Welcome to The Pit Ode33! We're glad you're here. That's a great looking turkey!
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Oh I posted mine in 2014 threadComment
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Ultimate turkey recipe almost to a t. Pecan wood for smoke. Pic was at about 120deg.Last edited by Hyapat; November 26, 2015, 06:24 PM.Comment
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I had to do mine a day in advance due to thunderstorm threat.
Dry brined, then moisturized with duck fat and perfumed with herbs de Provence.
Cherry wood in the KBQ
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SteveinLFP he used cherry wood on the Karubecue, it's a wood burning smoker. -
Beautiful! I'm recently tried Herbs De Provence (from Penzeys) and really like it on chicken, turkey, and pork loin/chops. I think it was a post from Huskee that mentioned HdP.
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OK... Gloria done! and Fitz the ("oven bird") too 164 in the breast and 173 in the thighs... gotta love the Thermapen! Next up: GRAVY!!!Comment
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Well this is it... I am not too happy. Pretty ugly in my opinion. The color is very unappealing to me. Looks like a freekn brisket with wings!..LOL...The Cook took 6 hours at an average cook temp around 300 and less. Meat is tender and juicy but the Simon Garfunkle rub with oil is way too overpowering for my taste buds. Next time I will leave out the oil in the rub and I will use far less rub than I did. The outdoor temp of 23 degrees really affected my cook temp. All in all I give this cook a 5 out of 10 score. The gravy "water" was too thin for me as well. The Mashed potato's sans Water gravy were delish!!Comment
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Yeah anywhere from 287 to 300. I loaded my 22.5 WSM up with charcoal and let it get to a temp over 300 b4 putting bird on. Vents wide open. I even had to throw another chimney of coal on to finish the bird. At that point I took the gravy pan out and was able to get well beyond 300 and push the bird up to 160 degrees. Hay the bird was juicy just not pleasing to the eye. The last bird I made was perfect and the only two variables that were different were the outside temp and the simon and garfunkle mixed with olive oil. The olive oil was a mistake I think bcuz I could taste it. I think had I been able to get a much hotter fire the oil would have cooked off instead of laying on top and under the skin. Lesson learned. I do believe I will be installing an auberins fan system on my WSM. This should do the trick with cold weather and moisture in the pan. -
So to let u know I was using a digital ET-732 Maverick. The probe was @2" away from the bird but close to the edge of the grill and not over the gravy pan so maybe I was getting the temp from the heat rising up the wall of the smoker? Not sure. This was the biggest turkey I had ever done..18lb..
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So after following the techniques here and producing what was universally described as my "best turkey ever!" I figured the least I could do was join up! Seriously... thanks for the guidance. I am glad I did a dry run as I definitely learned a few things about my setup and technique that helped today.
I did make some changes to the gravy base and it was pretty darn good if I may say so myself so figured I would throw those up here...
Used same amounts of water and cider to start, but used another carrot, an additional small onion and 3 cloves of garlic. I also added a small handful (maybe a tablespoon) of peppercorns, a little less than that of whole cloves, and one lemon quartered. I also browned the giblets before putting in the pan in order to boost the Maillard quotient.Comment
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Welcome to The Pit dcdivenut! We're glad you're here, and that we helped you make your best turkey ever.
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The Ultimate Turkey Recipe paid off in spades. Glad I did a breast only test run a couple of weeks ago as I learned a lot about the amount of salt I needed to use during the dry brine. I cut too much of the salt out on the test run since the package stated 8% brine solution. The bird today was farm fresh, no salt. The suggested per pound amount was spot on. Thanks to AR.com for all the amazing info!
Here's the bird at the one hour check. Didn't take any pics afterward as I was too concerned with fitness................ fitness bird in my gut!!!Comment
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Smoking some Pavos in Argentina using meatheads recipe while we were working at the shop. Worked great and everyone loved it. http://ahumadoras.com
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Started with a 14lb turkey that had wet brined for 24 hrs. Used a Williams Sonoma brine, dropped in a bag and placed in a 5 gal bucket then into the fridge. Around noon on Thursday I pulled the turkey from the brine & spatchcocked it. Started with shears to cut through the back but finished with a cleaver & very sharp knife to finish cutting out the back. Flipped 'er over, pushed it flat & placed back in the fridge on a tray.
Around 2:15pm I lit 40 KBB briquettes. Once well-lit, I dumped them on top of 45 unlit KBB briquettes waiting in the SnS. Earlier, I had placed foil on the charcoal grate opposite the SnS and two foil pans on top of the foil once the chimney was done. Placed the cooking grate back on the grill and let the temp rise until it hit ~ 280. No water in the reservoir. Did I mention it was a beautifully mild, full-of-sun 60 degree day?
