My go to cajun turkey set up.

SGH · June 2014

Plate setter legs up.
Original cast iron lump grate on plate setter for a air space.
16 inch diameter 2 1/2 inch deep round drip pan.
V-Rack inside of pan.
Simple rub of salt and cayenne.
Going on egg at 500 degrees to set the skin.
Will drop to 325 degrees after 20 minutes for the remainder of the cook.
Royal Oak lump with a hand full of Kingsford Comp Briquettes mixed in for flavor.
Will post pics when complete.
Hope y'all like.

grege345 · June 2014

Can hardly wait to hear results!!

SGH · June 2014

@grege345‌
I hope it turns out good cause I'm starving!! As always thanks my friend.

Mattman3969 · June 2014

Sounds like it would pack a punch!! How much cayenne?

SGH · June 2014

@Mattman3969‌
It's just a 50/50 mix of salt and cayenne. But I do put it on very heavy. If you enlarge the pics you can see that it is coated very heavy. Very heavy my friend.

SGH · June 2014

I presume that they liked it. Set it inside to rest and this is what I came back to. The poor cook always comes out on the short end of the stick. Just a note-I have been working on my plating skills. Hope y'all like my friends.

DMW · June 2014

Very nice plating! I'd eat that! Wait, there's nothing but a carcass left...

SGH · June 2014

@DMW‌
What's sad is I didn't get one bite of it. I almost lost my cool! Thanks for the compliment on my plating.

Mattman3969 · June 2014

Boneage looks great!!! Just how many people does it take to devour a turkey breast that fast?

SGH · June 2014

@Mattman3969‌
Five adults and three children. It was only a 8 pounder. You are correct my friend it did make a pretty carcass!

DMW · June 2014

SGH said:

@DMW‌ What's sad is I didn't get one bite of it. I almost lost my cool! Thanks for the compliment on my plating.

I really need to work on my plating, again the plating is very nice, next time I hope you get at least a bite.

SGH · June 2014

@DMW‌
I have had a few complaints in the past on my plating so I have been trying to do better my friend.

bo_mull · June 2014

@SGH Looked good, What was the total cook time and where could a fellow find one of those round drip pans that size?

SGH · June 2014

@bo_mull‌
Total cook time was 2 hours and 40 minutes. But please bare in mind I started at 500 degrees for the first 20 minutes to set the skin and then dropped temp to 325 degrees for the remainder of the cook. This is how I do all of them now. It takes a little practice to get it down but it will produce perfect whole poultry every time once you get the timing down. I actually learned this trick from Paul Prudhomme many years ago in New Orleans. It's sad that he is gone.
As far as the pan I will have to ask my wife. She found it on line. It came in a pack of three for about 6 bucks. Best money I ever spent. Thanks for looking my friend.

SGH · June 2014

@bo_mull‌
My wife said she ordered them off of Amazon. It was a 3 pack for 11 dollars. Just be sure not to go larger in diameter if you want it to set in the plate setter. Mine are 16 inches in diameter and 2 and 1/2 deep. They will hold just a touch over 2 gallons of liquid which makes them a excellent drip pan. I hope this helps and thanks for looking my friend.

Nanook · June 2014

Haven't tried doing a turkey yet.......but will now!

SGH · June 2014

@Nanook‌
Go for it my friend. In my opinion it's one of the easiest things there is to cook. You may want to skip the 500 degree start until you have cooked a few but really there is nothing to it as long as you know how to choke down without killing your fire. Look forward to seeing yours in the future my friend and good luck.

Nanook · June 2014

Thanks for the advice!

SGH · June 2014

@Nanook‌
As always you are more than welcome my friend.

SJ21XDC · June 2014

If you don't mind - how do you go about bringing the temp down from 500 to 350 without choking out the fire?

buzd504 · June 2014

SGH said:

I actually learned this trick from Paul Prudhomme many years ago in New Orleans. It's sad that he is gone.

Wait, what? Gone where?

He's still alive, if that's what you meant.

SGH · June 2014

@SJ21XDC‌
This might be hard to explain without you actually seeing it done but I will do my best. When the egg is stable at 500 I add the bird. The temp will drop a little to around 450 give or take a little. I let the temp climb back to 500. Once it comes back to 500 I start checking the bird every few minutes. Once I notice the skin tightening this is when I start dropping my temp as not to over cook the skin. While the dome is open I pour 1 cup of cold water in the 16 inch drip pan that I use and close the vents almost all the way down. The steam from the cold water will drop the temp very rapidly. I only use one cup as I find through experimenting that it's the perfect amount. It will boil away rapidly so I'm not cooking with water in my pan. Also it is enough to get the temp down in the 300's arena very fast. It's really very easy with just a little practice. Like I said I have done it for years with no issues. Depending on your actual temp and the size of your drip pan the amount of water you need may vary a little. I hope this helps my friend. If not let me know and I will try again.

SJ21XDC · June 2014

SGH said:

@SJ21XDC‌ This might be hard to explain without you actually seeing it done but I will do my best. When the egg is stable at 500 I add the bird. The temp will drop a little to around 450 give or take a little. I let the temp climb back to 500. Once it comes back to 500 I start checking the bird every few minutes. Once I notice the skin tightening this is when I start dropping my temp as not to over cook the skin. While the dome is open I pour 1 cup of cold water in the 16 inch drip pan that I use and close the vents almost all the way down. The steam from the cold water will drop the temp very rapidly. I only use one cup as I find through experimenting that it's the perfect amount. It will boil away rapidly so I'm not cooking with water in my pan. Also it is enough to get the temp down in the 300's arena very fast. It's really very easy with just a little practice. Like I said I have done it for years with no issues. Depending on your actual temp and the size of your drip pan the amount of water you need may vary a little. I hope this helps my friend. If not let me know and I will try again.

Thanks for the answer! I would have never thought about adding water to reduce the temp. I've only done 4 cooks so far and have only had the temp to high on one. I got side tracked and left the dome open to long on the start up. It took some time to get it back, so this is great info!

SGH · June 2014

@buzd504‌
I should have been more clear. Due to age and health he is no longer touring and giving seminars. I got a pretty cool book from him that he autographed for me and my wife. I treasure it.

Biggreenpharmacist · June 2014

Geez, I've been wondering what I might use my original grate for. What a " grate" idea.

SGH · June 2014

@Biggreenpharmacist‌
That's about the only use I get out of it. It does make a awesome spacer.

Biggreenpharmacist · June 2014

Mine is laying on the bottom shelf of my egg table in the zipper bag that the Hique came in. It really would make great spacer and I've never thought of using it.

SGH · June 2014

@Biggreenpharmacist‌
If you have one the weber sear grate works even better. It gives both a little more support and air gap. I usually just use which ever I grab first because they both do a excellent job for the intended purpose.

fusionhq · June 2014

I've always wanted to do a turkey breast.

Biggreenpharmacist · June 2014

Think my sear grate has a permanent home in my small. I cooked burgers on it last night. Was my first cook as I just got it yesterday. No pics so I guess it didn't happen but they were the best imaginary burgers to come off my small.

SGH · June 2014

@fusionhq‌
Go for it brother. They are very simple to cook and truly delicious of off the egg.

My go to cajun turkey set up.

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