Welcome!


This is a membership forum. Guests can view 5 pages for free. To participate, please join.

[ Pitmaster Club Information | Join Now | Login | Contact Us ]

Only 4 free page views remaining.

Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Turkey on the PBC

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    Turkey on the PBC

    Made my first turkey on the PBC this afternoon. I was kinda scrambling and didn't have my act together, so I didn't try dry brining or anything in advance. My biggest concern was getting leathery skin - I got great color on my chicken the last couple of times, but the skin left a little to be desired.

    Prep: Spatchcocked the turkey, patted it dry as much as possible, then coated with olive oil and my typical seasonings of garlic powder, Tony Cachere's, and italian seasoning. I also tried out my injector for the first time, and added melted butter into the breasts and legs. Added tin foil booties to the legs and the wing tips, then hooked the turkey under the wing pit and into the breast on either side.

    PBC: used Kingsford Competition. Lit the chimney, waited 20 minutes, then added the chimney to the basket. Waited another 10 minutes and added a few small chunks of apple and cherry wood. Waited some more then added the turkey (along with some sausages and the turkey neck). Maintained my target of around 350 degrees throughout the cook, mostly by cracking the lid open about an inch. I find that Kingsford Competition helps me to get consistent, higher temps in my cooks. The briquettes don't seem to last as long as the blue and whites, but they last long enough for poultry cooks.

    Cook: Hour and a half for what was almost a 15 pounder. Took it out of the PBC at around 155, and put it in the oven at 400 (which I subsequently raised to 500) to get crispy skin. Probably spent about 10-15 minutes in the oven before getting to 160-165. I wanted to avoid the leathery skin that apparently comes from cooking in a humid environment like the PBC, so after reading a post here with that suggestion, I went for it.

    Verdict: Turkey was so juicy, one of the legs just fell right off. The breast meat in particular was ridiculously juicy. Legs were probably a tad overdone, but next time I might take them out of the oven and leave the breast in for a bit longer. The prep work and clean-up are so much easier with the PBC than in the oven. It was great to come out with such a juicy bird and not have to go through all the wet brine work that I used to do in the past.


    We had a neighborhood picnic today, so I sliced up a breast and a half and added half of the pulled pork I made yesterday. I couldn't go, but my wife and daughter went and apparently my cue was a big hit. People were raving about it and it was all gone almost immediately.

    #2
    Looks good. Glad it went well for you.

    Comment


      #3
      And how was the skin?

      Comment


      • New2Cue
        New2Cue commented
        Editing a comment
        Skin was great. I think putting the turkey in the oven for the last 5 degrees really helped get it to a better texture. I might try putting it in for a little longer next time at 400-500 to get it even crispier. The turkey was so juicy that I don't think a little extra time in the oven will hurt it.

      #4
      Nice report. Turkey's the next new thing I want to try in my PBC, so this is very helpful for me.

      Comment


        #5
        New2Cue, Thanks for the Step by Step and the Pics! Dan

        Comment


          #6
          Looks good.

          Comment


            #7
            Thank you for the thorough post New2Cue. I have been wanting to try turkey on the PBC. Pics look good!

            Comment


              #8
              Sorry to delay in responding, work has been a little crazy lately. I'm planning on doing another dry run or two before Thanksgiving to make sure that I have the technique down. Again, like chickens on the PBC, the turkey was so ridiculously juicy that I can't see ever going back to the oven. Even though we have a double oven at home, we're still usually scrambling for oven time for the sides so moving the turkey outside will be a great help.

              And to cook a 15 pound bird in under 2 hours with limited prep work and mess to clean up afterwards is a beautiful thing. I used to cook turkeys at around 350 which took a good 4 hours or so if I remember correctly. Then I moved to cooking them hotter (if I recall correctly, 500 for a half hour, then dropped down around 425 or so for the remainder), but that still took over 2 hours. Then of course there was preparing the wet brine in advance (which involved throwing a whole bunch of ingredients in a boiling pot for a couple of hours), finding large brine bags, brining the turkey for a few days, etc. etc. The PBC is just so much easier.

              Hope more people try turkey and share!

              Comment


                #9
                Looks awesome, it make me want to make one for Thanksgiving. Although I usually get requests to smoke other things. We are more of a Cattle and Hog type a group. Plus we have a turkey roaster that my family has been using since the 50''s thats still does a great job. So its a tradition that will probably stay around till my Dad doesn't want to do the Turkey anymore. It was hard enough to get him to let me do the Prime rib at New Years.

                Comment


                • Danjohnston949
                  Danjohnston949 commented
                  Editing a comment
                  Spinaker, Enjoy every damned thing your Dad will stuff down your neck, even if you don't like it! I lost my Dad the end of March, we Hunted, Fished and cooked together for over 50 Years, there were even Days we Worked together? What ever there was the Right Way, the Wrong Way and Sonny's Way (the Only Way). May your Dad Cook the Turkey for the next 100 Years! Dan

                • Spinaker
                  Spinaker commented
                  Editing a comment
                  Very well put. I hear ya. Sorry to hear about your father.

                #10
                I'm so tempted, but I'm don't want to give up Meathead's gravy.

                Comment


                • New2Cue
                  New2Cue commented
                  Editing a comment
                  Why would you have to give up the gravy?

                • mayapoppa
                  mayapoppa commented
                  Editing a comment
                  I am assuming because there isn't a way to catch the drippings when the turkey is hung on the PBC

                • New2Cue
                  New2Cue commented
                  Editing a comment
                  Sorry, I didn't catch your comment earlier. I make my turkey stock in advance using turkey parts, and then took some of the juices from the smoked turkey while it was resting to finish my gravy off

              Announcement

              Collapse
              No announcement yet.
              Working...
              X
              false
              0
              Guest
              Guest
              500
              ["pitmaster-my-membership","login","join-pitmaster","lostpw","reset-password","special-offers","help","nojs","meat-ups","gifts","authaau-alpha","ebooklogin-start","alpha","start"]
              false
              false
              {"count":0,"link":"/forum/announcements/","debug":""}
              Yes
              ["\/forum\/free-deep-dive-guide-ebook-downloads","\/forum\/free-deep-dive-guide-ebook-downloads\/1157845-paid-members-download-your-6-deep-dive-guide-ebooks-for-free-here","\/forum\/the-pitcast","\/forum\/national-barbecue-news-magazine","\/forum\/national-barbecue-news-magazine\/national-barbecue-news-magazine-aa","\/forum\/national-barbecue-news-magazine\/national-barbecue-news-magazine-aa\/bbq-news-magazine-2019-issues","\/forum\/national-barbecue-news-magazine\/national-barbecue-news-magazine-aa\/bbq-news-magazine-2020-issues","\/forum\/national-barbecue-news-magazine\/national-barbecue-news-magazine-aa\/bbq-news-magazine-2021-issues","\/forum\/national-barbecue-news-magazine\/national-barbecue-news-magazine-aa\/bbq-news-magazine-2022-issues","\/forum\/national-barbecue-news-magazine\/national-barbecue-news-magazine-aa\/current-2023-issues","\/forum\/national-barbecue-news-magazine\/national-barbecue-news-magazine-aa\/current-2024-issues","\/forum\/free-deep-dive-guide-ebook-downloads\/1165909-trial-members-download-your-free-deep-dive-guide-ebook-here"]
              /forum/free-deep-dive-guide-ebook-downloads/1165909-trial-members-download-your-free-deep-dive-guide-ebook-here