# Meat Cooking Time Calculator

> Estimates oven roasting time for a joint or whole bird from its weight with published minutes-per-pound rules (BBC Good Food for beef, lamb, pork and chicken; the USDA timetable for whole turkey) and returns the target internal temperature, the USDA safe minimum and the resting time.

- Calculator id: `meat-cooking-time` · Category: Food & Cooking (`food`) · Tool name: `estimate_roasting_time`
- Canonical page: https://tttkmbb.com/food/meat-cooking-time · This document: https://tttkmbb.com/food/meat-cooking-time.md · JSON definition: https://tttkmbb.com/food/meat-cooking-time.json

## Purpose

Estimates oven roasting time for a joint or whole bird from its weight with published minutes-per-pound rules (BBC Good Food for beef, lamb, pork and chicken; the USDA timetable for whole turkey) and returns the target internal temperature, the USDA safe minimum and the resting time.

**Use when:** You need to plan how long a roast or a whole bird of a given weight takes in a conventional oven and which internal temperature to cook it to.

**Do not use when:** You are cooking ground meat, stuffed or boned-and-rolled joints, sous-vide, smoked or braised meat, or a stuffed turkey (use turkey-cooking-time); times are estimates and doneness must be confirmed with a thermometer.

## Input

| Parameter | Type | Unit | Required | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `meat` | enum: beef \| lamb \| pork \| chicken_whole \| turkey_whole \| ham_fresh |  | required | Type of joint or bird; pork, ham and poultry are always cooked through to the USDA safe temperature. |
| `weight_kg` | number | kg | required | Weight of the joint or bird in kilograms (1 lb = 0.4536 kg); whole turkeys are covered from 8 to 24 lb (3.6–10.9 kg) by the USDA timetable. (> 0, max 15) |
| `doneness` | enum: rare \| medium_rare \| medium \| well_done |  | optional, default "medium" | Target doneness for beef and lamb; ignored for pork, ham and poultry, which are always cooked to the safe temperature. |
| `oven_temperature_c` | number | °C | optional, default 180 | Conventional oven setting; the timing rules assume 180 °C (356 °F) for joints and chicken and 163 °C (325 °F) for turkey, and are not rescaled for other settings. (min 140, max 250) |

## Output

| Field | Type | Unit | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `cooking_time_minutes` | number | min | Estimated total roasting time. |
| `cooking_time_text` | string |  | Cooking time in hours and minutes. |
| `resting_time_minutes` | number | min | Rest before carving: 15 min under 2 kg, 20 min for 2–4 kg, 30 min above 4 kg. |
| `target_internal_temperature_c` | number | °C | Thermometer reading at which to remove the meat from the oven (thickest part, away from bone). |
| `target_internal_temperature_f` | number | °F | Same in Fahrenheit. |
| `usda_safe_minimum_c` | number | °C | USDA FSIS safe minimum internal temperature for this meat (whole cuts of beef, lamb and pork 63 °C plus a 3-minute rest; poultry 74 °C). |
| `usda_safe_minimum_f` | number | °F | Same in Fahrenheit (145 °F or 165 °F). |
| `weight_lb` | number | lb | Weight in pounds used by the timing rule. |
| `oven_temperature_f` | number | °F | oven_temperature_c in Fahrenheit. |
| `method_note` | string |  | The rule applied, the reference oven temperature and the thermometer instruction. |

## Formula

`weight_lb = weight_kg / 0.45359; beef and lamb: minutes = weight_lb × r + r with r = 20 (rare), 22.5 (medium-rare), 25 (medium), 30 (well done); pork and fresh ham: r = 35; whole chicken: r = 20; whole turkey 8–24 lb: linear interpolation of the USDA 163 °C timetable (8 lb 2¾ h, 12 lb 3 h, 14 lb 3¾ h, 18 lb 4¼ h, 20 lb 4½ h, 24 lb 5 h), under 8 lb r = 20; resting = 15 / 20 / 30 min for < 2 kg / 2–4 kg / > 4 kg; °F = °C × 9/5 + 32`

Minutes-per-pound rules (BBC Good Food quotes them per 450 g) assume a conventional oven at 180 °C, fridge-cold meat and an unstuffed joint; shape, bone and oven accuracy change the time by ±15 %, so cook to temperature rather than time. Targets: beef and lamb rare 52 °C, medium-rare 57 °C, medium 63 °C, well done 71 °C; USDA safe minimum 63 °C (145 °F) with a 3-minute rest for whole cuts of beef, lamb and pork, 74 °C (165 °F) for poultry.

