Just about time to be getting those frozen turkeys into the fridge for thawing... let's see 'em! Ours is from Wild Fork.
It'll be only four at our place this year, so this 16 pounder will be more than adequate... and my lovely bride has turned over the turkey cooking duty to me this year, a not-insignificant vote of confidence on her part... I think I have proven myself now
None, nada, zip ... Don't think you can get that by eating it. The receptors for that are in your eyes and nasal passage and lungs. And I'm pretty sure that for a bird to pass it to you they would have to still be breathing.
Last edited by lostclusters; November 18, 2023, 09:30 AM.
I saw an infographic yesterday (don’t remember where - most likely instagram), if it’s near 20lbs, it was yesterday that was suggested to start the process.
I really didn't go out of my way to get organic, I think it was a situation where that's the only way I could get the size I wanted. Hopefully I won't have dry results...
We are doing T giving today with the kids as the grandson has hockey tournaments all 4 days of the holiday. We are going to smoke it first then into fryer. Can't wait to chow down, we have always liked the smoke,fry method.
However,
1.. I am going to try a salt brine (Chudd's BBQ) to see if that improves the crispiness of the skin
2. I am going to remove the breast bone as part of the spatchcoking, (Meat Church)
Retired, living in Western Mass. Enjoy music, cooking and my family.
Current cookers Weber Spirit 3 burner with a full insert griddle added. A 22" Kettle with vortex, SnS and a Smokey Joe. The most recent addition is a Pit Barrel Jr with bird hanger, 4 hooks and cover. ThermoWorks Smoke 2 probe, DOT, 2 ThermoPops and a Thermapen MK4. A Thermoworks RFX Gateway 2 probe meat thermometer.
Used to always buy 25#ers. About 7-8 years ago I switched to cooking a pair of 14#ers instead. For me they come out better and cook more evenly. On the huge ones, it always seemed the outside 1" or so of the breast was toast by the time the core was done and the dark meat seemed to never be done enough. Smaller birds fixed that for me.
Put two 22lb’ers in the fridge to defrost on Wednesday. They’ll be getting spatchcocked, dry brined and onto the Assassin GF thanksgiving morning! One is enough but everyone enjoys plenty of leftovers.
The turkeys were a smashing success! Started at 325 for two hours then dropped to 300 for a total cook time of a little over 3 hours. I used zero wood, just Cowboy Hardwood charcoal and the smoke flavor was spot on…
I've been making turkeys for 46 years and have tried every new fangled method that has come along. My favorite turned out to be one that was spatchcocked and cooked on a kettle.
I heard Chris Kimball on a podcast and he talked about removing the dark meat, placing it it in a roasting pan along with mirepoix, seasonings and broth and placing the breast on top. The idea is to braise the dark meat to tenderness while the breast roasts above. My wife (the white meat eater) who doesn't care for smoked turkey liked this so I'm doing it for her.
We’re trying something new this year. It’s going to be just the two of us so no big turkey dinner. Wifey found a small market selling “homemade “ turkey pot pies and bought one. She’ll make a small batch of stuffing on the side and there you have it. T-Day dinner. Why not? 🤷♂️
Welp, here we are, six full days after I put that bird in the fridge, and it's still almost half-frozen: the breast section, which was facing down in the fridge, still very far from thawed out. Leaving it out on the counter for a little while until that thaws (being mindful that nothing stays over 40F for any length of time) so that I can dry brine it. Good thing I was checking it today!
Same here. My 12 pounder has been in the garage fridge since Friday, and I can't get the neck out. Into a cooler with water, I'll check on it tonight. Not cooking till Friday, so it'll be fine.
A couple of hours on the counter and the bird was 36-39F/2-4C everywhere I probed it, good enough. Got it salted and back in the fridge, will be G2G tomorrow.
Been there, done that. We only got a breast and thighs this year, cooked them in October, froze them, took the packages out yesterday. I call it self-catering.
The real reason I posted it is so that all the younger and unsuspecting members could experience it. 
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