Big Dinner Timer: Roast & BBQChristmas dinner and roast timer

Christmas dinner timings: a plan that works backwards

The trick with Christmas dinner timings is to start at the end. Pick the time you want to eat, then count back through resting, roasting and defrosting. Below is a worked plan for a turkey dinner for about 6, eating at 2pm, using cooking times from the Food Standards Agency (FSA) and BBC Good Food.

This is a planning example, not a recipe. Ovens, birds and kitchens vary, so always follow the instructions on your turkey’s pack and check it’s cooked through before serving.

Food safety first

Follow the pack first. If your turkey has cooking or defrosting instructions, use them.
Cook it all the way through. Before it comes out of the oven, cut into the thickest part, between the leg and the breast. It must be steaming hot all the way through, with no pink meat, and the juices must run clear. With a clean probe in the thickest part (avoid the bone), it must reach one of the FSA’s combinations, such as 70°C for 2 minutes or 75°C for 30 seconds.
Not there yet? It goes back in. Cooking times are only estimates, so never serve on the clock alone. If you’re unsure, give it longer and check again.
Defrost in the fridge, never at room temperature. Bottom shelf, covered, in a container that catches the drips; allow around 10 to 12 hours per kg. Only cook it once there are no ice crystals left in the cavity: a part-frozen bird may cook unevenly and let bacteria survive.
Don’t wash raw meat or poultry. It splashes germs around the kitchen. Keep raw meat away from ready-to-eat food, wash your hands with soap and warm water after touching it, and clean every surface, board and utensil it touched.
Stuffing in its own tin, not inside the bird, and cooked until steaming hot all the way through. Sausages, such as pigs in blankets, must be cooked all the way through too.
Leftovers. Cool them quickly and get them into the fridge or freezer within one to two hours; splitting them into smaller portions helps. Don’t leave cold meat out all day. Eat chilled leftovers within 48 hours (Food Standards Scotland says 1 to 2 days). Reheat only once, until steaming hot all the way through. Defrost frozen leftovers in the fridge or on a microwave’s defrost setting, eat within 24 hours and don’t refreeze.

From FSA: Christmas food hygiene, FSA: cooking your food, FSS: turkey cooking guide. Checked 1 November 2026.

Step 1: pick the bird and the eating time

For this example we’re feeding about 6 people and sitting down at 2pm. BBC Good Food’s rough guide says a small turkey of 3 to 4kg feeds 6 to 8 people, and a turkey crown of 2 to 2.5kg feeds about 6 (BBC Good Food: how to cook a turkey). We’ll plan for a 4kg whole turkey, unstuffed, because the cooking guidance assumes an unstuffed bird and the FSA says to cook the stuffing in a separate tin (FSA: Christmas food hygiene).

Step 2: work out the turkey’s cooking time

If your turkey comes with cooking instructions, use those. If it doesn’t, the FSA’s Christmas guidance says to preheat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan, gas mark 4) and allow 45 minutes per kg plus 20 minutes for a bird under 4.5kg. For our 4kg turkey that’s 4 × 45 + 20 = 200 minutes, or 3 hours 20 minutes. There’s a full table by weight in our guide to how long to cook a turkey.

Then add resting time. BBC Good Food says to rest a large joint or turkey for 30 to 45 minutes, tented with foil, and that it gets easier to carve while it sits (BBC Good Food: roast timer). Resting is also the gap in which the oven is free for the potatoes, which is the whole secret of a one-oven Christmas. Only rest the turkey once it has passed the cooked-through checks below.

Step 3: the 2pm timeline

Here’s the plan, read from the top. It assumes one oven, a hob, and that the potatoes go in once the turkey comes out.

Time	Job
Several days before	If the turkey is frozen, it should already be defrosting in the fridge (see below).
Christmas Eve	Peel the potatoes and veg, make the stuffing and keep it covered in the fridge, and clear fridge space. Check the turkey has no ice crystals left in the cavity.
8:35am	Take the turkey out of the fridge and keep it covered in a cool place. BBC Good Food says about 1 hour before cooking for a whole bird.
9:20am	Preheat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan, gas 4).
9:35am	Turkey in. 3 hours 20 minutes for 4kg on the FSA formula.
12:30pm	Potatoes into cold, salted water and bring to the boil.
12:45pm	Check the turkey with a thermometer in the thickest part, between the leg and the breast. Test the potatoes: if one slides off a knife, drain and steam-dry them.
12:55pm	Turkey out only once it’s cooked through: steaming hot, no pink meat, clear juices (see below). If not, back in it goes and everything after this moves later. Cover loosely with foil to rest. Turn the oven up to 200°C (180°C fan, gas 6).
1:00pm	Fat into the roasting tray and into the oven for 10 minutes.
1:10pm	Potatoes into the hot fat. Stuffing (in its own tin) and any trimmings in, following their pack or recipe times. Check they’re steaming hot all the way through before serving.
1:30pm	Turn the potatoes once. Start the gravy using the turkey tin juices.
1:45pm	Start carving.
1:48pm	Carrots on to boil (5 to 7 minutes for batons).
1:52pm	Sprouts on to simmer (3 to 5 minutes, depending on size).
1:55pm	Potatoes out. Drain the veg. Finish the gravy with the resting juices and make sure it’s steaming hot.
2:00pm	Eat. Pretend it was effortless.