## Data Sources

- BBC Good Food – How to cook roast beef (minutes per 450 g for rare, medium and well done) — https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/howto/guide/how-cook-roast-beef (reference, retrieved 2026-09-24)
- USDA FSIS – Safe Minimum Internal Temperature Chart — https://www.fsis.usda.gov/food-safety/safe-food-handling-and-preparation/food-safety-basics/safe-temperature-chart (government, retrieved 2026-09-24)
- USDA FSIS – Turkey Basics: Safe Cooking (roasting timetable at 325 °F; 165 °F minimum internal temperature) — https://www.fsis.usda.gov/food-safety/safe-food-handling-and-preparation/poultry/turkey-basics-safe-cooking (government, retrieved 2026-09-24)

Data freshness: `static`. Deterministic formula with fixed constants; results never go stale. Inputs supplied by the caller determine the output.

## API

- `GET https://tttkmbb.com/api/v1/calculate/meat-cooking-time?meat=…&weight_kg=…`
- `POST https://tttkmbb.com/api/v1/calculate/meat-cooking-time` with JSON body `{"inputs": {…}}`
- Response: unified envelope (`success`, `request`, `result.values`, `result.units`, `sources`, `freshness`, `timestamp`, `next_actions`, `links`); see https://tttkmbb.com/docs/response-format.md
- Schema: https://tttkmbb.com/api/v1/calculators/meat-cooking-time · OpenAPI operationId `estimate_roasting_time` in https://tttkmbb.com/openapi.json
- Authentication: none. Rate limit: fair use, see https://tttkmbb.com/docs/rate-limits.md.

## MCP

- Server: `https://tttkmbb.com/mcp` (Streamable HTTP, JSON-RPC 2.0, no auth)
- Tool:  `run_calculator` with `{"calculator_id": "meat-cooking-time", "inputs": {…}}`

## Example

- 1.5 kg beef, medium, 180 °C: inputs `{"meat":"beef","weight_kg":1.5,"doneness":"medium","oven_temperature_c":180}` → `{"cooking_time_minutes":108,"cooking_time_text":"1 h 48 min","target_internal_temperature_c":63,"target_internal_temperature_f":145,"usda_safe_minimum_c":63,"resting_time_minutes":15,"oven_temperature_f":356}`
- 2 kg whole chicken: inputs `{"meat":"chicken_whole","weight_kg":2}` → `{"cooking_time_minutes":108,"cooking_time_text":"1 h 48 min","target_internal_temperature_c":74,"target_internal_temperature_f":165,"resting_time_minutes":20}`

```
GET https://tttkmbb.com/api/v1/calculate/meat-cooking-time?meat=beef&weight_kg=1.5&doneness=medium&oven_temperature_c=180
```

## Limitations

You are cooking ground meat, stuffed or boned-and-rolled joints, sous-vide, smoked or braised meat, or a stuffed turkey (use turkey-cooking-time); times are estimates and doneness must be confirmed with a thermometer. Minutes-per-pound rules (BBC Good Food quotes them per 450 g) assume a conventional oven at 180 °C, fridge-cold meat and an unstuffed joint; shape, bone and oven accuracy change the time by ±15 %, so cook to temperature rather than time. Targets: beef and lamb rare 52 °C, medium-rare 57 °C, medium 63 °C, well done 71 °C; USDA safe minimum 63 °C (145 °F) with a 3-minute rest for whole cuts of beef, lamb and pork, 74 °C (165 °F) for poultry. All values are computed from the formula above; no measurement or live data is involved.

## FAQ

**Is rare beef safe?**

The USDA recommends 63 °C (145 °F) plus a 3-minute rest for whole cuts; rare (52 °C) and medium-rare (57 °C) are common chef's targets but carry a higher food-safety risk, especially for pregnant, elderly or immunocompromised diners.

**Why is pork cooked to 63 °C and not 71 °C?**

Since 2011 the USDA safe minimum for whole cuts of pork is 145 °F (63 °C) with a 3-minute rest, which leaves the centre slightly pink; the traditional well-done 71 °C (160 °F) still applies to ground pork.

**Do the times change at a different oven temperature?**

Yes, but not proportionally, and the published rules are only defined at 180 °C (turkey 163 °C); a 20 °C hotter oven shortens the time by roughly 10–15 %. Use a thermometer and start checking early.

## Related

- [Turkey Cooking Time Calculator](https://tttkmbb.com/food/turkey-cooking-time.md) — USDA timetable for stuffed and unstuffed turkey with thawing times.
- [Oven Temperature Converter](https://tttkmbb.com/food/oven-temperature.md) — Convert the oven setting to Fahrenheit, gas mark or fan oven.
- [Brine Calculator](https://tttkmbb.com/food/brine.md) — Brine the joint or bird before roasting.