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Turkey advice
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Wood333
Posts: 5
Guys, learned a ton here. Thanks. Been egging since May on an XL. I'm handling the learning curve as best I can. Need advice for Thanksgiving to make sure I'm not ending up in the doghouse with the wife. Having never done a turkey on the egg before, she's nervous. Is it possible to do two 16 pounders? What configuration would you advise? Do I need 2 vertical roasting holders? Gravy drip pan is important, but not critical.
I have the AR and Woo combo, 17.5in ceramic stone (No platesetter), and a weber kettle collecting dust since May that's ready in a pinch.
I had hopes of spatchcocking and going raised direct on at least one of the birds, if not both, but not sure there's room. And definitely nervous about controlling temp on the weber kettle.
Appreciate whatever guidance or experiences you can offer.
I have the AR and Woo combo, 17.5in ceramic stone (No platesetter), and a weber kettle collecting dust since May that's ready in a pinch.
I had hopes of spatchcocking and going raised direct on at least one of the birds, if not both, but not sure there's room. And definitely nervous about controlling temp on the weber kettle.
Appreciate whatever guidance or experiences you can offer.
Comments
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I'm not sure if two 16 pounders will fit not sure if they won't either. The Turkey I recently practiced on I used a roasting pan and had no need for a drip pan but my turkey didn't hang over. I should have used twine to tie the wings down since the tips came out under the foil and got burnt. I did have an issue with keeping the drippings from the turkey from boiling off. I think for Thanksgiving I'll add stock in the pan to keep it from happening again.
With my XL I had tons of room and did t use the AR/WOO combo and just used a baking rack on top of the stone but I didn't spatchcock my turkey either. -
Have you given any thought to spatchcocking one (or both) turkeys? You could use your AR with a spatched bird underneath and either a non-spatched or second spatched on the second level...No XL owner here but if you want you could test fit in the whole bird configuration to see where you are. FWIW-Louisville; Rolling smoke in the neighbourhood. # 38 for the win. Life is too short for light/lite beer! Seems I'm livin in a transitional period.
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lousubcap said:Have you given any thought to spatchcocking one (or both) turkeys? You could use your AR with a spatched bird underneath and either a non-spatched or second spatched on the second level...No XL owner here but if you want you could test fit in the whole bird configuration to see where you are. FWIW-
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We did our bird in 20012 on an XL BGE - here's my post describing our method:
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Thanksgiving went very well - I bought a fresh turkey on Monday night. Kept in the fridge until Wednesday, when we cleaned it, dried it, and put it uncovered in the fridge.
On Thursday morning, I removed it from the fridge at 11 am, and brought it up to room temp. I placed it on a V-rack in a 9x13" pan, and prepared it a la Mad Maxx - onion, lemon, salt and pepper in the cavity. For the paste: 2 sticks of softened butter, chopped thyme and sage, 2 tsp of minced garlic, and then sprinkled with Bone Sucker Sauce. Then I iced the breast for about 30 minutes, while we started the BGE.
The pan - about 8 oz of chicken broth, onion, lemon, and a quartered green apple.
Once the Egg was up to 350, the bird went in, with the previous plan:
- Charcoal 1" below the platesetter, bring temp up to 350 and stabilize.
- Platesetter legs up, grate on top.
- Roasting pan on grate, with chicken broth, veggies, etc. in the pan
- Rack in pan
- Turkey on rack, legs to the back of the BGE.
I checked it at 10 minutes to make sure the temp was holding, then let it cook for an hour before I tried basting. In the end, I simply "basted" with chicken broth from the box every 30 minutes.
The 15 lb turkey cooked in 2 hours, 45 minutes. A beautiful bird! Very tasty, and moist too. I'll see if I can attach pics.
Thanks for all the help - we will definitely do this again, since it was great to have the kitchen oven freed up for other foods!
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And FYI - not room to do 2 birds of that size at the same time...
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Sandi_k said:We did our bird in 20012 on an XL BGE - here's my post describing our method:
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Direct at 400 raised will take 90 mins + or -. Do one then the other spatchcocked.Salado TX & 30A FL: Egg Family: 3 Large and a very well used Mini, added a Mini Max when they came out (I'm good for now). Plus a couple Pit Boss Pellet Smokers.
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The one better way than my answer above is get a Large this week and do both at the same timeSalado TX & 30A FL: Egg Family: 3 Large and a very well used Mini, added a Mini Max when they came out (I'm good for now). Plus a couple Pit Boss Pellet Smokers.
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Your only real hope of roasting 2 larger birds in your XL with out Spatching them would be to place both birds in one large pan, indirect.
