Turkey Day 2012-Pt 2.-Turkey & Sides (Pix Intensive)

jfm0830 · November 2012

As mentioned in Part 1 of this post, my Egg was in use from sunrise to after sunset. It held 350 all day on one batch of WGWW. The one and only time I had to tweak the vents was when I put on the cold turkey, which I expected. It was so nice not having to babysit my offset smoker. This was an epic post (very long) so I split it into 2 parts. The first part was on the items I baked on the Egg, Here is the link.

Turkey Day 2012-Pt 1.-Baking

I am posting pictures of the 14 pound turkey which I cooked on the Egg including the brine for anyone not familiar with the process., I'm also including two interesting sides which I made indoors while the turkey was cooking. I ran out of time to take prep pictures for the indoor items, so I will post so older pictures from when I made it before. My dishwasher died this week and the replacement doesn't arrive til Tuesday. I needed to stay ahead of the dishes and that is what I did instead of taking pix of the taters and cranberry prep. Thanks to @Little_Steven for the tip about using plumbing T's as a spacer between the Plate Setter and my drip pan. I had no problem with anything in the drip pan burning.

This turkey recipe from the folks at America's Test Kitchen is one I've been making for 3 years now. It turns out the best turkey I've made and this years version was the best yet. This years was the moistest version yet, I was a bit worried about over smoking the bird so I used 2 rounds of Apple chips vs. chunk and it turned out just right. The only fly in the onitment was the skin. This herb rub always turns out dark skin even burnt in some places-always had. This year was no exception. To my surprise the skin was not particularly crispy. I though 350 would give me a crispy skin. For whatever reason it didn't, but it wasn't the end of the world because no one in my family is really a skin eater. Next year I am going to try a new recipe to see if I can get a lighter crispier skin. But skin aside the meat was the best ever.

TART CRANBERRY DIPPING SAUCE:

A poster on the Barbecue Bible message board posted a link to this dipping sauce and I have been making it for the last four years. It is an Alton Brown recipe and I will post the link below. It is easy to make but there are a few gotchas. 1) The quantity in the recipe makes a ton, I reduced the amount I make by half. 2) The picture on the website looks nothing like the actual dish you make. I know it is correct, because their was a video I watched that came out like mine and not the website pix. 3) READ CAREFULLY. At the end when you put it in a blender it will blow the lid right off the blender. I don't know if gas builds up in the heated cranberries or what. But the first year despite my being warned I didn't hold the lid lightly enough and it blew off and hit the ceiling! Ouch! Last few years I've used an Immersion Blender set in a hole in a plastic bag. The Immersion Blender cuts down the splattering, but there still is some.

The first year I made this sauce I had some canned cranberry around in case people didn't like this as much. Not to worry: Besides dipping their meat in the sauce, they were dipping lots of their other food in it too. I don't even buy the canned stuff any more.

Tart Cranberry Dipping Sauce:

The ingredient are: Cranberries (frozen), ginger ale, orange juice, maple syrup, orange zest & kosher salt.

The ingredients are brought to a boil and then simmered for 45 minutes.

The ingredients are simmered until they reduce by half.

The sauce has been pureed with an Immersion Blender. This process builds up some sort of hot gas in the cranberries see my warning above.

Everyone who has tried it absolutely loves this thick and tasty dipping sauce.

GARLIC MASHED POTATOES:

You may have seen these prep pix in an earlier post-if so scroll down to the turkey pix. If these are new to you, the recipe comes from America's Test Kitchen and the potatoes are made in an interesting way. They are not boiled in water like most mashed potatoes, but instead it is like they are being braised in a butter garlic mixture. They are actually easier ti make than most mashed potato recipes I have tried and everyone loved them.

Simple ingredients: Russet potatoes, sugar, butter, half & half, garlic, salt & water.

First step is to melt some butter and then garlic and sugar are added. The sugar helps the garlic brown a bit.

The potatoes were cut into 1/2" cubes.

When the garlic is cooked the sugar added helps make the garlic start clumping together. The water and heavy cream are added to stop the garlic from cooking.

