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First smoked turkey... WOW!

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djbade
djbade Posts: 10
I want to begin by saying thanks to the forum here and all those that post their experiences.

This thanksgiving (we did it on Sunday) we decided to try a smoked turkey on the BGE but SWMBO didn't want to risk it all and end up with dry and uneatable, so we made two turkeys.  One her way and one on the BGE.  

Turkey was a 16lb fresh turkey from the butcher that I dry brined for 24 hrs with the following:
  • 4 tbsp Kosher Salt
  • 1 tbsp Rosemary
  • 1 tbsp Thyme
  • 1 tbsp Black Pepper 
  • 1 tbsp All Spice
I put all the spices in a grinder and pulsed until it was still coarse but well mixed.

This is the turkey after the 24hrs in the fridge (uncovered)


I let it rest for 30 minutes with a bag of ice on the breast (Mad Max's method), smeared it with butter and put it on the LBGE at 325F (I use BGE lump and I didn't put any smoke wood because I wanted it as neutral as possible).  The drip pan was filled with 1/2 lb butter, 1/2 bottle wine and about 1/2 gallon of water.



At this point I had to put my faith in the BGE because it was time to go to church for the little one dedication (son is 2 and my daughter is 3 weeks old).  When we returned roughly 3 hrs later this is where we were at:



At that point, the turkey was almost done but meal time was 1.5 hrs away.  I turned down the temp and began basting the turkey every 20 minutes with the liquid in the drip pan.  Pulled the turkey off 1 hr later looking like this:



Let it rest for 20 minutes and began carving:



When my wife tried it, she could not believe how good it was and how juicy the it had remained.  This will not be the last turkey on the BGE!

Again thanks to all for your tips and tricks and I hope this helps someone out there looking to try it out.
Kirkland (Montreal), Quebec, Canada

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