Bird on!

Teefus

We’re having guests this year so we’re doing a bigger bird. We snagged a 22 pound fresh bird at our local organic food store. I brined for 24 hours then let it dry 24 hours to foster some crispy skin. It’s been on the LBGE for three hours and is looking good.

Teefus

Just coming out of the food coma. It was the best bird I’ve ever done. Tender juicy meat, crispy skin, savory smokey flavor. I’m looking forward to leftovers tomorrow. 

Edit: the finish line. 

SGH

It looks mighty fine brother Teeth👍

GoooDawgs

@Teefus great looking bird!  I have a 22 pounder I'm throwing on today, curious if the bird was in the 12-15 minute a pound category or if it was different.  Did you have to ice the breast before putting it on to help them cook slower? 

Teefus

@GoooDawgs. Thanks. It's the best one I've done on the Grille, and I've been doing it for 25+ years. My Weber works great. The Egg works better than great!. 

I pulled the bird from the fridge and let it set a bit prior to stuffing it. My BGE runs hotter to the back (hinge) side so I oriented the breast to the handle side. 15 minutes/pound was what I guessed and it came out that way. I ran at 300* dome temp for 5 hours. I basted it once an hour with melted butter that had been seasoned. The last 45 minutes or so I turned the bird around so the breasts could catch up with the dark meat, which was over 175* at the time. I pulled the bird when I hit 160* in the deepest part of the breast. I tented it with foil and let it rest for 30 minutes prior to carving. The flywheel effect had the breast up over 165* before I carved. Juice just poured out of it. There were scant few dripping in the drip pan.

Observations:

This is about the biggest bird that will fit on a large. Any bigger and I'd need to pull the thermometer as the probe was nearly touching the bird. In fact when I tried to scoot the bird towards the handle a little I found out how close it was (oops).

Brining was extremely effective. It was nothing fancy, just Kosher Salt, Brown Sugar, and some Apple Cider Vinegar. It spent about 24 hours in the brine and another 24 in the fridge drying. The skin was very crispy.

I had trouble getting the Egg much above 300*. I had originally been aiming for 325*. As it turns out, the lower temp was fine as it didn't overcook the meat nearest the skin. The bird wound up a golden brown as opposed to looking like it had a front row seat at Chernobyl. Some folks like a delicate char. Not me.

lousubcap

@Teefus great cook and write-up.  Congrats.
Regarding the dome thermo-remove the clip and then run the thermo thru the clip and then into the dome.  Acts as a spacer and should you hit the thermo it will just move up.  You can also use a wine cork or pretty much anything as the spacer.  FWIW-

StillH2OEgger

Looks great, but I don't think the temperature gauge popped (-:

Teefus

StillH2OEgger said:

Looks great, but I don't think the temperature gauge popped (-:

It didn’t, but I have more faith in my Thermapen Mk4 than a cheap plastic pop up.  In years past the pop up was an indicator the breast was going to be dry. 

GoooDawgs

@Teefus my 22 pounder was excellent tonight as well.    I ran at 325 and it was just a couple minutes over 4 hours.  It went faster than I thought but it came out great.