Uneven cook with turkey?

CANMAN1976

So cooked a 10lb turkey yesterday and once again had issues with the breasts being done way sooner than the dark stuff. Breasts were at 170 and the thighs at 140-150 or so.I actually took the turkey off removed the breasts and continued to cook the dark meat on the egg for awhile longer...what a pain in the ass that was!!!

Yes I iced the breasts but it didn't help much. I was using a shallow roaster (to catch drippings) maybe this slowed the lower parts of the turkey from cooking as fast? Can you cook a turkey upright almost like beer can style  to cook the darker meat faster?

Any suggestions as to how to get a more even turkey cook??

Jamie.

SenecaTheYounger

Did you truss it?  Trussing tries to make an even hunk of meat, and seems logical, but in reality, it works against us.

I remove any plastic pieces or wires holding the legs together, and allow the turkey to sit in a roasting pan with legs and wings falling more open.  This allows them to cook from all sides, while the more massive breast cooks a little more slowly. It also gives you much more skin exposed to the heat, and browned skin is a plus in my book.

Since doing this, I have never needed to ice the breast.  I simply do not truss it.  Trussing causes the very problem it purports to solve: uneven cooking. You WANT uneven cooking.  You want the legs and wings to cook more quickly.

fishlessman

x2 on what senaca said, and put the turkey in the egg with the legs facing the hot spot which is usually toward the hinge, you can start the fire towards the back as well to guarantee the hot spot is hinge side

Skiddymarker

Get over the issue of presentation, it is all about the taste, right? Part out the bird into five or six pieces. 2 X wings, 2 X leg/thigh, 2 X breast OR 1 X whole breast. The legs can hit the grid 20 minutes before the breasts with the wings going on last. (Hard to overcook chicken wings - but not my experience with turkey wings) Always a perfect cook. 

Easier to move around/flip. Easier to do the final carve. 

MagicMike

Was the turkey sitting in the pan or was the pan under the turkey? If the turkey was sitting in it I wonder if the pan was acting as a heat deflector for the bottom half of your turkey. What I do when cooking a turkey is cook it breast side down until the turkey is about half way done, then flip the turkey breast side up for the 2nd half of the cook. Not only does this help with even cooking but the breast meat will also be more juicy and tender. 

Little Steven

Did you have the legs toward the back of the egg?

grege345

Spatchcock turkey will fix that. You'll need a cleaver to get the spine out

nolaegghead

Make sure you're stabbing the meat in multiple areas to get representative temps..  Doesn't make sense it would have that much disparity in temperature....turykeys naturally cook the dark meat faster than the white.

CANMAN1976

Checked multiple places with the thermapen 140 others 150's.Legs where towards back but the roaster depth altered the normal heat flow.

The legs were tied together so maybe that was part of the problem as well? Done many spatchcocks but I needed the dripping for gravyand a place to stuff my dressing so spatch was out!

SenecaTheYounger

re:  "Hows ya gettin' on me ol ****?

I have an acquaintance who hails (or hailed) from Newfoundland, so I think I know what you mean.  But for those that don't, I'd suggest that a much needed, precisely located comma would really clarify the expression. "How's ya gettin on(comma), me ol ****?"

Unless of course you actually are asking someone to climb aboard.

nolaegghead

SenecaTheYounger said:

re:  "Hows ya gettin' on me ol ****?

I have an acquaintance who hails (or hailed) from Newfoundland, so I think I know what you mean.  But for those that don't, I'd suggest that a much needed, precisely located comma would really clarify the expression. "How's ya gettin on(comma), me ol ****?"

Unless of course you actually are asking someone to climb aboard.

I'm glad you had the grits to say something.  I'm comfortable with "alternative" lifestyles and just assumed the literal....

Little Steven

****, Cockey and Cokerel are commonly used as a man to man greeting in Newfoundland. Think buddy ore pal.

SenecaTheYounger

Steven, that's not at all what I was saying. I understand that, and said so.

I fully comprehend the expression that "****" means "mate" in Newfoundland speak (which I alluded to).

I'm simply saying that the poor grammar (lacking a very important comma) turns it from a sentence asking his mate "How are you getting on?"  into one where he is beseeching an unnamed individual to climb onto his erect male member.

Commas are very important.

CANMAN1976

SenecaTheYounger said:

Steven, that's not at all what I was saying. I understand that, and said so.

I fully comprehend the expression that "****" means "mate" in Newfoundland speak (which I alluded to).

I'm simply saying that the poor grammar (lacking a very important comma) turns it from a sentence asking his mate "How are you getting on?"  into one where he is beseeching an unnamed individual to climb onto his erect male member.

Commas are very important.

Anything for you cockey:)

Little Steven

SenecaTheYounger said:

Steven, that's not at all what I was saying. I understand that, and said so.

I fully comprehend the expression that "****" means "mate" in Newfoundland speak (which I alluded to).

I'm simply saying that the poor grammar (lacking a very important comma) turns it from a sentence asking his mate "How are you getting on?"  into one where he is beseeching an unnamed individual to climb onto his erect male member.

Commas are very important.

Yes, I saw that but I can't edit posrs in IE

Little Steven

Nor can I correct in spell check

SenecaTheYounger

@canman1976:  I was just being facetious.  Hope you were not offended.  I am not very skilled at humor on a personal (i.e. inter-personal) level.

@steven: I did not know they still had Internet Explorer. If you are having trouble editing posts, it may also be because your dial-up modem is being affected by line noise.  If you upgrade from 28k to the newer 56k modems, I believe you will find many of your connectivity issues would resolve. The newer technology permits better retraining and fallback, and can renegotiate midstream. Do you mind if I ask, what is the weather like in 1994?

Little Steven

It's only happens at work and I believe the modem is 56K. If it was still 1994 I would be young (ish)

HDumptyEsq

Hows ya gettin' on, me ol ****? 

Short for "**** sparrow" - a spirited young man. In old England a sparrow was a symbol of spring time sexual urges. As Chaucer put it…."he was as likorus as was a sparwe"

Canugghead

Little Steven said:

It's only happens at work and I believe the modem is 56K. If it was still 1994 I would be young (ish)

are you sure it's not 1974?  )

SenecaTheYounger

Anderson Jacobson Acoustic Coupler A24A!

Canugghead

@canman1976 - all good advice above, I also add salt to the ice cubes for extra chilling.