turkey took 8 hours to roast
Michele
11/25/11 		I cannot figure out why my turkey took 8 hours to roast. I bought a 13 lb free-range turkey and roasted it unstuffed in a Cooks brand (from JCPenney)stainless steel copper-bottomed roasting pan. The turkey was placed on a rack and covered loosely with foil. 1 inch of broth was placed in the bottom of the pan. I roasted it in a conventional natural gas oven at 325 degrees F. I used an oven thermometer to make sure the oven was heated to the correct temp, which it was. I checked the breast and thigh temps with a meat thermometer periodically after 3 1/2 hours of roasting. After 5 hours, the breast temp got up to 161 degrees, so I removed the bird from the oven,let sit for 35 mins, then carved off enough meat for us to have our Thanksgiving meal. I then returned the bird to the oven for another 3 hours. The dark meat was barely done.
Help!!
ellen
11/25/11 		What a puzzle, eh? You did everything you should have. The free range turkeys here come very very cold, as they are held at 30 degrees, and there is almost some iciness in the dark meat. So, one question is, was the bird fully thawed? A 14 pound frozen bird does take about 7-8 hours.

It is also true that heritage birds have more dark meat and are a little slower to cook, but this is a bigger difference than I would expect.

You did just what I would have. Sorry it complicated your day!