I would truss them both up real good as you might have to rotate each bird at a half way point to move the inside portion of each bird to the outside. Basically spinning each bird 180 degrees. The twine really helps lifting/moving the bird. Throw some stalk veggies in the pan with some white wine for moisture.
The AR will not work but the Woo should work great...
Even modifying a very large heavy duty disposable aluminum pan would work. Bend/shape it to fit.
The 2 birds will start out touching and will most likely be placed facing opposite directions for better fit. Test fit the birds as soon as you get them still in the plastic to give you a better idea.
Hell, wad up some news paper in a paper bag as a model to get a general shape idea. The last thing you want is a hot Egg and 2 birds that will not fit...not mention a hot wife...lol
I would also plan on roasting them on the slow side. I would keep them at or slightly below 300 because of how tight they will be on the dome.
So plan on close to 6 hours. They can rest tented under foil for a hour if needed. Get a good stable fire before you start cooking. As soon as you toss on that pan your temps will drop big time. Don't try and over compensate right away. Also let you birds rest on the counter for an hour to warm a little.
The small ice pack on the breast meat for 30 minutes is also a good tip picked up on the Naked Whiz BBQ site. Will slow down the breast meat from cooking while the darker meat gets a head start.
Post some photos...Thank you,DarianGalveston Texas -
Thanks for the advice! Will post pics of the success (or the circus). First option will be to attempt to vertically roast the 2 using the Spanek vertical roasters. Fingers crossed with spacing. I'll have to try spatchcock direct another time with less pressure to come through.
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My experience has always been cooking the Thanksgiving turkey on a charcoal fire with soaked Hickory chips or Kiawe (Mesquite) wood (yes I know soaking the chips does nothing, but that's the way dad did it...) for smoke flavor, on a medium fire (~300 - 350) with no indirect plate.
The bird is stuffed right before it is put on with Chestnut / Sausage stuffing and put in a "special" roasting pan (I'm pretty sure this was just a heavy duty roasting pan that had been used for years on the grill). The legs were trussed with twine, and the wings left free. Any leftover stuffing was packed loosely between the drumsticks and the neck cavity. Melted butter (NOT margarine) was brushed on before cooking. That's it, no salt (well we did use salted butter), no rub, no fancy herb crust.
Cooking was also simple and just involved keeping the heat constant, with a light smoke from the chunks / chips, and basting the turkey every 30 to 45 minutes with both melted butter and the drippings from the pan (we used a small saucepan to choke the chimney, this kept the butter melted and always ready to use). The turkey came off the fire when the internal temperature was at 165, and was allowed to rest.
Interesting tidbit: I remember the first few times we tried turkeys with those new fangled pop-up timers, and we always pulled them off before the timer activated, our theory was that the when basting the juice caked in the timer.
Fast forward 35 years and this year I am preparing to dust off some traditions, I'm pretty sure I will use the same process. Oh yea, here is my stuffing recipe (don't laugh, this is the way mom taught me to make the stuffing)Chestnut Stuffing
- 1 Bag Pepperidge Farm Herb Seasoned Stuffing mix (the one in the blue package)
- 1 Lb. Jimmy Dean Sage Sausage
- A mess of Chestnuts (in shells) - Think one of those clear produce bags about 3/4 full
- Raisins
- A large onion
- A head of celery
- 2 Cans of Swanson Chicken broth
- Amontillado sherry
- First cut an 'X' in the rounded side of the Chestnuts and roast them cut up (flat side down) at 425 for 25 to 30 minutes until the shell curls away from the meat. Shell and chop while still warm. (this step can be done the night before)
- Chop the onion
- Chop the heart of the celery (about 2 cups), make sure to include the celery leaves
- Brown the sausage then add the onion and celery and cook until the onion is clear.
- Add the Chestnuts and raisins and cook a few minutes, until raisins are plump
- - You may have noticed that the amount of raisins is unspecified, that's because we just put 'enough' in. Over time I learned that 'enough' was about 1 1/2 Cups
- Add one can of Chicken broth and bring to a simmer
- Add the Stuffing mix and stir
- If required add enough Broth from the second can to moisten the stuffing
- Just before stuffing the turkey stir in about 1/2 cup Amontillado
Don't worry about seasoning the stuffing (salt / pepper) the cooking turkey will take care of that for you. - Don't worry about seasoning the stuffing (salt / pepper) the cooking turkey will take care of that for you.
- Don't worry about seasoning the stuffing (salt / pepper) the cooking turkey will take care of that for you.
Cooks on: Large Big Green Egg
Location: Somewhere north of Dallas and south of Oklahoma. -
The BGE promo says the XL can do two 20-lb turkeys at once. False advertising?- Jamaican living in rural Western Washington
- Got my first egg (XL) in October 2015
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