The potato timings come from BBC Food: start them in cold salted water, test after about 15 minutes, steam-dry for 10 to 15 minutes, heat the fat for 10 minutes at 200°C (180°C fan), then roast for 40 to 50 minutes, turning once after 20 (BBC Food: how to make the best roast potatoes). The same article suggests resting your joint while you blast the roasties, which is exactly what the plan does. Carrot batons boil in 5 to 7 minutes (BBC Good Food: carrots) and sprouts simmer for 3 to 5 minutes depending on size (BBC Good Food: sprouts).

In this plan the turkey rests for about 50 minutes before carving, a little longer than BBC Good Food’s 30 to 45 minutes, which gives you slack if it needs extra time in the oven. Keep it covered and somewhere warm. If it’s ready early, it simply rests longer.

Is it cooked? Use a thermometer

The FSA says the turkey should be steaming hot all the way through, with no pink meat and clear juices when you cut into the thickest part. If you have a probe, the thickest part needs to reach one of these: 60°C for 45 minutes, 65°C for 10 minutes, 70°C for 2 minutes, 75°C for 30 seconds or 80°C for 6 seconds (FSA). Clean the probe after each use. If it isn’t there yet, it goes back in. This is why the plan checks at 12:45pm rather than at the last possible minute.

Defrosting: the bit that starts days early

If your turkey is frozen, the FSA says to defrost it in the fridge on the bottom shelf, never at room temperature, ideally in a covered container big enough to catch the drips, allowing around 10 to 12 hours per kg if there are no pack instructions. A part-defrosted turkey may cook unevenly, so harmful bacteria can survive. For a 4kg bird that’s 40 to 48 hours. The FSA adds that a whole turkey can take 3 to 5 days to defrost properly, depending on size, so check the pack early (FSA: Christmas food hygiene). Food Standards Scotland bases the same 10 to 12 hours per kg on a fridge at 4°C, and says to check there are no ice crystals in the cavity before cooking (FSS). Don’t wash the raw turkey: the FSA says it spreads germs around the kitchen. Wash your hands with soap and warm water after handling it.

Making the plan your own

Different time? Move every line by the same amount. Eating at 3pm? Everything goes an hour later.
Different size? Recalculate the turkey line and work back from 12:55pm.
Running late? Don’t shorten the turkey. Push everything after it later instead.
Fan oven quirks. Food Standards Scotland notes some ovens, such as fan-assisted ones, may cook the bird more quickly, and a full oven or a door that keeps opening may need extra time (FSS: turkey cooking guide).

If you’d rather not do the sums on a napkin, I made Big Dinner Timer for this. You tell it when you want to eat and it works backwards through every job, from fridge defrost to gravy, with a reminder on your phone for each one. It’s on the App Store for iPhone.

Questions

What time should the turkey go in for 2pm?

For a 4kg unstuffed turkey with no pack instructions, the FSA formula (45 minutes per kg plus 20 minutes at 180°C, 160°C fan) gives 3 hours 20 minutes. Add resting time and a little slack, and it goes in at about 9:35am. Follow your pack’s instructions if it has them.

How long should a turkey rest before carving?

BBC Good Food says 30 to 45 minutes for a large joint or turkey, tented with foil in a warm place. Resting frees up the oven for the roast potatoes.

How do I cook roast potatoes if the turkey is in the oven?

Do them while the turkey rests. BBC Food suggests resting the joint while you roast the potatoes at 200°C (180°C fan) for 40 to 50 minutes, turning once after 20 minutes.

How long does a frozen turkey take to defrost?

The FSA says to defrost it in the fridge, allowing around 10 to 12 hours per kg if there are no pack instructions, and that a whole turkey can take 3 to 5 days depending on size.

How do I know the turkey is cooked?

The FSA says it should be steaming hot throughout, with no pink meat and clear juices. With a probe in the thickest part, it needs to reach a combination such as 70°C for 2 minutes or 75°C for 30 seconds.

Times checked on 1 November 2026 against the Food Standards Agency, Food Standards Scotland, BBC Good Food and BBC Food. A planning example, not a substitute for the instructions on your food’s pack.