How to Cook a Turkey in an Electric Roaster Oven

This is for the host who has added up Thanksgiving Day (Thursday, November 26) and found the problem: the turkey wants the oven from breakfast to mid-afternoon, and so do the stuffing, the green bean casserole, the sweet potatoes, the rolls and the pie. Maybe you own a roaster you use twice a year, maybe you’re borrowing one from your mother, maybe it’s still in the box. Moving the turkey into it gives the oven back to everything else, at whatever temperature they need. Here is how to do it so it comes out cooked through and on time.

First: will your turkey fit?

Check this the weekend before, not on Thursday at 8 am. Nesco says its 18-quart roaster takes a turkey of up to 22 pounds, and its 12-quart model up to 14 pounds. Other brands (Oster, Hamilton Beach, Rival and store brands all make 18 to 22 quart models) give their own limits in the manual. Lost the manual? Most makers post it on their website under the model number printed on the base.

• The lid has to close. A bird that touches the lid browns where it touches and leaks heat. If the breast is too tall, the turkey is too big for this roaster.
• Leave a gap at the sides. If you use an oven bag, USDA says the bag must not touch the sides, bottom or lid.
• Count the rack. The turkey sits on the roaster’s rack, which takes up an inch or so of height.

Our tip: put the turkey, still in its wrapper, on the rack in the empty cookwell and close the lid. If it closes, you’re fine. Wash the cookwell afterwards. If your bird is frozen, it still has to be fully thawed by Thursday morning; the thaw chart for Thanksgiving 2026 tells you which day it goes in the fridge.

Temperature and time

There are two sets of numbers worth knowing, and they don’t quite match. USDA’s says to preheat to at least 325°F and use the same times as a regular oven. Here is its oven chart at 325°F:

Turkey weight	Unstuffed	Stuffed
8–12 lb	2¾–3 hours	3–3½ hours
12–14 lb	3–3¾ hours	3½–4 hours
14–18 lb	3¾–4¼ hours	4–4¼ hours
18–20 lb	4¼–4½ hours	4¼–4¾ hours
20–24 lb	4½–5 hours	4¾–5¼ hours

Nesco’s turkey recipe for its 18-quart roaster is hotter and gives longer times:

1. Preheat to 400°F with the lid on. The manual says to preheat for 20 minutes.
2. Roast the first hour at 400°F, covered.
3. Turn it down to 350°F for the rest of the cooking.
4. Turn it back up to 400°F for the last hour. The manual’s version says to take the excess juices out of the bottom first, which helps the skin brown. Keep them for gravy.
5. Plan on 15 to 20 minutes per pound in total, and 30 to 45 minutes more if the turkey is stuffed.

For a 16-pound turkey that is 4 hours to 5 hours 20 minutes in the roaster, against 3¾ to 4¼ hours in USDA’s oven chart. Your roaster, your kitchen’s temperature and how often you lift the lid all move the number, so use the times to plan the day and the thermometer to decide when it’s done.

When it’s done: USDA’s safe minimum is 165°F in the innermost part of the thigh and wing and the thickest part of the breast. Nesco’s recipe cooks to 180°F in the thigh, which is past the minimum and a matter of how you like the dark meat. Then let it stand 20 minutes before carving (USDA’s advice for quality; Nesco says 10). If the thermometer readings disagree, or the meat looks pink, see is the turkey done? where to put the thermometer.

A worked example: 16 pounds, dinner at 3 pm

Work back from when you sit down, using the long end of Nesco’s range so you’re never late. This is our plan, built from the numbers above, for an unstuffed 16-pound turkey:

• 9:00 am — roaster on at 400°F, lid on, to preheat.
• 9:20 am — turkey in on the rack, breast up, brushed with melted butter. Lid on.
• 10:20 am — turn down to 350°F.
• 12:20 pm — one hour before the earliest finish (4 hours from 9:20): take out the excess juices, baste, turn back up to 400°F.
• 1:00 pm — first thermometer check. Check every 15 to 20 minutes after that.
• At 165°F in thigh, wing and breast — lift it out on the rack (the handles are hot), tent with foil, rest 20 minutes.
• 2:40 pm at the latest — out by now even at 20 minutes a pound, carved by 3:00.

If it’s done early, Nesco says you can hold it in the roaster at 200°F until you serve. Meanwhile the oven has been yours since 9 am: stuffing in a dish, casseroles, rolls and pies can each go in at their own temperature, and mashed potatoes made ahead can reheat beside them.

