Roast a turkey crown at 190°C (170°C fan, gas 5), allowing 20 minutes per kilogram plus 70 minutes for a crown under 4kg, or plus 90 minutes for one 4kg and over. It is cooked when the thickest part of the breast reaches 70°C held for two minutes, or 74°C to be certain. Rest it for 20 to 30 minutes before carving.
The crown is the sensible Christmas centrepiece: all the breast meat, none of the awkward legs, and a cook you can actually time. The catch is that the breast is lean, so the line between succulent and sawdust is thin. Get the weight, the time and the temperature right, and a crown is close to foolproof. What follows is the timing per kilogram, the oven and probe temperatures, and the small handful of things that keep the meat moist.
Key takeaways
- Oven: 190°C / 170°C fan / gas 5. One temperature all the way through.
- Time: 20 minutes per kg, plus 70 minutes (crowns under 4kg) or plus 90 minutes (4kg and over). A 2.5kg crown takes about 2 hours.
- Done: 70°C in the thickest breast held for 2 minutes, or 74°C / 165°F for no doubt. No probe? Juices run clear, no pink.
- Moist: butter under and over the skin, foil tent for most of the cook, off for the last 30 minutes.
- Rest: 20–30 minutes, loosely covered, before you carve.
How long to cook a turkey crown (per kg)
Weigh the crown and use the British Poultry Council rule: 20 minutes per kilogram, plus 70 minutes for a crown under 4kg, or plus 90 minutes for one weighing 4kg or more. The table below does the arithmetic, and tells you roughly how many it feeds and how long it needs to defrost. Times assume a fridge-cold crown brought to room temperature first and cooked covered for most of the time.
| Weight | Cooking time (190°C / 170°C fan / gas 5) | Serves | Fridge defrost |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1.5kg | 1 hour 40 minutes | 4 | 15–18 hrs |
| 2kg | 1 hour 50 minutes | 5–6 | 20–24 hrs |
| 2.5kg | 2 hours | 6–8 | 25–30 hrs |
| 3kg | 2 hours 10 minutes | 8–10 | 30–36 hrs |
| 3.5kg | 2 hours 20 minutes | 10–12 | 35–42 hrs |
| 4kg | 2 hours 50 minutes | 12–14 | 40–48 hrs |
Two honest caveats. The first is that the time on the packet often runs longer than the formula above; supermarket instructions lean cautious, and cautious is how you arrive at dry. Trust a probe over a packet. The second is that every oven lies a little, so treat the time as the moment to start checking the temperature, not the moment to serve.
What temperature to cook a turkey crown
Roast at 190°C, which is 170°C in a fan oven, gas mark 5, or 375°F. A crown needs only the one temperature from start to finish; there is no need to fiddle. If you want the skin properly burnished, take the foil off and turn the oven up to 200°C (180°C fan, gas 6) for the final half hour, basting once. That late blast browns the skin without drying the meat underneath, because the inside is nearly done by then.
An air fryer works too, if your oven is full. Set it to about 180°C, cook skin-side down for 30 minutes, then turn and give it another 20 to 30 minutes, checking the temperature as you would in the oven.
How to tell when a turkey crown is cooked
A turkey crown is cooked when the thickest part of the breast reaches a safe temperature and holds it. A digital probe is the only way to know for certain; guessing by time alone is how good crowns get overcooked and tough ones get served pink.
The food-safety numbers (and why they work)
The Food Standards Agency treats several time-and-temperature combinations as equally safe for poultry, because what kills harmful bacteria is heat over time, not a single magic number:
- 60°C held for 45 minutes
- 65°C held for 10 minutes
- 70°C held for 2 minutes
- 75°C for 30 seconds
This is why a crown pulled at 70°C is safe: it does not cool the instant it leaves the oven. During the rest, the centre keeps climbing — carryover cooking — and stays above 70°C for far longer than the two minutes required. If you would rather not think about held times at all, take it to 74°C / 165°F, the figure at which the kill is essentially instant, and rest as usual.
Probe the deepest part of the breast, near the bone but not touching it, since bone reads hotter than meat. No thermometer in the drawer? Push a skewer into the thickest point: the juices should run clear and golden, with no trace of pink, and the meat should feel firm rather than springy. If in any doubt, give it another 15 minutes covered and check again. Undercooked poultry is the one mistake worth being fussy about.
