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I made one of two turkeys at the table this year (spatchcocked, dry brined, butter injected and and S&G rubbed), and it was a bit of a miss unfortunately. Flavor was good, but breast came out too dry even though I pulled at about 155 and carved pretty quickly afterward. After so many inconsistent results over the years I think I'm going to retire from whole turkey roasting. It's killing me as I'd love to perfect it, but a) it's expensive to keep repeating until I can iron it all out, and b) I can make other meats consistently well so why not do one of those? In hindsight, I should have done something like a smokey turkey pie, if for no other reason than not to compete with turkey #2, but it didn't come to me until later.
On the positive side, I made my best mac and cheese ever - pulled from Serious Eats baked mac and cheese recipe, added a few extra flavorings and swapped out the Gruyere for Jarlsberg which worked really well.Comment
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"do you mean to say there that cooking at higher temps for less time could make the bird juicier?"
Yep. Chicken is very "porous" (for lack of a better word) ... and lower temp = longer time = more evaporation = more moisture loss = dry bird.
So ... I try to shoot for the highest temp that will yield the maximum skin crispiness and the least moisture loss ... without turning anything black. Usually in the 350-375F range (or even 400F) for poultry. -
My best turkey results have been doing it deconstructed - break the bird down to split breasts, wings, leg quarters with deboned and tied thighs - and cooking it that way. Each piece can come off at the perfect temp. I'm going back to that after having a hit on one turkey and miss on another myself this past week.
And I will second MBMorgan about having the temp higher - I shoot for 350ish.
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Had 23 show, everything was top notch, we are going to cut the dressing next year. Maybe cranberry dish, because it was almost untouched.Comment
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Turkey, Gravy, and stuffing all turned out great.
Not a fan of the broccoli casserole or the eggplant.Comment
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My son made a Smoked Chocolate Bourbon Pecan Pie - my idea. lol Added a wee bit of cayenne sprinkle to the very top before baking.
It wuz guuud.Comment
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My least successful holiday dish was a fresh green bean casserole with homemade mushroom sauce and home fried onions. (Alton Brown recipe.) The fam hated it. They wanted the gummy, canned version they always get. Ingrates! See if I go out of my way again.🤣Last edited by Texas Larry; November 25, 2023, 09:48 PM.Comment
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We went over to friends for friendsgiving, so I only made two things.
Success: Queso Mac 'n' Cheese. Velveeta, smoked cream cheese, Cheddar, and chorizo. Just stupidly good.
Mostly success: Spicy Korean pork belly burnt ends. Needed more time in the smoke, and just overall. The concept worked great, just needs some tweaking on technique.
Fail. SERIOUSLY??!!! Nobody could be bothered to make stuffing? I mean, is this even America? What the hell, I gotta do everything my own damn self?Comment
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For me.... the rotisserie turkey I did for an early Thanksgiving dinner on Wednesday evening was a smashing success, as far as predictable timing goes. 14.75 pound bird in exactly 2.5 hours as expected, spinning on the kettle.
Same size turkey 3 days later on Saturday (today), but spatchcocked, and timing was off, and I caused dinner to be about an hour 15 minutes late!
I spatchcocked the second turkey, and decided to run it with the SNS insert in the SNS Kamado, instead of the Weber kettle. Timing chart said 1.5 hours for spatchcocked at 325. It was a struggle to maintain temps in the indirect zone with the SNS insert in the kamado, and I finally had to resort to putting a fan controller on there (PartyQ), so the fan could stoke the fire. Dinner was more than an hour late because we were waiting on the turkey. All the other dishes sat in a warm oven or a gas grill setup as a holding oven. I blame this on mostly having used the grill in traditional kamado mode. And having relied TOO MUCH on a fan controller and not knowing the vent settings like I should...
Interestingly, my son and his wife, who was present at both dinners, claimed the spatchcocked bird was better. Go figure! Everyone stood around eating queso out of a crock pot and drinking beer or wine while they waited...Comment
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The turkey wasn't good. It came out well, and SWMBO loved it, but, to me, it still tasted like turkey.
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A salad at the Thanksgiving dinner...With so much other food who has time for that?Comment
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Nothing is worse that sweet potatoes. The smell alone is enough for me. I try to sit on the opposite side of the table from where ever those abdominal spuds are being placed.
I made my grandma's oatmeal raisin dressing and it was a huge hit as usual. I mean.....with 2 full pounds of butter, what can go wrong?
Ingredients- 96 Ounce or 2- 48 Ounce Quaker Oats Old-Fashioned Oatmeal Silo.
- 2 full bunches of Fresh Celery
- 4 Medium Onions- Cut Fine
- ½ cup of Poultry Seasoning. (Also to taste)
- ¼ cup of Better than Bouillon Chicken Flavor
- 8 to 16 ounces of Raisins depending on preference
- 2 pounds of Extra Creamy Butter or Kerrygold
- ½ cup of Ghee (for roaster, pre melt)
- 32 oz Chicken Broth
- Salt and Pepper to taster but start with 2 Tablespoons of each.
Method- -Melt Butter into large stock pot or Dutch oven.
- -Add onions and celery and allow the onions and celery to cook and become almost translucent.
- -Add poultry seasoning and raisins allow to mix and become aromatic. Mixing constantly.
- Stuff in two chickens or a turkey, pack loosely, then add the bird to the roaster and allow it to cook in the chicken/turkey fat.
- What does not fit in the bird can be put around the chickens/turkey in the roaster.
- Add 32 Oz of chicken broth to roaster over top of dressing.
- Set roaster temp to 300 F and let it cook until breasts reach 165 F, internal.
- Make sure to check the dressing throughout the cook. Scrape the sides and turn the dressing in the roaster. Mix the rendered fat through the dressing
- Once cooked. Remove birds and pour dressing and everything in the roast pan into Dutch oven.
- Cover and serve whenever!
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