ThawDay

ThawDay counts back from your dinner hour and names the exact buy, thaw, brine, and roast days. Build the dated turkey plan for one dinner: when to buy, when to start the fridge thaw, when to start brining (if brining), when the bird goes in the oven at 325F, when to start the sides, and when to rest and carve. Dates come from USDA FSIS thaw and roast charts. Plans unstuffed birds, 8 to 24 lb. Dinner times are read in local time, just as they were given. Steps that depend on the time now are judged in that local frame: pass an IANA timezone when you know it; without one, a step is only called past once it is past in every US time zone. The plan says so in a clock note.

The thaw is where Thanksgiving goes wrong: guess the start day and the bird is still frozen on cook day. This names the exact start day. How long a turkey takes to thaw, by USDA method: in the fridge (chart band in days, plus the start date when a cook date is given) or in cold water (30 minutes per pound, with the chart band in hours). Covers 8 to 24 lb.

Dinner at 5 does not mean the oven at 5: for a big bird, the oven time lands hours earlier than most people picture. The USDA roast time for an unstuffed turkey at 325F: the chart band and the middle of the band a plan should use, plus the oven-in time when a dinner date and time are given. With state frozen, it gives the USDA from-frozen chart band instead (cooking from frozen is safe and takes at least 50 percent longer). Covers 8 to 24 lb. Ends with the 165F check rule.