Backer Turducken 2004: The Afterglow

Mark Backer

Sorry we didn't post yesterday much. It was an incredibly hectic day (as everyone can probably attest). Here's the deal in a nutshell.[p]I had spoken with SmokinBoB and we had talked thru a few things, and since he was starting his at 7:30am, Bob agreed to call me every couple of hours to tip me about things to look for.[p]Eggsellent lit the fire whilst I was re-shopping at the Super WalMart, and after a few tribulation of our own making, we got the beast on the Egg at about 11:10am at 360 (but heading to 350). [p]I used the inverted plate setter, egg feet, water pan, grid, turkey pan v-rack, bird, foil cover method. We threw some pats of butter on it before putting it on, but we decided finally that we weren't going to baste or check on it until hour three.[p]Smoking BoB did tip me off that the wings would cook too fast if the thing wasn't covered tightly. Check. He also advised not to panic when the thing started to split, which ours both did. We wondered if the v-rack caused that, but neither of us ultimately cared.[p]Here were my mistakes. When you buy a cajun product and the instructions say "cook covered at 375 for four hours then one hour uncovered, let stand one hour and carve," you should probably just listen to them. [p]We adjusted the temp down and in doing so, affected our time to table by an hour. It was great, but it would have been perfect-er had we just used the K.I.S.S. method. [p]I filled the firebox to the top, but I needed another half hour of fuel at that temp. I ran out when the internal chicken temp hit 150, so we had to remove the whole setup to add fuel, and that solved the problem. This was the first cook where I ran out of fuel, but it was my fault. [p]Instead of coming off at 4pm and serving at 5pm, we were about an hour behind. We only let it stand covered about 20 minutes, and I think that was our biggest presentation mistake. As we were advised, it didn't hold together too well once cut. However, we found that after standing for an hour, it presented quite nicely.[p]We got rave reviews from everyone. The skin was perfect with some nice heat to it, the meat of all three birds was juicy and perfect, and the stuffing had a good kick by anyone's standards, but I loved it anyway. My wife and mother in law thought the stuffing too spicy, but I disagreed. They just said they'd avoid that next time, as the bird was too good to waste space on stuffing. [p]Many folks said that duck is very or even too greasy, but I thought it made for excellent flavor itself and did wonders for the other two birds as well. It was not overpowering though.[p]I have to commend the Cajun Meat Company in Marietta. The product was perfect, tasted great, cooked great, and everyone loved it. We are already ordering ours for Christmas. [p]I highly recommend this for anyone, especially folks who love duck. [p]Here are some pics of our effort:[p][p][p][p][p][p]The below pic is both platters. The other bird is a brined for 24 hours free ranger that was AWESOME!!
[p]Hope everyone's Turkey day was a great as ours. Now it's off for some Turducken on toasted everything bagel sammiches for breakfast!!

mad max beyond eggdome

Mark Backer,
that's great. .. .glad it all worked out so well for you guys . . .one thing you didn't mention... what did little lauren think of the whole thing??

Mark Backer

mad max beyond eggdome,[p]I couldn't believe how much she ate yesterday. She was eating potatoes as the homemade mashed taters were being made, and then she at sweet and mashed taters, turkey, turducken, two kinds of stuffing, and a slice of cheesecake.[p]Oh, and she ate nearly an entire can of whipping cream stuff since my mother in law thought it was funny to fill Lauren's hands or mouth with it and watch her eat it. [p](It's amazing the things you couldn't do as kids but that your parents will now enable your kids to do. There is no WAY her folks would've let molly do that, but when I asked the MIL to stop, she ignored me. Nice).[p]Hope your day was good too. It was the best food T-day I can ever remember.[p]Oh, one more little story. My BIL and I were standing outside yesterday around 1pm, and he said "hey, let's go check on darling." (Darling is a neighbor a mile away who recently hurt his back). [p]We drove down there and found him bent over in front of his relatively new egg blowing in the bottom vent. His 23 pound bird looked awesome at 3 hours, but he was losing heat fast and didn't know why. My BIL and I (experts by comparison) eyeballed the situation and said "dude...how much coal'd you put in there?" [p]His answer: "Almost up to the holes. Why?"[p]"Cuz you're out of fuel. Now bring that bag up while you're getting us some beers."[p]We saved his day and he gave us beer. Good times.[p](My BIL said that he has some sort of 6th sense for impending egg tragedies, and it was now our job to help others. Like batman and robin but with higher cholesterol).[p]

Car Wash Mike

Mark Backer,[p]
Thanks for the pics and the minor mistakes along with the good ideas. Think I'll try 1 soon.[p]CWM

Mark Backer

Car Wash Mike,[p]Thanks man. I think the key is whether or not you like duck. I mean, you don't have to eat the duck if you don't want to, but that bird has such an effect on the whole thing that if you are wholly opposed to duck, then it's probably not for you.[p]That said, I think I have a minor addiction to that thing. I can't tell you how much I enjoyed having bites of all three together. And despite my admitted dislike (I thought) of all things hot and spicy, this thing was perfect to me. Others said it was too warm for them, but it was a purposeful heat that accentuated the flavor, and that's fine with me.[p]I am considering trying one shipped from cajungrocer.com next. Same price I paid (not including shipping), but you get choices as far as the stuffing goes.[p]I really do need to thank smoking BoB for all of his help and for being a sounding board. I know I will do better next time thanks to him...

Car Wash Mike

Mark Backer,[p]Wife is not a big fan of duck and I've never tried. After that being said, I still want to try one. My friend buys 1 from cajun grocer and he swears by them.[p]If you do another before me, please keep thr forum informed. Back to the wash.[p]CWM

Bobby-Q

Mark Backer,
Sounds like you need to be showed how to make your own Turducken.[p]And what's up with the table plans...shoot me an e-mail or give me a buzz sometime and we can most assuredly get it knocked out before Festivus.[p]7709867469