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Turkey

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Unknown
edited November -1 in EggHead Forum
I want to thank everyone that posted turkey advice. My family raved, even a daughter that doesn't like smokey food. I cooked an 11.5 lb turkey at 350, but my thermometer read 165 at 2 hrs and 15 min. Checked gauge in boiling water prior to cook. Somehow I ran out of charcoal at about 2 hrs, and had to reload. Also the drip pan was smoking, and had to add water. I let the Egg heat up for about 30 minutes before loading the turkey. Still don't understand what happened to the fire. Oh well, in spite of my problems the day was great. My wife is making turkey gumbo today, and tonight we'll cook some steaks. Again, thanks for the advice.

Comments

  • Puj
    Puj Posts: 615
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    Amc,[p]Number one suspect for running out of lump at 2 hours is not enough lump loaded. Did you have the drip pan sitting directly on firebricks, plate setter or pizza stone? If so, try raising it off these guys with spacers, cooking racks, nuts (the metal kind), etc.[p]Turkey gumbo sounds yummy. We'll do some turkey fajitas tomorrow night.[p]Puj

  • Mop
    Mop Posts: 496
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    Amc,two hours and the coal went out at 350º......not enough charcoal...[p]drip pan smoking----not enough water.....you can add spacers but water will do the same thing.....[p]Glad you enjoyed it, I hope your next turkey will be a little less labour intensive..[p]Merry Christmas[p]Mop[p]

  • Puj, I hadn't read the tip about the spacers. I'll try that when I'm using the drip pan. Speaking of drip pans, I've been looking for one that has deep enough sides that will fit on the medium with the firebrick setup. So far, no luck. I thought I had filled to the top of the fire ring, but maybe I didn't.

  • Mop
    Mop Posts: 496
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    Puj, spacers, cooking racks and the likes will still get to the temp of the cooker..[p]Raising the drip pan off the stone or bricks works for a while but not really for a long cook I found..[p]Cooking a Turkey at 350 will heat that thin aluminum pan to 350 as well causing the dripping to burn anyway.....thats what has happened to me anyways...[p]I now just add water every once and a while.....no sizzle..[p]jug up![p]Mop

  • Hi Mop, anything I do with the Egg is enjoyable. I'm having fun learning, and my wife loves it. She doesn't have to cook, and plan the meals. I should have known when she gave it to me for my birthday.
  • Hi Mop, anything I do with the Egg is enjoyable. I'm having fun learning, and my wife loves it. She doesn't have to cook, and plan the meals. I should have known when she gave it to me for my birthday.
  • How did I do that? Oh well, computers!

  • Rich
    Rich Posts: 67
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    Puj,
    I cooked my turkey at 325* indirect with a pizza stone, drip pan and VTR. I put ceramic spacers between the pizza stone and drip pan and the juices didn't burn. Made great gravey. My 2 cents.
    Rich

  • Puj
    Puj Posts: 615
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    Mop,[p]I agree. Water or more liquid ends up being the ultimate answer. I will say that when doing the PDK Bird, the bbq sauce and drippings from the bird have never burned during the cook. They end burning after taking the bird out and leaving the drip pan in while ol Eggy cools down, so there is no doubt that at some point it does burn.[p]A tilt to you,
    Puj

  • Puj
    Puj Posts: 615
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  • Mop
    Mop Posts: 496
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    Puj, I`m thinking about making up some sort of a pan support fashioned from 1/8th stainless banding on it`s side with a criss cross through the centre...[p]it would be handy for a number of uses...[p]take care..[p]mop[p]

  • Kevin D
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    Amc,[p]I also don't care for too much of a smokey flavor in my turkey during the initial meal. However, I think the leftovers are much better with the smokey flavor. Since the intitial meal/leftover ratio is about 20%/80% I'll take the egged turkey every time.[p]Kevin D.