First turkey on my LBGE

hondabbq · October 2012

I have done alot of reading on here to try and make my first efforts on a tureky a grand success. Having some cook time on the grill with other items ahs given me some time to play with temps and such and to learn the idiosyncricies of it.

I am going to brine it today with a little recipe I found containing: pineapple juice, soy, honey, brown sugar, salt, garlic, chili flakes, peppercorns. The official cook takes place on Saturday. I will try to remember to take pics before during and after. Im not good at remembering to do that.

Eggsakley · October 2012

Brine sounds delicious. Should produce a juicy bird. Do try and remember the pics. If it has a pop up thermometer, disregard it. Use your instant read for better results. One commonly used trick in cooking it evenly is to ice down the breasts as the rest of the bird comes up to room temp for an even cook. Best of luck and enjoy the cook. Lots of good sammies ahead of you.

Griffin · October 2012

Sounds really good. I'm no expert by any means, and I hope one chimes in soon to clarify, but wouldn't the citrus juice from the pineapple juice end up breaking down the proteins in the turkey? Maybe it depends on how long it is in the brine and how much pineapple juice is in it. Like I said, I'm no expert and have never used pineapple juice in a brine, just thinking out loud here and trying to get some insight.

Good luck with your turkey. You keeping it whole or spatchcocking it?

hondabbq · October 2012

Taken from the recipe page

Combine all ingredients. Place turkey in large dish or container and pour brine over. Cover and allow to brine for 1 hour per pound. Because of the acid from the pineapple juice in this brine you do not want to leave your turkey in the brine for too long.

Griffin · October 2012

Well if you got directions, it must be ok, so just ignore my previous concern. I just looked over my last turkey prep and realized I had squeezed and dropped in one orange. Forgot about that, but it was with 3 gallons of water brined for 24 hours and it came out just fine.

hondabbq · October 2012

10 lb turkey. Just put into the brine for the overnight hours. Going to rinse and dry it off and put in the fridge for a few hours to dry out the skin ( I've read this will make it crispy). More pics to follow.

hondabbq · October 2012

Griffin said:

Well if you got directions, it must be ok, so just ignore my previous concern. I just looked over my last turkey prep and realized I had squeezed and dropped in one orange. Forgot about that, but it was with 3 gallons of water brined for 24 hours and it came out just fine.

I changed the brine to just a standard one with a few inclusions of my own for personal preference.

hondabbq · October 2012

Just before pulling off after 2 hours. 10 lb. 12 minutes per pound exactly. 160 breast,165 thigh.
This was the best, moistest turkey I have ever had. I am a chef and I have made tons of turkeys in my time. I have never had anything close to this. My wife also said it was the best she has ever had as well. I guess I know who's cooking the Xmas turkey this year.

booksw · October 2012

That looks wonderful! Thanks for sharing the pics. I am cooking my practice turkey tomorrow. I brined it from Friday morning until tonight and then I injected one side (as an experiment) and now it is in the fridge air drying until tomorrow. I was going to use a stand like you did but place the pan under the grid and place the turkey directly on the grid. Did you put anything inside the turkey cavity?

hondabbq · October 2012

No I used the vertical roaster so there was no room for anything

Austin Egghead · October 2012

Glad your turkey turned out to your liking. It sure looks good.

booksw · October 2012

I have a stand that you can fill with liquid- it's actually designed for a beer can. I haven't decided if I am going to put anything into it or not yet... Did you use any wood in addition to the lump for extra smoke? Did you want the thighs to be 165 or is that just where they were when the breast was 160...? Thanks so much for your help!

hondabbq · October 2012

I did add some apple wood. I would have pulled it at 150-155. I don't have a maverick just yet ( next week) so I just used the 12 mins per pound then decided to check it. Anything over. 160 is cooked and safe.

hondabbq · October 2012

BBQ smoked turkey sandwich. Sautéed onion peppers and mushroom with yesterday's turkey. Added some famous Dave's devils spit and some sharp cheddar. Yummmmmy.

booksw · October 2012

Looks so good- I guess I have to wait until tomorrow for left over turkey. I have hit a bit of a glitch but that's why today is "practice". I set in the apple chips and then the inverted platesetter and then the grate and then...the turkey didn't fit. So, with smoke bellowing off the apple chips, I removed the grate and set the turkey pan directly on the inverted plate setter. I know I should have used some sort of spacer but I didn't have one handy. The turkey still barely fit- I think the top of the egg is squishing it a bit. My turkey is not too big either- 14 pounds. I guess the verticle stand makes it trickier (I put beer and "whirly bird" in the stand).