Water, the lid, the outlet: what trips people up

• Don’t add water. Nesco’s turkey recipe calls for none; you baste with melted butter and the pan juices. Its manual says to add liquid sparingly because not much escapes from a roaster. Water in the bottom steams the bird and keeps the skin pale.
• Use the rack. USDA says the turkey should sit on the rack, raised out of the juices that collect in the bottom.
• Keep the lid on. USDA says to leave it on throughout and lift it as little as possible, because each look slows the cooking. Lift it to baste or check, and tilt it away from you: the manual warns the escaping steam can burn.
• Expect paler skin than an oven gives. Nesco’s instructions add a 400°F last hour and suggest brushing the skin with butter mixed with a little browning sauce. If the skin still isn’t brown at the halfway point, Nesco says to turn it up to 400°F.
• Give it its own outlet. The Nesco 18-quart draws 1,450 watts. Its manual says not to run another high-wattage appliance on the same circuit, so keep the coffee maker, kettle and slow cooker on a different one. If a breaker trips, the roaster goes cold quietly: glance at the light whenever you pass. Need an extension cord? The manual says its rating must be equal to or greater than the roaster’s, and it should not drape where someone can pull or trip on it.
• Pick the spot. A flat, heat-resistant, stable surface with air around it, away from curtains, walls and cabinets, and somewhere it won’t need to move: the manual says not to move it while it’s on.
• Stuffing inside the bird has to reach 165°F too, and adds 30 to 45 minutes in Nesco’s guide. Baking it in a dish in the now-free oven is simpler and lets you prepare it the night before.

What RecipeScan can and can’t do here

We make RecipeScan, so here’s the honest version. It’s a place to keep your recipes and run the cooking from your phone. On the free plan you can save up to 3 of your own recipes from a website link or by typing them in, add a private note under any step (touch and hold the step, then Add note), and cook from Cooking Mode with several timers running at once, which is handy for the sides while the roaster does its own thing. The Multi-Dish Planner, in the Plan tab’s menu, works backwards from a serving time to tell you when to start each saved recipe.

What it doesn’t do: it knows nothing about roaster ovens and won’t convert an oven recipe to roaster times. The Multi-Dish Planner uses the cook time written in each recipe and assumes a kitchen with one oven, so it may warn that several dishes need the oven even when the turkey is in the roaster; you can ignore that one. It doesn’t connect to a meat thermometer. The charts above are the part to trust for the turkey itself.

Frequently asked questions

Do you put water in the roaster when cooking a turkey?

No. Nesco's own 18-quart turkey recipe adds no water; you baste with melted butter and the pan juices. Its manual says to add liquid sparingly because not much escapes from a roaster. USDA says to set the turkey on the rack so it sits above the juices that collect in the bottom.

How big a turkey fits in an 18-quart roaster?

Nesco says its 18-quart roaster takes a turkey of up to 22 pounds, and its 12-quart model a turkey of up to 14 pounds. Other brands differ, so check your manual, and make sure the lid closes fully over the bird before Thanksgiving morning.

Does a turkey cook faster in an electric roaster?

Not reliably. USDA says cooking times are generally the same as oven roasting. Nesco's guide gives 15 to 20 minutes per pound, which for a 16-pound turkey is 4 hours to 5 hours 20 minutes. USDA's oven chart gives a 14 to 18 pound unstuffed turkey 3 3/4 to 4 1/4 hours at 325°F. Start checking early and let a thermometer decide.

Do you keep the lid on the roaster the whole time?

Yes. USDA says to leave the lid on throughout cooking and lift it as little as possible, because every look slows the cooking. Lift it only to baste or check the temperature, and tilt it away from you so the steam doesn't burn you.

What temperature should the turkey be when it's done?

At least 165°F in the innermost part of the thigh and wing and the thickest part of the breast, which is USDA's safe minimum. Nesco's recipe cooks to 180°F in the thigh, which is past that minimum and a matter of how you like the dark meat. Let the turkey stand 20 minutes before carving.

Sources: USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service, Turkey: Alternate Routes to the Table (last updated Feb 19, 2026: electric roaster oven as an extra oven, same times and temperature as conventional roasting, check the manual, preheat to at least 325°F, rack above the juices, lid on, oven bags not touching sides, bottom or lid, 165°F) and Let’s Talk Turkey (325°F timetable, unstuffed and stuffed; stand 20 minutes before carving). NESCO, How to Roast Turkey (18 Qt. roaster) (400°F preheat, first and last hour at 400°F, 350°F between, 15 to 20 minutes per pound, 30 to 45 minutes more stuffed, up to 22 lb in the 18-quart and 14 lb in the 12-quart, 180°F thigh, hold at 200°F, stand 10 minutes, browning) and the 18 Qt. Roaster MWRI18-47 Care/Use Guide (1,450 watts; 20-minute preheat; cook with the lid on; remove excess juices before the last hour; add liquid sparingly; circuit and extension-cord warnings; placement; steam). The fit test, the worked timeline and the 12:20 pm turn-up are our own suggestions from those numbers. Checked November 7, 2026.