Holiday Roast Times Table
Holiday meat chart (325°F unless noted)
| Meat | Size | Min/lb |
|---|---|---|
| Beef rib roast, bone-in | 4–8 lb | 23–30 |
| Beef rib roast, boneless | 4–8 lb | 39–43 |
| Beef eye round | 2–3 lb | 20–22 |
| Beef tenderloin, whole | 4–6 lb | 45–60 total @425°F |
| Lamb leg | 5–9 lb bone-in / 4–7 lb boneless | 20–26 |
| Pork loin, bone-in | 3–5 lb | 20–25 |
| Pork loin, boneless | 2–4 lb | 23–33 |
| Pork tenderloin | ½–1½ lb | 20–30 total @425°F |
| Veal loin, bone-in | 3–4 lb | 30–34 |
| Venison sirloin tip | 3–4 lb | 20–25 |
Specialty poultry chart
| Bird | Size | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Capon | 4–8 lb | 20–30 min/lb @375°F |
| Cornish hen | 18–24 oz | 50–60 min total @350°F |
| Duck, domestic | 4–5½ lb | 20 min/lb @375°F |
| Duck, wild | – | 18–20 min/lb @350°F |
| Goose, whole | – | 20–25 min/lb @325°F |
| Pheasant | about 2 lb | 30 min/lb @350°F |
| Quail | – | 20 min total @425°F |
Charts: USDA FSIS, Roasting Those "Other" Holiday Meats (2024). Birds pull at 165°F; red meats at 145°F with a 3-minute rest. Stuffed birds: add 15–30 minutes. Duck: prick or score the skin so the fat renders. Related: turkey cooking time table, ham cooking time table, holiday dinner host calculator, leftover storage calculator.
Turkey gets the timetable posters, but December's table is full of USDA's 'other holiday meats': goose at 20 to 25 minutes a pound, a duckling at 20 even, a capon at 20 to 30, and the venison roast from hunting season at 20 to 25. This page is FSIS's complete holiday roasting chart — beef, lamb, pork, veal, venison and the specialty poultry rows — rebuilt as a calculator that turns your actual weight into total oven time.
The quiet trap is that these birds are not interchangeable clocks. Duck and capon roast at 375 degrees, goose at 325, Cornish hens get flat totals instead of per-pound rates, and stuffed birds of any kind add 15 to 30 minutes. Every poultry row on this page ends at 165 degrees; the red meat rows end at 145 with a 3-minute rest — the oven temperature is printed with each row because the chart itself varies it.
How to use
- Pick the cut from the dropdown — the per-pound rate and the oven temperature for that exact row are shown underneath.
- Enter the weight and read the total roasting window plus a ready-by clock counted from right now.
- Pull at the temperature on the stat line: 165 for every bird on the chart, 145 with a 3-minute rest for the red meats.
Frequently asked questions
How long does it take to cook a duck?
About 20 minutes per pound at 375 degrees for a domestic duck of 4 to 5½ pounds — call it 80 to 110 minutes total — pulled at 165 degrees. Prick or score the skin first so the fat layer renders out; that fat is why duck does not follow the goose clock.
Why does goose roast at a lower temperature than duck?
A holiday goose typically runs 10 to 12 pounds — double a duckling — and carries even more fat: 325 degrees gives the heat time to travel to the bone before the skin burns. Expect 20 to 25 minutes per pound, so call it 3½ to 4 hours for the classic bird, plus 15 to 30 more minutes if you stuff it.
Is venison cooked like beef?
Same doneness, same chart: a 3 to 4 pound venison sirloin-tip roast runs 20 to 25 minutes per pound and pulls at 145 degrees with a 3-minute rest, exactly like the beef rows. Venison has almost no fat cover, so a thermometer matters more — there is no marbling to forgive overcooking.
What is a capon and how is it different from a chicken?
A capon is a castrated rooster raised large: 4 to 8 pounds against a broiler's 3, with fattier, more tender meat. It roasts at 375 degrees for 20 to 30 minutes per pound — hotter and proportionally shorter than a goose, and big enough to be the centerpiece a chicken cannot carry.
How much do stuffing and oven bags change the timetable?
USDA's holiday chart adds 15 to 30 minutes for stuffed birds and notes oven bags shorten the clock while keeping moisture — but bag or no bag, the pull temperature does not move: 165 degrees at the thigh and breast for birds, 145 plus 3 minutes for the red meats.