Hondabbq- you have the same size egg I have. Did you take out the fire ring to make it fit?

hondabbq · October 2012

No i did not remove the fire ring. Just put it indirect in top of the grill. Mine was only 10 lbs not 14 and I was just touching the top of the dome. I actually adjusted the turkey so it centres the daisy wheel hole.
I assume with what I experienced yesterday, if I had to do a larger bird I would have to use a v rack.

Duganboy · October 2012

hondabbq said:

No idiot remove the fire ring. Just put it indirect in top of the grill. Mine was only 10 lbs not 14 and I was just touching the top of the dome. I actually adjusted the turkey so it centres the daisy wheel hole. I assume with what I experienced yesterday, if I had to do a larger bird I would have to use a v rack.

I'm thinking he intended to type--No I did not remove the fire ring,instead of no idiot remove the fire ring

hondabbq · October 2012

Duganboy said:

hondabbq said:

No idiot remove the fire ring. Just put it indirect in top of the grill. Mine was only 10 lbs not 14 and I was just touching the top of the dome. I actually adjusted the turkey so it centres the daisy wheel hole.
I assume with what I experienced yesterday, if I had to do a larger bird I would have to use a v rack.

I'm thinking he intended to type--No I did not remove the fire ring,instead of no idiot remove the fire ring

Lol. Damn spell check on my IPhone. I debated leaving it just for a laugh but I didn't want booksw to think I was an ass.

booksw · October 2012

I appreciate the correction! There has been some odd snarkiness on this site that generally makes me hesitate to post anything.

My turkey has only been on there for an hour and the breast is already reading 147

booksw · October 2012

I wish I could take a picture of how good it smells!

hondabbq · October 2012

I never opened mine up for 2 hours based on 12 mins per pound. I don't have a maverick yet either so don't know how fast the temp climbed up. I did open the daisy 20 minutes in and the turkey was already browning.

booksw · October 2012

As you can see, I have a significant tilt on my bird (one side of it was sort of torn) and I opened it to turn it. I also injected one side (the side tilting down) with a mixture of olive oil, chicken stock, and orange juice.

hondabbq · October 2012

Well how did it turn out overall?

Little Steven · October 2012

You guys need to flip those things upside down :-*

hondabbq · October 2012

An explanation of your comment would be appreciated.

Little Steven · October 2012

If you put the bird on the egg with the neck down on the stand (you may have to clip out a bit of the backbone) the dark meat will be up in the hotter part of the egg. The fattier meat from the thigh nd leg will baste the breast. You will get a 20* difference between the breast (lower) and the thigh and leg

booksw · October 2012

It was the best turkey I have ever had. The injected side was even juicier than then non-injected side. I had a little bit of uncertainty at the end when the breast read 160 after a little more than 2 hours but the thigh was only about 150. After maybe 15 minutes the thigh had come up to 155 and I took it off and measured the temperature with my instant thermometer in several different places and got readings all over the map- mostly less than 155. I put it back on and thought of your idea of 12 minutes per pound which would have been about 170 minutes. I checked it every 15-20 minutes and took it off about 45 minutes later- total of 165 minutes. The thigh was maybe a tiny bit underdone but the breast was perfect and we were able to heat up the part of the dark meat that was underdone to make it perfect.

It is sort of a dance to figure out what to do with the turkey when the breast is done but the thigh isn't. I thought of tenting the breasts but I don't think that does much other than protect the skin from over browning but the skin was fine so I didn't tent it. Maybe if I hadn't opened it so much and had just gone with 12 minutes per pound it would have worked out just as well.

Practice makes perfect!

hondabbq · October 2012

Little Steven said:
If you put the bird on the egg with the neck down on the stand (you may have to clip out a bit of the backbone) the dark meat will be up in the hotter part of the egg. The fattier meat from the thigh nd leg will baste the breast. You will get a 20* difference between the breast (lower) and the thigh and leg

I never had an issue with the breasts being dry so this is a moot point.

Little Steven · October 2012

Hey man. Not trying to get in an argument about it. I just find I get 180-185* in the thigh and 160 in the breast inverted.

hondabbq · October 2012

I didn't intend for it to sound snotty.

Little Steven · October 2012

You freakin Canucks always sound snotty as far as I'm concerned. Must be hockey deprivation or something

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