First-Ever Turkey: Mad-Max Method on Christmas Day with Pics

OVERULD

I cooked a 19.5 pound turkey on Christmas using the Mad Max Method.  I followed it pretty much to the letter and the turkey was fantastic. I started my stock on Christmas Eve and the house smelled wonderful all day.  I test fit the roasting pan and used some 3/4-10 stainless hex nuts as spacers between the plate setter and the roasting pan and it was a perfect fit.  I started with a full load of lump, and one good chunk of apple wood.  I started the fire at 7:00 AM on Christmas morning and let the temp come up to 325 with clear smoke and put the bird on at 8:00

 

After a big breakfast with family we opened gifts and to my great pleasure, one of my gifts was a Thermapen!  It turned out to be most beneficial because at 3 hours and 45 minutes into what I thought was going to be a 4 to 5 hour cook, after the bird had been tented with foil for about an hour, we used my new Thermapen to test the temps and lo and behold, the breasts were at 160 and the thighs were at 180. (Yes, the ice cubes on the breasts works!)  I pulled the bird and started on the gravy while my wife started warming casseroles, etc.  We carved the bird and enjoyed a wonderful meal about an hour after I took the bird off the Egg.  I had three guests ask if they could take some turkey home with them and I took that as a high compliment. 

I think the only things I will do differently on the next turkey is to use fewer herbs in the stock and bird cavity, and even less wine in the gravy.  I saw some posts that said to use less wine, so I did.  I thought it was very good, but I had a comment or two that it was a bit strong.

 

thetrim

Wow.  That looks AMAZING!  I am still blown away at how well the Egg does Turkey.  I was a 1,000,000% fried Turkey only until I tried it once on the egg.  If there are any left, I'd love to bring some leftovers home too.....

BOWHUNR

Nice job BJ!!  I was thinking about your cook yesterday and wondered how it turned out.  You just answered my question.

Mike

WeberWho

You nailed it!

UXB

Way to go. What size is your BGE?

OVERULD

BOWHUNR said:

Nice job BJ!!  I was thinking about your cook yesterday and wondered how it turned out.  You just answered my question.

Mike

Thanks Mike. You were correct, we loved the way it tasted.  I think I've been nominated to do the turkey for Thanksgiving and Christmas from now on!

 

BJ

OVERULD

UXB said:

Way to go. What size is your BGE?

 

It is a Large.

shadowcaster

I might go buy a turkey today after seeing that. its only been since Thanksgiving since I did the mad max and I want to do it again!

glc203

What pan did you roast it in? I've been trying to find the perfect fit for a large egg. It looks like you didn't put it on a v-rack. True?

smbishop

glc203 said:

What pan did you roast it in? I've been trying to find the perfect fit for a large egg. It looks like you didn't put it on a v-rack. True?

I bought one of these a couple of years ago, works great on the Large.  http://www1.macys.com/shop/product/martha-stewart-collection-stainless-steel-15-roaster-with-roasting-rack?ID=476155

flynnbob

Outstanding!!!

OVERULD

glc203 said:

What pan did you roast it in? I've been trying to find the perfect fit for a large egg. It looks like you didn't put it on a v-rack. True?

You are correct, I did not use a V-rack.  The pan is one my wife got from her mom years ago.  It was a bit of a tight fit for the size bird I cooked, but it fit perfectly in the Egg.

BJ

EOD

I'm doing a 15 pounder tomorrow, just bought this oval roasting pan from Target for like $25.  Fit's the egg with minor surgery (had to take a grinder to cut the handles off...) perfectly!  It even comes with an oval roasting rack for the pan.....

http://www.target.com/p/t-fal-domed-roaster-black-16/-/A-12406436#prodSlot=medium_1_22&term=roasting+pan

Canugghead

@EOD, if I may say so, your pan appears kind of deep ... I notice a white band around OVERULD 's  turkey below the drumsticks and wing tips, if your pan is deeper your thighs may still be undercooked when the breast is ready, just wondering. Perhaps you want to consider elevating the turkey higher than the rack allows?  May be I'm over thinking this  ">