With the grill hot, I placed the turkey on the grill grate with the legs/thighs closest to the SnS. Closed the top vent to about half & bottom vent to 1/4 open. After an hour opened bottom vent to 1/2. About an hour-and-half in opened top & bottom vents to full (Turkey internal temp was about 130* at this point).
All in time on the grill was just shy of 2hrs 15 min to hit internal temp of 160 in the breast. I did pull the foil off the wings at 130*...wished I had oiled the foil since some meat pulled away when I removed the foil. It wasn't a material amount though...
Everyone raved about the turkey! It was juicy/moist throughout and everyone noted that! Outside of the brining / spatchcocking process, this was the easiest cook ever. The grill, charcoal & SnS did everything else. I'd never done a turkey before & totally winged it after carefully reading about the process earlier this week!
I got in on the initial SnS offer earlier this year so I was at least familiar with using it to cook other foods like ribs & shoulders.
(sorry the pics are out of order...i always screw attachments up)
Last edited by Onez; November 27, 2015, 01:11 PM.Comment
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I've done turkey parts before but never a whole bird. I decided not to mess with a sure thing and I wasn't sure I could fit a whole spatchcocked bird so I bought 2 breasts, 4 thighs, and 2 wings (which were supposed to be 2 more thighs but were mislabeled).
Dry brined 2 days, rubbed in a generous amount of S&G on and under the skin, and cooked at 325. Overall flavor was great but skin was very chewy. I've never been able to crisp skin with just my WSM.
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Looks great!!
I leave my bird uncovered for a day after applying salt. But I also cook a bit higher, amount 350-360.
Some also say a light dusting of baking soda.
Also, try wrapping the water bowl, but leaving it empty aka dry. -
Thanks for the advice richinlbrg.
I rarely put anything in my water bowl anymore. I'll try the baking soda next time.
Its hard enough to keep my WSM at 325 even on a 70 degree day in Georgia. I doubt I could maintain a cook that high with meat on both levels inside. -
I can can only think of two more things, @josht138.
1). Perhaps a warmer burning charcoal, or
2). Wait for a more accomplished smoker/WSM user to chime in.
I'm outta ammo here.
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Tried a spatchcocked turkey for the first time. Cooked on the Rec Tec. Smoked at 200F for 30 minutes the bumped to 325F until the breasts reached 165F. SWMBO wouldn't let me pull at 160F. Took longer than MH's recipe indicated, about 2.5 hours. The skin didn't have that all-over nice golden color but it was crispy and the turkey was nice and moist. Served with stuffing and roasted carrots/parsnips.
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I followed the spatchcocked turkey recipe per the November 2015 newsletter. The backbone of the 18 pounder was tough to remove but I got there after much "talking to the bird". I followed the Simon and Garfunkel rub recipe and rubbed under the skin and over.
For the gravy, I used 2 sprigs of rosemary vs the dried sage leaves and it tasted just fine (we have rosemary bushes and I had no sage leaves). The turkey was moist and but the thighs were not quite done when the breast was at 160 (as per this terrific website suggested would happen).
I used a GMG Daniel Boone and used a GMG auxiliary rack with oven rack on top (the aux rack is too small) to raise the bird over the gravy drip pan. I put my grill remote thermometer on the aux rack and watched carefully and then adjusted the GMG digital thermometer as it was at 385 and then higher at the same time the rack thermometer was at 325.
It took about 4 hours (outside temp was in the low/mid 40's) and that included the first 30 minutes at 200 degrees.
All in all, it was a wonderful bird. What would I do differently? Probably get a bigger bird so that I can have even more leftovers.
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I just can't thank Meathead and everyone else on this great site enough. I have been bbqing turkeys for years and have adopted my own style, with the stuffing in the bird. I have been a member for almost a year now and have adopted some of the techniques, dry brining, no resting etc. Well this Thanksgiving, I decided after careful reading and studying "The Ultimate Turkey Recipe" that I would go whole hog, excuse the pun. I did a whole turkey traditional style, the drip pan for gravy (a jus), the muffins on the grill with the bird in the cooler. I use a Weber Kettle, Kingsford charcoal with a small oak branch for my flavor and smoke. Well, to say it all turned out great would be an understatement. My family, my in-laws and myself all agree, it was the best turkey dinner that I, with the help of my son, have ever prepared. The bird was jucy, incredible flavor, the muffings (used my Mother's stuffing recipe) great texture and flavor, the gravey was the icing on the cake! The only problem was, I was so busy in the kitchen and out at the grill I neglected to take pictures, except for the finished product. To everyone, hope your Thanksgiving was a great one!Attached FilesComment
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