Welcome to the EGGhead Forum - a great place to visit and packed with tips and EGGspert advice! You can also join the conversation and get more information and amazing kamado recipes by following Big Green Egg to Experience our World of Flavor™ at:
Facebook  |  Twitter  |  Instagram  |  Pinterest  |  Youtube  |  Vimeo
Share your photos by tagging us and using the hashtag #BigGreenEgg.

Want to see how the EGG is made? Click to Watch

To open, or not no Open, that is the question?

Options
Duuane
Duuane Posts: 65
in Poultry

Goooood morning, and Happy Thanksgiving to all...today I will be cooking my second whole turkey on the BGE. Last summer I did one, an 18lb bird which turned out good. I had brined it over night, put it on a v-rack and cooked it at 325...cooked much faster than I expected. I didn't open the egg to check the temps until 15 minutes after my digital probe told me that the breast temp was good. I didn't trust the temp because it got there so fast, and it was overcooked. The only difference today is, the bird is a pound or two lighter. My question is...should I occasionally open the BGE to spot check temps as it cooks, or should I the breast get to temp, trust the reading, and then open to spot check the other locations?  Should the probe even be in the breast? However I do it, and however it turns out, it will be a great day, because we have too much to be thankful for...for it not to be.   Cheers!!


Franklinville, Western NY
· Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Comments

  • grege345
    grege345 Posts: 3,515
    Options
    If you have a remote probe test the accuracy in boiling water. If the remote probe is accurate trust it to the end. The beauty of the egg is the way it can hold temps and retain moisture. Both those go away with opening the egg repeatedly. So stick the probe in the thickest part of the breast and let it ride. Once it hits 160 open lid and double check temp in thigh. If everything looks good let turkey sit 20-30 min before carving.
    LBGE& SBGE———————————————•———————– Pennsylvania / poconos

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • theyolksonyou
    theyolksonyou Posts: 18,458
    Options
    +1. Cook to temp not time. Why have the probe if you don't use it? If you're not going to trust it, chunk it.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Duuane
    Duuane Posts: 65
    Options
    Thank you!!  I am confident of the probes accuracy, but never had a bird that big cook that fast, no matter how I did it...less than three hours. As far as opening the BGE, it seems I read "if you're looking, it's not cooking"  someplace...but I couldn't find it written in any post I looked at this morning.
    Franklinville, Western NY
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • dldawes1
    dldawes1 Posts: 2,208
    Options
    Duuane .   

     If you're looking...You're not cooking !!!

    There ya go...

    Donnie Dawes - RNNL8 BBQ - Carrollton, KY  

    TWIN XLBGEs, 1-Beautiful wife, 1 XS Yorkie

    I'm keeping serious from now on...no more joking around from me...Meatheads !! 


    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • bweekes
    bweekes Posts: 725
    Options
    Only reason I open during a turkey cook is to baste occasionally. But if all you're doing is peaking and testing temps, I agree that you should trust your probe and try to avoid opening the lid.
    Ajax, ON Canada
    (XL BGE, MED BGE, La Caja China #2, and the wife's Napoleon gasser)
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • laserdoc85
    laserdoc85 Posts: 577
    Options
    If the leg pulls off it is done!
    Jefferson .GA.  
    Been egging since 1985 on a medium egg
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Jeepster47
    Jeepster47 Posts: 3,827
    edited November 2014
    Options
    Might be a dumb question, but have you calibrated your dome thermometer.  If it's reading low, that would explain the fast cook.

    Also, make sure the dome thermometer is away from the bird itself ... otherwise the cooler bird will contribute to a lower reading.

    Washington, IL  >  Queen Creek, AZ ... Two large eggs and an adopted Mini Max

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • rifrench
    rifrench Posts: 469
    Options
    Jeepster47 said:
    Might be a dumb question, but have you calibrated your dome thermometer.  If it's reading low, that would explain the fast cook.

    Also, make sure the dome thermometer is away from the bird itself ... otherwise the cooler bird will contribute to a lower reading.
    I have had that happen!
     1 LBGE, 1 SBGE, 1 KBQ and a 26" Blackstone near Blackstone, Virginia
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • morrobayrich
    morrobayrich Posts: 104
    Options
    The initial "If you are looking you aren't cooking" came from Celtic Wolf on the old forum.
    Morro Bay, CA
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Duuane
    Duuane Posts: 65
    Options
    I did calibrate the thermometer, but I cant be sure it wasn't near or touching the bird. I will make sure with this one.
    Franklinville, Western NY
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Categories