You can baste poultry with pan drippings or a little fat if you like.
If poultry browns early in the roasting period, cover the breast and drumsticks lightly with aluminum foil or with a thin cloth moistened with fat. After poultry is partly roasted, cut band of skin that holds legs together.
Use any one or more of the following ways to tell if poultry is done:
• A meat thermometer inserted in the center of the inner thigh muscle of a turkey reaches 180° to 185° F. If turkey is stuffed, also check stuffing temperature by inserting a thermometer into the body cavity for 5 minutes. Temperature should reach 165° F.
• Drumstick feels soft when you press meaty part with protected fingers.
• Drumstick moves up and down easily and leg joint gives readily.
Caution: Do not partly roast poultry on one day and complete roasting the following day.
ROASTING GUIDE
| Kind of poultry | Ready-to-cook weight[10] | Approximate roasting time at 325° F. for stuffed poultry[11] | Internal temperature of poultry when done | ||
| Pounds | Hours | °F. | |||
| Chickens | 1½ to 2½ | 1 to 2 | |||
| (Broilers, fryers, or roasters) | 2½ to 4½ | 2 to 3½ | |||
| Ducks | 4 to 6 | 2 to 3 | |||
| Geese | 6 to 8 | 3 to 3½ | |||
| 8 to 12 | 3½ to 4½ | ||||
| Turkeys | 6 to 8 | 3 to 3½ | 180 to 185 in center of inner thigh muscle. | ||
| 8 to 12 | 3½ to 4½ | ||||
| 12 to 16 | 4½ to 5½ | ||||
| 16 to 20 | 5½ to 6½ | ||||
| 20 to 24 | 6½ to 7 | ||||