This is general cooking guidance, not a substitute for the safety advice on your turkey’s packaging or from the Food Standards Agency. When in doubt, cook a little longer.
A crown rewards a thermometer more than any other roast on the Christmas table.
Why a crown, not the whole bird
A turkey crown is the breast on the bone, with the legs and wings removed. For most modern tables it is the better buy. It cooks faster and more evenly than a whole turkey, fits an ordinary oven beside the roast potatoes, and carves in clean slices rather than a wrestling match. Because there are no legs demanding extra time, the breast is not overcooked while you wait for the thighs to catch up — the single most common reason whole birds disappoint.
It is also the thriftier choice, which is worth saying plainly. A crown costs less than a whole bird, you are not paying for carcass and legs you may not eat, and a 2.5kg crown comfortably feeds six to eight with enough left for sandwiches. If your household prefers white meat, you waste almost nothing. Buy by appetite, not by ambition: roughly 300 to 400g per person is generous once the trimmings are on the plate.
One reassurance on shopping. A good supermarket crown, often sold pre-basted or butter-injected, roasts beautifully; you do not need a heritage bronze from the butcher to eat well, though a bronze or free-range bird does have more flavour and more fat to play with if the budget stretches.
How to keep a turkey crown moist
The breast is lean, so the whole game is adding fat and not overcooking. Three things do most of the work, and none of them is complicated.
- Butter, under and over the skin. Loosen the skin from the breast with your fingers and push softened butter underneath, then smear more over the top. A compound butter — butter mashed with chopped thyme, a little garlic and some orange or lemon zest — bastes the meat from within as it melts.
- Bacon or a foil tent. Draping streaky bacon or pancetta across the breast keeps it self-basting without you opening the oven (Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s trick); or tent the crown loosely with foil for most of the cook and remove it for the last 30 minutes to brown.
- Baste once, not constantly. Every time the oven door opens the temperature drops and the cook lengthens. One baste when you take the foil off is plenty if the crown is covered for the rest of the time.
If you have the time and the fridge space, a dry brine is the serious cook’s edge. Rub the crown all over with about a tablespoon of fine salt per kilogram, then leave it uncovered in the fridge for 12 to 24 hours. The salt draws out moisture, dissolves, and is reabsorbed, seasoning the meat deep down and helping it hold water during roasting. Skip it if your crown is already labelled basted or brined, or you will oversalt. The surest moisture insurance, though, is pulling the crown at the right temperature: an overcooked breast cannot be un-dried.
Perfect Roast Turkey Crown
Serves 6–8 · Prep 20 min · Cook 2 hours (2.5kg) · Rest 30 min
Ingredients
- 1 turkey crown, about 2.5kg (adjust timing to weight using the table above)
- 100g softened butter
- 2 tbsp chopped fresh thyme (or 1 tbsp dried)
- Zest of 1 orange or lemon
- 1 garlic clove, crushed (optional)
- Sea salt and black pepper
- 4–6 rashers streaky bacon, to drape (optional)
- 1 onion and 1 carrot, roughly chopped, plus a splash of stock for the tin
Method
- Take the crown out of the fridge about an hour before cooking and pat it dry. Heat the oven to 190°C / 170°C fan / gas 5.
- Mash the butter with the thyme, zest, garlic and a good pinch of salt and pepper. Loosen the skin over the breast and push half the butter underneath; spread the rest over the top.
- Sit the crown on the chopped onion and carrot in a roasting tin, add a splash of stock to the base, and drape over the bacon if using. Tent loosely with foil.
- Roast for 20 minutes per kg plus 70 minutes (90 minutes if 4kg or more). For a 2.5kg crown that is about 2 hours.
- Remove the foil for the final 30 minutes and baste once with the tin juices to brown the skin. Turn the oven up to 200°C / 180°C fan / gas 6 for a deeper colour if you like.
- Check it is done: the thickest part of the breast should read 70°C held for 2 minutes, or 74°C to be sure. If not, return it covered for 15 minutes and check again.
- Lift the crown onto a board, tent loosely with foil and rest for 20 to 30 minutes before carving. Keep the tin juices for the gravy.
Gravy from the drippings
The juices and browned bits in the tin are the best gravy you will make all year, and they cost nothing extra. Pour the contents of the tin through a sieve into a jug, let the fat rise and skim most of it off. Set the tin over a low heat, stir in a tablespoon of flour or a slurry of cornflour and water, then whisk in the strained juices and enough turkey or vegetable stock to loosen it. Simmer until it coats the back of a spoon. A few drops of gravy browning deepen the colour, since turkey gravy is naturally pale.
