# Cooking turkeys, the last few degrees

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cooking-turkeys-the-last-few-degrees/139580>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [November 30, 2002, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cooking-turkeys-the-last-few-degrees/139580 "2002-11-30T01:34:43Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\
**Post date:** [November 30, 2002, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cooking-turkeys-the-last-few-degrees/139580/1 "2002-11-30T01:34:43Z")

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As my brother and I waited for our Thanksgiving bird to get finished last night, we waited for the interior temperature in the breast to hit 165 F.

The bird seemed to cook up to about 157 F in about two hours. However, the last eight degrees took nearly an hour.

Does it become marginally harder to warm up the inside of the turkey (or a similar food item) when it reaches a particular temperature or was this just a case of our hunger making us impatient.

And, for those who think it should have been cooked to 180 as other sources recommend, that’s just plain burnt to me.

The turkey was cooked and I have not been camped out in the bathroom.

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**Author:** ![Kaitlyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/73ab20/32.png) [@Kaitlyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaitlyn)\
**Post date:** [November 30, 2002, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cooking-turkeys-the-last-few-degrees/139580/2 "2002-11-30T02:14:34Z")

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It’s a basic rule of physics. The rate at which a substance absorbs heat is relative to the temperature difference between it and the substance from which it is absorbing heat. In other words, as the turkey heats up, the temperature difference between it and the air in the oven gets smaller, so the rate of heat absorption slows down.

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**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\
**Post date:** [November 30, 2002, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cooking-turkeys-the-last-few-degrees/139580/3 "2002-11-30T03:50:25Z")

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Also, the turkey undergoes chemical changes as heat is added. I would WAG that some of the new chemicals formed may absorb heat slower than a raw bird.

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**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\
**Post date:** [November 30, 2002, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cooking-turkeys-the-last-few-degrees/139580/4 "2002-11-30T07:41:38Z")

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Thanks, I figured it was something fairly simple. At least, there was a scientific reason instead of just saying I was hungry and impatient.

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**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\
**Post date:** [November 30, 2002, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cooking-turkeys-the-last-few-degrees/139580/5 "2002-11-30T14:00:26Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by friedo \*  
> \*\*Also, the turkey undergoes chemical changes as heat is added. I would WAG that some of the new chemicals formed may absorb heat slower than a raw bird. \*\*

More likely as the water in the turkey evaporates there is less heat being conducted/convected away as steam.

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**Author:** ![mrcrow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@mrcrow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mrcrow)\
**Post date:** [November 30, 2002, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cooking-turkeys-the-last-few-degrees/139580/6 "2002-11-30T14:02:50Z")

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as with a kettle  
the specific heat of an object alters along with the objectivity of the watcher:D