Advice for gravy since I'm cooking my T-Giving bird in the PBC

[skrose]

Hi guys! I was hoping I could get some advice on how to best make gravy for T-Giving since I will be cooking the bird in the PBC. If I follow Meathead's gravy recipe, how long should it cook in the oven for since it won't be collecting any drippings from the bird?

[Beefchop]

That's a tough one. I would try this:

1. Use the grill grate that comes with the PBC.
2. Mix the gravy ingredients as directed and place them in a large foil pan (I would double or triple line the pan or use a heavy duty roasting pan).
3. Set the gravy pan on the grill grate.
4. Suspend the bird over the gravy with the roasting rack (it's going to get dirty but don't worry about it).
5. If you don't have a roasting rack an inverted rib rack works in a pinch.

You might have to pull the bars out to get this to work?

[_John_]

I asked about this myself a week or so ago and got a good answer which was to take off the wings and cook them in the oven, letting the drippings go into the pan. I cooked mine a day in advance and after figuring out the fat separator got really good results.

[Beefchop]

I wondered about that too. There's no real benefit to cooking it in the smoker, right? I mean, you're not going to infuse the gravy with any smoke flavor so the oven is a viable alternative I imagine.

[_John_]

I think you would get some flavor, but that is essentially what liquid smoke is, just smoked water. There are a lot of juices from a cooking bird, but the purge in the bag is really the same thing. I left some of the skin up at the top (unintentionally) and it held a lot of juices, there was the better part of 1/3 of a cup I poured off into a cup before unhanging.
That is also a TON of liquid for what you will actually use for gravy, when I do mine this week I am cooking it in advance, removing the big chunks, and then boiling down to a smaller but more flavorful amount. Then I will pour what I can off the bird and it will be fine.

[skrose]

Thanks for the advice, guys! I'm going to do the gravy tomorrow night as John suggests. Happy Thanksgiving to you both!

[W.A.]

I test cooked my turkey in the pbc and trued making the gravey separate on acweber kettle using meathead's recipe. I add some chicken wings plus the neck, giblets, and a orange to the gravey too. Used some applewood for smoke. Turned out great.

[skrose]

That sounds delicious, W.A., thanks for the advice and Happy Thanksgiving!