Turkey gravy needs no wine to be good — a splash of stock and the roasting juices carry it — which is worth knowing if you are pouring for drivers, children or anyone who does not drink at all. For the table, a sharp homemade cranberry sauce or a good chilled cloudy apple juice is every bit as festive as a glass of red, and nobody is left with a token soft option.
Resting and carving
Resting is not optional; it is the difference between juicy slices and a board awash with liquid. As the crown cooks, the juices are driven towards the centre. Twenty to thirty minutes under a loose foil tent lets them redistribute, so they stay in the meat rather than running out the moment you cut. The crown holds its heat well, and the gravy will be hot, so a rested crown still arrives warm.
To carve, sit the crown upright and steady it with a fork. Run a sharp, smooth-bladed knife down either side of the central breastbone to free each breast whole, then lay it flat and slice across the grain into even pieces. Carving off the bone like this gives you neat, uniform slices and gets every scrap of meat off the frame.
If it’s dry: how to rescue an overcooked crown
An overcooked crown is not a ruined dinner. If the breast has gone past its best, carve it thinly across the grain — thin slices read as far less dry than thick ones — and arrange them in a shallow dish. Spoon over plenty of hot gravy or a little warm stock right before serving so the slices drink it up. A spoonful of the resting juices over each helping does the same. Save the lesson for next year: pull the crown at temperature, not by the clock, and the rescue is one you will not need again.
Leftovers
A crown gives you tidy, sliceable leftovers — ideal for sandwiches, a turkey and ham pie, or a proper curry. Cool the meat within two hours, keep it covered in the fridge and use it within three days, or freeze it for up to three months. For ideas, see our leftover turkey recipes. The rest of the Christmas plate is here too: our Christmas ham and pigs in blankets both make-ahead beautifully, and the December to-do list keeps the whole day on schedule.
Turkey crown FAQ
How long do you cook a turkey crown per kg?
Allow 20 minutes per kilogram, plus 70 minutes for a crown under 4kg or plus 90 minutes for one 4kg and over, at 190°C (170°C fan, gas 5). A 2.5kg crown therefore takes about 2 hours.
What temperature should a turkey crown be cooked to?
The thickest part of the breast should reach 70°C and hold it for two minutes, or 74°C / 165°F if you want no margin of doubt. Resting carries the temperature a little higher still.
Do you cook a turkey crown covered or uncovered?
Covered, loosely with foil, for most of the cook to keep the breast moist; then uncovered for the final 30 minutes so the skin browns and crisps.
Should I cook a turkey crown at 180°C or 200°C?
Roast at 190°C (170°C fan) throughout. If you want a deeper colour, turn the oven up to 200°C (180°C fan) only for the last half hour once the foil is off.
How do I stop a turkey crown drying out?
Push butter under and over the skin, keep it covered with foil for most of the cook, baste once, and — above all — pull it from the oven the moment it reaches temperature rather than leaving it in to be safe.
Can you cook a turkey crown from frozen?
No. Defrost it fully in the fridge first, allowing 10 to 12 hours per kilogram, then cook within two days. Cooking from frozen risks the centre never reaching a safe temperature.
Should you stuff a turkey crown?
Don’t pack stuffing into the cavity, as it lengthens the cooking time and dries the breast. Tuck in a halved clementine and some thyme for aroma, and cook stuffing separately as balls or in a dish.
How long should a turkey crown rest?
At least 20 minutes, and up to 30 for a larger crown, loosely covered with foil. The juices redistribute and the temperature settles, giving you moist, clean slices.
How do I cook a boneless turkey crown or breast joint?
Use the same oven temperature and the same 20 minutes per kg plus 70 minutes guide, but check the packaging, since boneless joints are often rolled and may be denser. Probe to temperature as always.
What size turkey crown do I need?
Roughly 300 to 400g per person with all the trimmings. A 1.5kg crown feeds about four, 2.5kg feeds six to eight, and 3kg feeds eight to ten.
Round out the plate with the classics: a jug of proper homemade bread sauce, made the day before and reheated, takes the pressure off Christmas morning.
By Linda Garrould · Updated 14 June 2026 · christmascountdown.co.uk
Turkey CrownChristmas DinnerRoastCooking Times
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