Max's recipe........Comments/Questions..........

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Over time we all read and try various recipes that either turn out poorly, turn out just okay or turn out far beyond expectations. I must say that Max's recipe turned out extradinary!!!! I followed the recipe to the "T" except for brining which I did do. Below are some comments: [p]1. I had a guru probe in the breast and a Maverick probe in the thigh. Within a couple of minutes of each other at around 5:30 they hit their target temps of 160 and 180. The ice bag worked perfectly!! Couldn't have had a more moist turkey.[p]2. The fresh herbs and 1/2 bottle of wine gave the bird a great taste. The two sticks of butter didn't hurt either[p]3. I let the BGE burn for about 45 minutes prior to putting the bird on, and sure enough there was only a hint of smokey flavor. Perfect again.[p]4. The gravy was the "piece de resistance"!!! With all the "crud" and the great, great wine flavor I think if the turkey failed we all would have just soaked up the gravy all night with bread. By far the best, most flavorful gravy I've ever made!!![p]Two questions:
First, for those that know brining, do most of you put the bird in the freezer for a while (1/2 hr or so) to get it down in the 30's? I took the bird out of the frig and into a bucket of ice water yet it took quite a while before it cooled below 40 degrees. [p]Second, for Max, I and one or two other people had their bird get close to target internal temps hrs before it was planned. I had a 16# turkey, at 20 minutes/lb I anticpated taking it off in about 5 hrs. After 2 1/2 hrs it was 25 degrees from target. I lowered the BGE temp all the way down to 225 for about 1 1/2 hrs. Then spiked it back up 45 minutes prior to eating. It worked but why do you think this happened? Just curious so I don't do the same next yr[p]Thanks so much Max as your recipe was the hit of the night!!! Along with my mother-in-law's pumpkin and apple pies it was one of the best culinary Thanksgivings we've ever had![p]Howard

mad max beyond eggdome

Howard,
glad everything turned out so well for you. ...[p]as far as the temp thing goes. ..i'm not sure what the answer is. .. maybe yours was a little higher up in the dome than mine, or your dome temp guage isn't calibrated exactly.... who knows. ...i know my temps in the egg got up a little higher than normal yesterday (closer to 350 than 325), and as a result, my turkey was done about an hour and half earlier than i planned. .. .as long as you keep them foiled, they stay nice and moist for hours, so no big deal. .. .who knows. . .most years, mine take a little longer than planned. . ..only advice i have is prepare for the long cook, and if done early, don't panic, pull it when its done, and you'l be fine. . . .

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Howard,[p]I followed that recipe for the first time this year. Great result!! My crowd lauded my BGE cookery more than ever and I had to agree with them: it was truly the best Turkey I've ever eaten.[p]- Yes, the 45 min preheat does wonders for reducing the smoke. My anti-smoke on Turkey wife was very pleased.[p]- Best gravy method yet. We chose not to chop up the giblets into the gravy, but did add them to the all-day stock pot.[p]- For some reason, I had a heck of a time with my temp. I allowed it to get a bit aggresive at first and had trouble keeping it down durning the pre-heat. Then when I put the bird in, the temp dove to 275 and wouldn't come up. Thought it must have been that the turkey itself was too close to the thermometer in the dome, because I looked down at my lump and it was fully ablaze!! Got my drippings a bit charred over that one, but the dark brown gravy that it produced was fantastic.[p]- I did Brine. Got that brining bag from the local store and filled it with a typical brine of sugar and salt water and chucked it in the refrige for about 15 hours. Didn't worry about the temp, is there a theory about that? The Brine worked great, however.[p]- Next year, I'll be prepared for the insta thickening of the rue when you add the wine and will think seriously about a different pan that I can get higher up into the dome.[p]Great recipe...Thanks!!!

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Here's the photo[p]