The potatoes are added and the mixture is brought to a boil and then simmer for 25 minutes until the potatoes are cooked and soft. About every 5 minutes you toss them to get them coated with the liquid.

The potatoes are cooked and soft. The potatoes get mashed and then some additional butter & heavy cream get folded in.

jfm0830 · November 2012

HERB ROASTED TURKEY:

This recipe came from America's Test Kitchen and I substituted a Apple Brine form the Virtual Weber Bullet website.

Whole Turkey Apple Brine

I'm posting pictures of the second half of the brine. The first part involved boiling Apple Juice, water and Kosher salt on Monday night. I let the mixture cool to room temperature and it goes in the fridge in the brining tub. I'll pick up on Tuesday night and let the pictures tell the rest of the story.

The refrigerated brine liquid is ready and will receive the 14 pound turkey plus quarted oranges and their juice, sliced ginger, whole cloves, bay leaves and flattened garlic cloves.

All of the ingredients and the bird are in the brine.

I used and inverted metal bowl to help hold the bird down. It wants to float. The lid holds the bowl down which holds the bird down. I made sure to get some brine inside the metal bowl first, before pinning the bird down.

The bird is in the brine from Tuesday night to Wednesday night.

On Wednesday night the bird was taken out of the brine and dried off.

The bird is returned to the fridge to help crisp up the skin.

The herb paste used: Parsley, sage, thyme & rosemary plus shallots, garlic, lemon zest, olive oil, Dijon mustard, salt & pepper..

The ingredients for the herb paste are processed in the food processor. The dry ingredients are done first followed by the Dijon mustard and olive oil.

The bird has been rubbed over and under the skin and in the cavities. Two slits were cut in the breast for more herb rub. Onions and apples are cut up for use in the cavity and the pan.

The apples and oranges have been placed in the body cavities and under the foil in the cast iron drip pan. The foil helps prevent marks on the skin from the ribs on the V-rack.

The bird is on the Egg at 350 degrees. I've just added one of two applications of Apple chips.

It is the midpoint of the cook, time to bring the bird into the Kitchen and flip it over. Americas Test Kitchen say flipping the bird over midway through is the best way to cook it, even in the oven.

The bird has been flipped the wings have been wrapped in foil and the probe for the ET-732 is in the thickest part of the thigh. The foil I p[laced on the drip pan has minimized the dents in the breast meat. Those indentations that were there healed by the time the bird was cooked. I know it is just cosmetic, but I was glad.

The sun has set and the bird is done. It took 3:45 at 350 degrees.

The turkey has rested loosely covered in foil for 15 minutes. Time to carve.

This was the week for things dying. My dishwasher died earlier this week and after I removed the wings and legs from the body, the electric knife died. Where no one in my family is a skin lover, I pulled the skin off the white meat to make it easier to hand carve.

This Thanksgiving was my best one yet . Everyone loved the food and desserts. My mom made her famous meat based stuffing which used the neck, gizzards and giblets from the turkey, plus ground beef & pork and various herbs and spices. It is a meal in itself. She also made green beans and bacon which paired nicely with the smoked turkey.

My first Thanksgiving with the Egg was the best food I've cooked or baked. I hope everyone else had a great and successful Turkey Day too! Thanks to all the great posters here who put up some excellent advice.

Jim

lowlightbw · November 2012

looks awesome. Great to see others who enjoy crafting good food!

jbajor · November 2012

One word....

STUNNING!!!!

jb

Greeno55 · November 2012

I'm sure I speak for many people when I say, I love your posts. All the pictures, especially the prep are much appreciated. Keep 'em coming.

cazzy · November 2012

Love your food stories Jim! Your efforts are acknowledged and certainly appreciated!

Village Idiot · November 2012

Beautiful ...... just beautiful.

Plano_JJ · November 2012

Wow! You need to start a restaurant man.

Dyal_SC · November 2012

Absolutely ridiculous! Amazing photos too!!!! I love the way you captured the water in mid-flight as you were rinsing the diced potatoes. =D> Your food BE (before egg) was incredible enough, but now you outdo yourself with each cook. The turkey's skin looks to die for!

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Turkey Day 2012-Pt 2.-Turkey & Sides (Pix Intensive)

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