Cooking for a crowd
Herb-Butter Roast Turkey for 24
These are estimates. They come from rules of thumb, not a recipe we tested at this size. Go by the recipe's own doneness cues and a thermometer, and taste as you go.
The plan
Make 2 batches of the recipe as written: about 24 servings.
The recipe serves 12. How it cooks: roast.
Pans, pots and the oven
- 2 whole turkeys of 12 to 14 lb each, not one bigger one: each cooks in the recipe's time.
- Each one fills a roasting pan, and a roasting pan fills an oven: 2 rounds in one oven, or fewer with a second oven or a roaster oven.
Timing
- Oven: about 3 hours 15 minutes a round, 6 hours 30 minutes back to back. Roast the first one earlier, rest it, then slice and keep it covered at 140°F or hotter.
- Thawing: each 14 lb bird takes about 4 days in the fridge (USDA: a day for every 4 to 5 pounds). Make room for 2 birds.
Good to know
- Use a thermometer in each piece: two roasts of the "same" weight rarely finish at the same minute.
Ingredients for about 24
The totals to shop for. Each batch uses the recipe's own amounts, so mix and season them one batch at a time.
- Turkey
- 2 whole turkey, 12 to 14 lb, fully thawed, neck and giblets removed
- 2 tbsp kosher salt
- 2 tsp black pepper
- 2 medium onion, quartered
- 2 lemon, halved
- 8 sprigs fresh thyme
- 2 cups chicken broth, for the pan
- Herb butter
- 1 cup unsalted butter, 1 stick, softened
- 2 tbsp fresh sage, finely chopped
- 2 tbsp fresh thyme leaves
- 2 tbsp fresh rosemary, finely chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, grated
- 2 tsp lemon zest
Rounded to kitchen measures. Eggs are rounded up to whole eggs.
Keeping a big batch safe
- Keep hot food at 140°F or hotter and cold food at 40°F or colder; nothing sits out more than 2 hours (1 hour above 90°F). (USDA FSIS: "Danger Zone" (40°F to 140°F))
- Split big batches into shallow containers so they cool quickly. Hot food can go straight into the fridge. (USDA FSIS: Leftovers and Food Safety)
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How we work it out
- How it cooks decides how it grows. Baked dishes and casseroles are made as separate batches of the recipe as written, one pan's worth at a time. Soups, stews and chili go in one bigger pot, or several. Slow cooker and pressure cooker recipes get one batch per cooker or per round. Roasts become more roasts, not a bigger one. Skillet, griddle, grill and fried recipes cook in rounds.
- Pans and the oven. We assume a home oven with two racks, two baking dishes or cake pans per rack, or one sheet pan per rack. More pans than that means another round in the oven.
- Pots. The volume comes from the weight of the ingredients (about a liter for each kilogram; dry pasta, rice and grains count 2½ times, since they soak up water), in a pot no more than 3/4 full.
- What we don't simply multiply. Salt: add 3/4, taste, then the rest. Cayenne, chiles and hot sauce: start with 2/3. Ground spices and dried herbs: start with 3/4 once it's 3 batches or more. Bay leaves and other whole spices: about half the extra. Baking soda, baking powder and yeast: batch by batch. Frying oil and the water for boiling: by the pot, not the recipe. A big pot of soup or stew: hold back a tenth of the liquid.
- Timing. Each extra batch adds about 3/4 of the recipe's prep time. A big pot takes about 3 more minutes per extra quart to come to a simmer on one burner. Meat browns in batches no bigger than the recipe's. A full oven bakes a little slower: swap and turn the pans halfway, and allow 5 to 10 minutes more.
These are our rules of thumb, not tests of each recipe at each size. The recipe's own doneness cues and a thermometer come first.