.
You just walked 7 searches for “how long to cook a turkey”. The extension maps the trail right on your results page — for anything you search, not just the journeys we’ve written.