Should You Use the Pop-Up Timer in Your Turkey?

In this post, I am going to talk about if you should cook your turkey until the pop-up timer comes up or completely ignore it.

As you get your turkey ready for the big day, you might have noticed a little white tube sticking out of your bird. Most likely the packaging holding your bird advertised with pride that the turkey has a pop-up timer that will pop when the turkey is done. Here is an example.

What is this Pop-Up Timer Made Of?

Inside there is a spring that is held down by an epoxy. This epoxy melts somewhere in the neighborhood of 180 degrees, thus releasing the spring and the timer "pops up". There isn't in it that actual measures the temperature of the turkey.

Why It Doesn't Work

The biggest problem with these things is that they are always inserted into the white meat. Now 180 degrees is what you want the dark meat at, but the white meat will be dry when it reaches 180. They only keep safety in mind, not actual quality of the turkey

My goal every Thanksgiving is for my pop up thermometer to look like this:

You don't want it to pop in the breast. And if you have always done this, now you know why your turkey needed a ton of gravy to be eaten. Or maybe you have believed turkey is not juicy, it's dry. That is what I use to believe and my wife too.

What to Use Instead

First off never go just by time alone. There are too many factors to give you an exact time, the size and shape of the turkey varies. Oven varies in temperature too as well as how clean an oven in can effect how well it cooks the turkey or anything else.

So instead I would recommend using a probe thermometer, instead of the pop-up timer. This is better for two reason:

• You don't have to open the oven door to see if the pop-up timer, popped.
• You can know exactly when the white meat is done without overcooking it.

To learn more about temping a turkey and what thermometers you can get, check out my blog post - Using Thermometers for Thawing and Temping a Turkey.

Keep the Timer In

Never remove the pop up timer before you cook the turkey. Just leave it there. Otherwise you are creating a nice hole for juices in the turkey to run out, rendering it dry anyway. I keep mind in the breast until I am actually carving up the turkey.

This is also a reason why I wouldn't just move the pop up timer to the dark meat. But also you can't see it very well and it will be hard to get it in very good. Just leave it alone, use a quality thermometer and dry turkeys will be something that will always be in your past. Unless you go to someone else's house that isn't in the know like you.

Still want gravy for it's flavor, not to cover up a dry turkey? Try my Instant Pot Smoked Turkey. And if you need a recipe to cook the turkey itself, my favorite for a whole turkey is the Alton Brown method of a Dry Brined, Spatchcock Turkey. Just doing a breast? Try my Dry Brined Air Fryer Turkey Breast.