Turkey on the PBC

[fzxdoc]

One Ugly Bird (looks bad, tastes great!):

Did my first turkey cook yesterday. Next time I'm definitely going to cook it on the grate in hopes that it will be prettier.

Here's the scenario:

1. Butterball frozen turkey 13 lbs (12lbs after thawing and removing the various organs and neck), allowed to defrost in fridge for 7 days. On Day 6 I removed it from its packaging (including the guts bag and neck), picked out lots of ice, dried it well and let it sit uncovered for 24 hours to dry out the skin. No dry brine since the bird had 225 mg sodium per serving from the brine from the packing house.
2. 30 minutes before hanging in the PBC: Injected breast, thighs, and legs with 1/4 cup melted unsalted butter and rubbed with Meathead's Simon and Garfunkel rub. I loosened the skin completely from the breast, thighs and leg and got the rub under the skin as well as on top of the skin. Next I lightly salted the skin to aid in crisping.
3. Started the PBC as usual: chimney method, 40 coals in chimney, 15 min burn, dumped the hot coals over the cold ones in the basket. Then I let it burn for 10 minutes before hanging the turkey. Truth be told it took me 7 minutes to get the turkey hooked like Noah does, get the Maverick probe situated and get the hooks to stay and hang the bird. Every time I flipped the bird over a hook would wiggle out. Anyway, the lid went on 10 minutes after dumping the coals.
4. For the first hour I cracked the lid every 15 minutes or so to keep the temp in the 325 range, then I let the PBC do its thing. It settled around 290 or so for the rest of the cook.
5. Total cook time: 2 1/2 hours to 160 breast 180 thigh temp.
6. The results: The breast meat was so nice and juicy but not very smoky tasting. The dark meat was juicy as well and tasted much smokier. The skin was crispy in some areas and not as crisp in others.
7. Because the turkey looked so sad when he came off the cooker I had to distract my guests (look over there: football game!) while I got it cut up. It was pretty hilarious-looking.

This guy looked like he got caught in the rain and his shirt and pants shrunk up:



Now this looks much better:



Next time: put the turkey on the grate because I can keep a better eye on his "public side" as he cooks. Also, it was pretty hard to check the temp in just the right spots with the bird facing away from me in the smoker. My Maverick probe was placed a little too close to the bone because it indicated 160 degF only one hour into the cook. My Thermapen laughed at Mr. Maverick and reported the true meat temps.

One thing I learned: when trying to check the temp on a big bird facing away from you, it's easy to stick that probe through the breast meat and into the cavity which will give a lower and erroneous reading. If the bird was facing upward, that wouldn't be a problem because you could see how deeply the probe goes into the breast meat.

Kathryn

[smarkley]

Great stuff... thanks Kathryn!

[KingOfSilverSpring]

This is a great post, Kathryn thank you for the methodology here. I am dying to cook a turkey or bone in turkey breast on my PBC, it's just amazing how hard it is to get one this time of year!

I was thinking that it might be a good idea to cook the turkey on turkey breast on the grate, that way you can flip it, measure temperature more easily and make sure, as you say the "public side" comes out nice and pretty.

I would love to hear results from anyone that has tried cooking a turkey on the grate versus hanging.

I wonder what you would lose by not hanging a turkey in the PBC? I can see how ribs or half chickens benefit from hanging versus sitting on the grate, but I wonder if there would be that much difference with a turkey?

[Ernest]

I'm starting to think that a turkey on the PBC would benefit from cutting it in half or start with lower temp and the blast it. Unfortunately I'm done experimenting with whole turkeys. I'm just not that big of a fan to waste my time on it. LOL
I'll do turkey legs

[fzxdoc]

Thanks, Kevin. I'll definitely be doing another couple of turkeys in the near future. I plan on testing each method, so the next one will be breast side up on the grate. If I don't like those results, I may follow Ernest's suggestion and split the bird and cook it that way. Sooner or later I'll hit upon the method that works best for me.

If you have the patience to look through the general Pit Barrel Cooker forum, you'll find a couple of folks who have done turkey and large chickens on the grate breast side up. Those birds are picture perfect.

