Mad Max Turkey just started

DMW

I just put on a 11.5lb turkey following Mad Max's recipe about 1/2 hr ago. I didn't take any pics during prep as I was in a hurry. I'll snap some when I baste. This is a trial run for T-Day, first whole turkey I've done so far.

DMW

Here it is 1 hr in.

SWVABeanCounter

Lookin good.  Keep us posted

busmania

link to recipe?

DMW

@busmania Here you go.http://www.nakedwhiz.com/madmaxturkey.htm

jaydub58

Oh, yeah, @DMW, please keep us in the loop on this cook!

DMW

Here's the stock cooking down. House smells amazing.

DMW

Wow, this little guy is cooking fast. Thigh is at 172° and breast is 156° and it's just under 2 hours in. My egg is wanting to run around 350° and I haven't had time to tweak it (work getting in the way). Really glad I did a trial run as I would have assumed much longer. I will probably go with a slightly larger bird for T-Day, but nowhere near a 21 lb like Mad Max's recipe.

Edit - scratch that, my probe on my Mav must be positioned wrong or something. I just checked temps with my Thermapen and still around 145° Breast. Really glad I have the Thermapen.

Edit - Re-positioned the Mav probe in the breast and now it's showing 140° same as my Thermapen in the same spot. My other wireless therm that was in the thigh (some cheap no-name I've had for over a year) is clearly off. Probing the same spot with the thermapen wasn't even close. Will need to test all my probes after this in boiling water.

ChuckChampion

Looks really good!

DMW

Just pulled it off. Its tented and resting. Now time to try making the gravy.

Edit - OK, I didn't realize how involved that gravy is. Won't be doing it now...

caliking

Lookin good!

tulocay

Looks good. Can you share how long that bird took? I have turykey duty this year for a 1:00 meal. Want to make sure I give myself plenty of time.

DMW

@tulocay, took a bit over 3 hrs total indirect on the egg at 325°-350° Thermapen was probing 160° in the breasts and close to 180° in the thigh. I'm going to allow a 20 min rest before cutting into it to see how it looks. Joints seem to be free, all juices seem to be clear.

henapple

@DMW... Edit man.

DMW

Ok, don't go by my timing as reported. The breast was done, dark meat not. Carved the breast meat off, now its in the oven to finish the dark. Glad this one wasn't for the big day. Thinking I might just spatchcock.

Mickey

DMW said:

Ok, don't go by my timing as reported. The breast was done, dark meat not. Carved the breast meat off, now its in the oven to finish the dark. Glad this one wasn't for the bid day. Thinking I might just spatchcock.

Yep

chashans

Man that looks good! Are you using a Large BGE?  How large of a turkey could you use in a LBGE with this set-up?

DMW

@chashans I have an XL. BGE claims 2 20lb for an XL. A setup like this I could definitely got with much larger than this. However I don't see how you could get 2 birds on there if they were in roasting pans.

chashans

Will you freeze some/all of this bird? I mean, that is a lot of turkey to be eating before the end of the month. So my question is...does BGE cooked turkey freeze well?  Thanks.

Eggcelsior

Put the legs towards the hinge next time. The hot zone will get the legs done in time.

Also, did you ice the breasts?

DMW

@chashans Some will be given away, some will be vacuum sealed and frozen. To answer your question, I do turkey breast roasts, then cool, slice, freeze in small piles. Then I vacuum seal each "stack" in Foodsaver bags. Each Sunday night we get a pack out and put it in the fridge. Lunch meat for the kiddos for the week.

DMW

Eggcelsior said:

Put the legs towards the hinge next time. The hot zone will get the legs done in time.

Also, did you ice the breasts?

I did ice the breasts. I missed (forgot) the part about putting the legs back. I turned it about 1/2 way through. Will start out with legs back next time.

chashans

DMW said:

@chashans Some will be given away, some will be vacuum sealed and frozen. To answer your question, I do turkey breast roasts, then cool, slice, freeze in small piles. Then I vacuum seal each "stack" in Foodsaver bags. Each Sunday night we get a pack out and put it in the fridge. Lunch meat for the kiddos for the week.

Good stuff!  Thank you.

cortguitarman

I really want to try this. Was it worth the effort?

caliking

Eggcelsior said:

Put the legs towards the hinge next time. The hot zone will get the legs done in time. Also, did you ice the breasts?

+1. Last year,  when i smoked a bird on my drum smoker,  i placed the bird perpendicular to the pan underneath it (which was on a lower rack).  The breast was indirect,  thighs were direct and i even had some drippings.  Breast was iced beforehand. With the egg,  take advantage of the hotspot at the back.  Position the platesetter so that it is "open" in the back  i.e.  one foot towards the handle,  making a Y when you look down into the egg. 

DMW

@cortguitarman Yes, I think it was worth it. I just made the gravy a bit ago, and wow, that was nice. I'm willing to put in a few cooks to get this right. It won't be a nightly cook for sure, but I want the first T-Dat from the Egg to impress, including presentation. If I was just doing it to eat, I would spatchcock it for sure.

@caliking That's a great idea to position the fire ring and platesetter like that. I always have mine setup with the open side toward the front so the hot spot is blocked by the platesetter.

This place is great, thanks guys!

Mickey

@DMW if you spatchcock the next bird you do not ice the breast.

Terrebandit

If the thigh was at 180 IT, it should have been done. Am I missing something?

Jeremiah

This is a great thread. Thanks for the info. I'm planning in the same deal for t day.

DMW

@Terrebandit When I probed the thigh near the joint, it wasn't at 180°. I thought it was a fluke because it was hitting the bone. It wasn't a fluke, it just wasn't done. However, after carving the breast meat off and putting the rest in the oven for about an hour, it was perfect. Delicious and since the presentation really didn't matter tonight (most ended up in the freezer) no big deal.

SkinnyV

Thanks.... 70% sure first cook will be on T day, and all will work out. @-)