This seems like more of a KBQ topic than any other. Mods move if desired.
Early on 12/26 I went prowling to see what food sales were happening in the neighborhood and found fresh Jennie-O turkeys for a final price of $0.49/lb at Albertson's. So naturally, I bought two, one was 17.9# and the other 18.8#. I wanted to wet brine them, but they were too big for my brining container, so right on the smoker they went.
Note to KBQ users: these birds were too wide for the KBQ, with the legs/thighs and wings propped up against the rails on each side. Consequently, they cooked much faster than the breast due to the conduction of heat from the metal directly into the flesh. They were over 190F when I pulled them off; the breast was just at 150F. I covered them tightly with foil to ensure the breast rose to food-safe temperature. IDK if the intact carcass (not spatchcocked) would have fit any better. The legs and thighs are over, but not that dry. The beauty of dark meat.
I left both poppets open for 1.5 hours and the apple wood smoke flavor is pretty heavy and the color pretty dark. Maybe too much there.
With outside temps right at 32F, the KBQ could run at 320-330F for the entire cook. Cook time for the top bird was 2 hours, 10 minutes and the bottom one went 15-20 minutes longer. The skin was so crisp as to be almost inedible, but I usually don't eat the skin anyway. I like the 250F cook better than the hot&fast, so will revert to that in the future. Juicier, more even doneness.
Seasoning was thrown together (no recipe) and included kosher salt, freshly ground black pepper, granulated garlic, onion powder, cracked red pepper, rosemary, thyme, parsley, ginger and dry mustard and was added liberally to both front and back. It and the smoke penetrated pretty well.
I like spatchcocking birds because the legs, thighs and wings will naturally cook to a higher temperature than the breast, which is protected by the surrounding limbs. Sometimes I tie the wing tips together over the breast, so it looks like it has its arms crossed, thereby protecting the breast more. This is ideal for juiciness and food safety where the dark meat is cooked to a higher temp than the white.
Early on 12/26 I went prowling to see what food sales were happening in the neighborhood and found fresh Jennie-O turkeys for a final price of $0.49/lb at Albertson's. So naturally, I bought two, one was 17.9# and the other 18.8#. I wanted to wet brine them, but they were too big for my brining container, so right on the smoker they went.
Note to KBQ users: these birds were too wide for the KBQ, with the legs/thighs and wings propped up against the rails on each side. Consequently, they cooked much faster than the breast due to the conduction of heat from the metal directly into the flesh. They were over 190F when I pulled them off; the breast was just at 150F. I covered them tightly with foil to ensure the breast rose to food-safe temperature. IDK if the intact carcass (not spatchcocked) would have fit any better. The legs and thighs are over, but not that dry. The beauty of dark meat.
I left both poppets open for 1.5 hours and the apple wood smoke flavor is pretty heavy and the color pretty dark. Maybe too much there.
With outside temps right at 32F, the KBQ could run at 320-330F for the entire cook. Cook time for the top bird was 2 hours, 10 minutes and the bottom one went 15-20 minutes longer. The skin was so crisp as to be almost inedible, but I usually don't eat the skin anyway. I like the 250F cook better than the hot&fast, so will revert to that in the future. Juicier, more even doneness.
Seasoning was thrown together (no recipe) and included kosher salt, freshly ground black pepper, granulated garlic, onion powder, cracked red pepper, rosemary, thyme, parsley, ginger and dry mustard and was added liberally to both front and back. It and the smoke penetrated pretty well.
I like spatchcocking birds because the legs, thighs and wings will naturally cook to a higher temperature than the breast, which is protected by the surrounding limbs. Sometimes I tie the wing tips together over the breast, so it looks like it has its arms crossed, thereby protecting the breast more. This is ideal for juiciness and food safety where the dark meat is cooked to a higher temp than the white.
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