General discussion was the wrong place.  19 pound turkey, never threw a bird in the oven before.  Google is not a whole lot of help.  I got advice from friends from 375 for 6 to 7 horus to 250 for 6 hours and 20 minutes.  I can cook everything else but never did a bird.  I find myself having nobody to mooch off of this year so it's just me and my son and I'm no cook.  Dog will also eat well to.  Why such a big bird?  Most of them were big and for 11 bucks can't beat the price.

Alton Brown method.  

Coat with canola oil, first 30 minutes at 500 degrees.   Pull out and set oven to 350.  Aluminum foil over the breast, then back in till breast is at 161 degrees.

Should be about 2.5 to 3.5 hours.

AB Turkey

Need more info OP...

Stuffed?

Gas or electric?

Bacon?

IIRC Butterball has a hotline.
Best turkey I ever had was 18 hours in a home made oil pipe smoker.
Second best was a charcoal Weber grill.

Not stuffed.  I was told to make the stuffing in a separate cassarole dish.  Electric oven, no bacon.





I'm seeing such a wide range of cook times from 3 to 3.5 hours to 6 to 7 hours and have no idea what to think at this point.  This all from people and online telling me to cook at the same temp too around 375.  





I have been off this week from work and even caught Rachael Ray.  Don't tell anybody I watched that show!  She said crank up the heat to 400 for an hour and a half and you don't have to spend hours cooking a turkey?  WTF?
 

This is mandatory if you want a superior end product. Otherwise, it's a guessing game.

Ok man, unstuffed, your looking at 12-14 minutes per pound at 350 degrees F. About 4 hours at 12 min per pound, assuming the turkey is thawed. If its not completely thawed, let it soak for a bit in cool, saltwater.

Personally I would salt the inside cavities, and stuff it with herb seasoned, cubed stuffing, brown up some sausage, about 7/8 cup of celery and 1/8 cup garlic, butter, onions, and chicken stock, and go 13-16 minutes per pound for about  5 hours.

In any case, do yourself a favor and layer strips of bacon over the breasts, wings and legs of the bird, you wont be disappointed.

Cover the bird with foil for the first few hours of cooking. With about 45-60 minutes to go, check the turkey with a meat thermometer, and remove the foil. Keep it in the oven and let it brown up, until the inside of the breast is at 165 degrees.

I have found with electric ovens, it typically takes longer to cook. My gas oven cooks a lot faster, so check your bird often. The bacon on top tends to "self baste" the turkey, but you may have to baste the turkey often after about the 2.5 hour mark.

In any case, just keep an eye on it after the first few hours, you will know when its getting close, take the foil off to brown it up, and have fun with it. I have been doing this for years with my family, we all get up to put the turkey together and have breakfast, and get the bird in the oven.

Good luck man and Happy Thanksgiving! If things don't work out IM me, we'll have plenty of food!

~~~~ THIS is Thanksgiving!

Thanks for the info.  I actually had a guy that was a cook rattle off instructions on the phone which I wrote down and he said 375 and an hour per pound.  I think that would be pretty crispy.  Something about a turkey in the oven for 19 hours didn't sound right

hr/lb at 375? he must have thought you were trying to make jerky.

Well the 19 pound bird took 5 hours to cook, an hour more than I expected, but somebody in here did say electric ovens take longer.  I had a probe in it and waited till it said 165.  Turned out well and not dry.  Thanks for all the help.  I will be able to cook from here on out for myself I guess.  I think it's gonna be a spiral ham for Christmas, yum...

Alton Brown "Brine and Roast un-stuffed" is a great way to roast turkey!

AZ SKY, that bird looks kind of raw.

Nope, actually almost a little overdone.

 

























 

nah, that looks underdone.