Turkey Newb

Bwill

Looking to try a turkey for the first time on my LBGE.  Looking for suggestions and tips.  Planning on brining, but have heard of people soaking it anywhere from hours to days.  I am also curious to see if you guys suggest stuffing the inside to enhance the flavor.

johnkitchens

I will also be cooking one soon. I will not brine it though. I am going to rub it and cook it. 

Kind of like cooking a big chicken. 

DMW

If you have the time for this, it rocks:

http://www.nakedwhiz.com/madmaxturkey.htm

grege345

Spatchcock it. It will cook evenly and be delicious. I brine fresh turkeys but I do not grocery store wrapped birds. I was told they are sort of brined already but I guess it can be worth a shot to brine. Nothing against mad max turkey but I couldn't get thighs and breast to finish at the same time

anton

Interesting, spatchcock a turkey, now I'm thinking!! I wanted to light smoke one for thanksgiving. Thanks for the idea @grege345.

SGH

@Bwill‌
There are literally hundreds of different ways to cook a great bird. That being said I'm going to offer some general tips that have worked very well for me.
As to brining. It's a personal choice, not a must. However it does offer some significant advantages to poultry. Here are are a few of them.
First it shortens cooking time. This is fact not sentiment.
Second it adds additional flavor and moisture to the bird.
Third if you overshoot your set target temp if gives you a larger window of closure before the bird becomes overly dry.
As to brining times. They themselves are numbers untold. However 24 hours is usually sufficient for a good affect on most birds up to 15 pounds give or take a little.
For the cooking set up you have a wide variety of options that can and will yield good results. I usually recommend cooking indirect for whole birds if someone is inexperienced at cooking them. Why? To help prevent scorching and burning. You have far more control over a indirect cook than you do a direct cook. Things can go south very quick when cooking large cuts of poultry direct if one does not stay right on top of the situation at hand.
As far as temps. For crispier skin I like 350-375 degrees. Again you can go much higher or lower but these are good all around and controllable temps for whole poultry.
The set up. When cooking whole poultry I like to use a V-Rack. It makes handling the bird very easy. I also use a drip pan when cooking large whole poultry. Why? Not so much to retain the juice for use but to discourage the juice from burning. Poultry drippings can and will produce a very strong and acrid smell and taste when allowed to burn.
Other useful tips. Always rinse your bird very well after removing from the brine to prevent over salting. After rinsing the brine I like to set the bird uncovered in the refrigerator for 24 hours to dry. This helps produce a very crisp skin on the bird.
Be cautious when smoking as poultry absorbs smoke like a sponge. It is very easy to over smoke poultry. Go light on the amount of wood that you use.
Doneness. This is a matter of preference. I pull my poultry when the Thermopen registers 155 degrees in the thickest part of the breast. I do not concern myself with other readings as long as the leg will wiggle freely in the joint.
This is just a small list of useful tips that I wanted to share. If you have any questions that I did not answer feel free to ask. Either myself or someone will do our best to offer what we can. Good luck my friend. Sorry for not going into more depth but im hard pressed for time tonight.
Here is a link to my set up for a visual aid.http://eggheadforum.com/discussion/1166544/my-go-to-cajun-turkey-set-up#latest

jcaspary

@SGH great thoughts. I would add when you go brine add aromatics like basil and lemon. There are others but I can't remember them right now. Also stuffing is not recommended because it makes it harder to make sure the stuffing is cooked without over cooking the bird. I have only cooked two on the Egg so these aren't words from an Eggspert so take them for what they are worth. FWIW the first one was pretty good. The second was an 18 pounder that got destroyed as people were sitting around the table talking away. There was very little left to make sandwiches the next day.

Bwill

Ok so the Turkey is on.

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c345/Willie_6/turkey1-1.jpg


An hour 20 in and its already up to 120 degrees.

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c345/Willie_6/turkey3.jpg

I expected it to take 3-4 hours.  It's a 15 lb. bird.  Is it ok to turn the heat down to slow it down.  Would like to not have it ready for another 2 hours.

jcaspary

FTC if it done. Check temp probe to make sure it is in the thickest part of the breast.