Best Thanksgiving Turkey recipe

coooltroy

Am being tasked with my first whole turkey for thanksgiving.  Leaning toward Adam Perry Lang recipe, but need help as I can't find any video.  Aslo doing a SRF whole Kurubota ham.

nolaegghead

Best tip you can get, in my opinion, is to cook it until it's done using the breast temperature with an instant read thermometer.  Overcooking by using the pop-up thermometers or time/temp formula is very common.  It's still edible, but not as good as it could be.

HendersonTRKing

Consensus seems to be Mad Max (it's here somewhere and on Naked Whiz). 

That said, I'm a fan of wet brine. 

My question (ala Trading Places) is: Can't we have both?

Meaning, is it ok to wet brine and then follow the Mad Max protocol?  

Don't mean to hijack the thread -- just looking for answers. Although my plan is to wet brine and Mad Max and hope for the best. 

Jupiter Jim

nolaegghead said:

Best tip you can get, in my opinion, is to cook it until it's done using the breast temperature with an instant read thermometer.  Overcooking by using the pop-up thermometers or time/temp formula is very common.  It's still edible, but not as good as it could be.

Totally agree simple salt & pepper and don't over cook it and it will be awesome.

Jupiter Jim

I did the Mad Max one time and my family just did not care for the herbs so we just use simple salt and pepper. I do have to say that in the past 9 years I have read 100s of post where people raved about Max's recipe so if you haven't tried it you need to for sure.

SRFShane

coooltroy said:

Aslo doing a SRF whole Kurubota ham.

I'm no help with the turkey, but here's some guidance on carving up that whole bone-in ham:  

https://player.vimeo.com/video/145577187

Thatgrimguy

Man, I love seeing you around forums @srfshane  You are a great representation of a great brand!

annjamaican

I did my first turkey on the egg a few days ago. It turned out very delicious and it cooked much faster than I anticipated so keeping it warm was an issue for me. I brined in salt, herbes de Provence and water for 24 hours. Didn't rinse the brine off just pat dry with towels, picking away any clumps of herbs. Next I rubbed the turkey all over with a small amount of herbs, salt and ghee(you can use butter, duck fat, any fat); rubbed this under the skin of the breast as well. Did not stuff with anything, not even fruit or aromatics.



Iplaced in an onion-lined roasting pan and added chicken stock, some Sauvignon blanc and halved pears, last year I used apples but I think the pears were better or it could have been the BGE effect. Kept in in the egg, with plate setter, at around 325°F, and apple chips dispersed throughout the coals. I basted with the pan liquid every 30 minutes after the first hour. It turned out really well except the 14-lb bird got to 165 in only 3.5 hours. In the future, I would use the rack to offset it from the pan liquid for a more even browning. 

SRFShane

Thatgrimguy said:

Man, I love seeing you around forums @srfshane  You are a great representation of a great brand!

Thanks!  

byrne092

@annjamaican that looks really good! Do the pears add flavor to the turkey? What did you do with them after the turkey was done?

annjamaican

byrne092 said:

@annjamaican that looks really good! Do the pears add flavor to the turkey? What did you do with them after the turkey was done?

They did give it a delicate sweetness. I peeled then pureed them with the drippings and added cornstarch for gravy.

coooltroy

@SRFShane thanks for the carving tip!  Very much appreciated.  Have a happy Thanksgiving.

rclaz

did you have the plate setter legs up or down? Bird looks great - i bet it tasted excellent.

rclaz

i meant to send this to annjamaican - my mistake

coooltroy

@annjamaican that looks very good!

annjamaican

rclaz said:

did you have the plate setter legs up or down? Bird looks great - i bet it tasted excellent.

I have the legs up. I've never used it with the legs down, I will have to research the difference in either way c