Kathryn

[cadmentr]

Hi there: While I don't have a PBC, I have done a couple of turkeys in my Bradley Digital smoker. I've chosen utility birds, in the 7 to 9 kilogram range. 15 to 18 pounds.
The first turkey, (Easter dinner) (done whole, on the smoker's racks) I followed Meathead's Ultimate turkey recipe to the letter. That bird was so good, it disappeared so quickly I didn't even get photo's. Did not brine, wet or dry, cooked at 275, about 3 hours, using apple wood briquettes.

The second turkey, same approximate size, (daughters Birthday in July) done whole on the racks. Used a wet brine recipe that a chef friend of mine gave me, for 24 hours, rinsed the bird, placed a few slices of lemon, orange and onion in cavity, riffed on Meathead's recipe a little cutting down on the sage in the recipe, replacing it with McCormick's Applewood rub, oiling the skin, and rubbing the exterior with the Applewood rub. Injected the breast/thigh meat with melted butter, and cooked to 165F interior temp using my junky meat thermometer (have since ordered the ET-733, waiting for it to arrive) about 3 hours at 275F smoker temp using a blend of the apple and cherry briquettes. I was able to keep everyone at bay long enough to get some pictures this time. See below for photos.

Turkeys just went on sale here in Southern Ontario as Thanksgiving is only 2 weeks away. To make a long story short, I'll never do a turkey in the oven again. I'll even smoke my Christmas turkey, even if I have to dig a path through the snow to the gazebo, where the smoker will reside for the winter. I'm making a blanket for my smoker, using a hot water tank wrap but that's another story.

[fzxdoc]

Very nice, Cadmentr! Thanks for posting the info about doing the turkey on the grate of your BD smoker. The result looks/sounds great! I always like to hear the times/temps of a cook, so special thanks for including those details. I forgot about the additional advantage of being able to put some fruits/veggies in the cavity when smoking the bird horizontally.

I also backed off a little (used half as much of each) on both the ground bay leaf and the ground sage in Meathead's Simon and Garfunkel recipe but didn't think to add anything else to the mix. Even with my tinkering, that rub was the bomb!

Kathryn

[Capo88]

Would it be possible to hang / suspend a turkey above the PBC grate? I was wondering if you could capture the turkey drippings to make MHs smoked gravy that way...

[smarkley]

I was wondering about that too, last week when I did a turkey. I had a 16 pounder, and I do not think it would have fit.

[fzxdoc]

Yes, I agree. I wouldn't have had the clearance on my PBC on my 13 lb turkey cook. Maybe if a hover grate was hung upside down and somehow secured to the grate rests well it might work to catch those delicious drippings. Kathryn

[Doublejab]

Ernest...thanks for the tip/technique for the turkey legs!

[Doublejab]

Turkey Breast and 6 Turkey Legs (Meathead's Disney Recipe.... AND a BIG Thanks Ernest for the tips/techniques for the T-Legs). I love this PBC...in my 3rd week and have made ribs, chicken, and turkey. Hell, I might try poptarts this weekend for breakfast!

[fzxdoc]

Nice looking cook-in-progress, Doublejab.

Kathryn

[Mayhem Mike]

First cook of a turkey (10 lbs.) on my PBC. Easy, easy prep. Rubbed generously with a mix of PBC's All-purpose and Beef and Game rub (Had 2 oz. of each left over). Placed hooks exactly as Noah instructs in his video. 3 hrs cook time---no fussing with vent, lid, temp, etc. Just let it "do it's thing." Didn't dry brine, since the rub is salty. Forgot to coat with olive oil before putting on rub. When done (used my Thermoworks to be sure), removed turkey from PBC. First taste. . . Amazing! (What was I hearing as I took the first bite? Angels? "Hallelujah Chorus?" Thanks, Noah and gang! Next time: "Simon and Garfunkle Rub!"

[fzxdoc]

Congrats on a great turkey cook, Mike! Do you recall what your ave PBC temp was?

And did you take Mr. Turkey to 160 internal in the deepest part of the breast?

Kathryn

[Doublejab]

Sorry for the last minute request...but does anyone have a injectable marinade recipe they would be willing to share? Thanks in advance!