turkey help

Berky

Hello all,
I am a relatively newbie with my Egg, but have been reading this forum for about 2 weeks now and it is terrific! I have a 14 pound turkey I would like to try indirect. Any tips on dome temp, set up etc would be appreciated. Thanks!!

Char-Woody

Berky, Turkey is fabulous on the BGE..There is no other way. If BGE was around during our Constitutional Days..the Turkey would be our National Bird..followed by Turducken.
:-)
My favorite set up is on a raised grill with a drip pan under the bird on the standard grill. I use firebricks as a additional barrier under the drip pan. I place my birds all breast side up. No rotation is necessary..and just a nice 350F degree cook..slightly above and lower is o.k. Not critical.[p]First, consider a brine, even a very simple basic brine. (Only if your bird is not pre seasoned or injected) If its a butterball or (?) skip the brine. Your best turkey is a clean fresh bird, range grown, with no additives. IMHO, anyway!! :-)[p]I like to use Cooks Illustrated recommendations for air drying the bird in the fridge just prior to putting on the seasonings and oils.[p]So, a clean unadulterated bird,,,,I like to very carefully loosen the skin, all the way from the tail area to the neck area, and down as far as I can reach to the back and wings and thigh areas..Once you have this gently loosened with out too much tearing of the skin, none if it can be prevented, mix your favorite rubs in a two or three tablespoon of olive or peanut oil.. I love peanut oil..and its my first choice. Spoon this semi paste mixture under the skin and rub the skin smooothing it out all over directly on the meats where you can..Apply the same mix internally to the cavity. You may have to double the mix or just spray some peanut oils internally. peel some good MacIntosh or similar apple and mix with orange slices and stuff the crop and cavity best you can. When finished pull the neck flap shut and pin with bamboo..Same for the lower cavity and fold the legs back together and tie..plain string will do..it won't burn. Also tie the wings tight to the body if you like.
Place the bird breast side up over the drip pan and your ready to rumble at 350F degrees...takes about 15 minutes per lb.
If you want smoke flavor,,add the chunks or chips to the wood as the fire is building from around 160F degrees. with the bird in the BGE..Normally apple, pear, or pecan goes well with Turkey.. Let the fire build to the 350 F with top dome exhaust open and bottom open and when it gets there place your daisy metal cap on with the openings near full open, and the lower vent at about 1/3 open to half open maximum...you should stabilize at or around 325 to 375F degrees..no matter..let it set. No need to fiddle faddle around to exact needle point accuracy with turkey.
A 20 lb bird will take me about 4 to 4.5 hours to cook.
Yell at the forum for more help if needed..This is only C~W's method and there are a great many super cooks to choose from..Go for it.. and report back.
C~W
And a big welcome to the forum.!![p]

Unknown

Berky, I forgot finish temps..of 170 breast and or 180 in the thigh..Some take em off at 165 breast..I like the higher temp to assure doneness in the leg joints..Once you reach the 170F..remove the bird on a platter. and cover with foil..allow it to sit for at least 20 minutes to help the meat harden a bit for slicing..also helps in finish cooking any part that may not quite be ready. You will notice some redness to the meats..especially around bone. This is normal. Concentrate on the temperatures.
Cheers..
C~W[p]

Berky

Char-Woody,
Thanks for the info!! People here at work (yeah I am at work right now, but reading about how to cook on my egg is more fun!) have been hearing me rave about Humpty, so a coworker and his wife are coming for dinner Sunday. With your info and a nice butterball, all should go well! Thanks a lot, Berky

Char-Woody

Berky, keep lookin..there are some other pretty dang good techniques..you will do well..don't overlook oil on the exterior and a light rub also..Then into the BGE.
Basically any oven cook recipe, only the BGE will do it better..more moist, juicier, no dry breast like in a oven.
Enjoy, C~W

Huck

Berky,
I guess I buck the trend here Berky. I do my birds at 250 degrees dome temp. I don't eat the skin and I pull the bird out at 160 degrees breast temp. I can do this because at that temp, the whole bird is definitely at 160 degrees. I brine my birds, coat them with oil, stuff 'em with apples or whatever suits me. I use hickory for us at home because we like the smoke and I use pecan when other people eat it because it's a lot more mellow.

Shelby

Berky,
C-W is dead on with the turkey. Did one a couple of weeks ago and failed to head the advice of a drip pan. I was using a vertical roaster. Thus, the bird dripped onto the coals, flared up (got sidetracked in an arguement and wasn't paying attention) and cooked the bird too fast. But, once noticed, I corrected things, brought temp down and still had one of the best turkeys I've ever cooked.
If you want other seasoning options, let me know. Otherwise, prepare the "guest of honor" and prepare yourself for an excellent meal.