Turkey done - was overcooked/dry

Squirrel

Well, I had a bit of a letdown lastnight. 1st Turkey I've cooked (ever) and it was overcooked. Here's what happened.
Followed MadMax rec. for preparation.
2:30 Put the turkey on.
-3:45 Heat got up to 400and had a little trouble getting it down, was shooting for for 325F (basically for the first hour of cooking)
4:00 Began basting...Appeared to be moving along fine.
4:30 More baste...considering tent
5:00 More baste
5:30 More baste, tented and thermometer insert (141F)
This is where I got off track, I think...
*
As soon as I put the tent on, I noticed the dome temp reading went up to 400F (+75F previous to opening the BGE for bast)
6:00 More baste (notice leg bones getting longer) 146F
6:30 More baste (discuss w/ buddy possibility being behind schedule) ~155F
6:45 More baste, moved therm. to different location. Reading shot to 176F.
7:10 Pulled bird. 182F in second loation of therm.[p]Two things I'm thinking here.
One, the tent changed the "dome temp" readings by +75F
I must have shoved the therm. clean thru the bird and into and onion or something.[p]Will have to try again![p]just blogging,

Unknown

Squirrel,[p]I'm no pro, but, I would say the first problem was the basting, requiring you to open the lid several times, letting out the moisture. When I do a turkey, I don't open the lid until its done. Others may have more input on this, but that's my two cents.

mad max beyond eggdome

Squirrel,
how big was your bird?. . definitely being in a 400 degree egg will make it cook faster. . .as far as temps rising 75 degrees, maybe the thermometer was touching the foil..thats all i can think for that one. .. [p]and as far as your internal temps go, yep, could have touching an onion, or a bone, or you had poked it through to the air pocket between thigh and backbone or something. .. . .[p]was the dark meat overcooked as well?. . ..how was the flavor?. ..[p]remember .. . "if it was all great, it would all be average". . . ;-)

Sundown

Squirrel,[p]Never needed to baste a turkey that was cooked in the Egg. And never had a dry turkey.

Fidel

Squirrel,[p]How wide open was your bottom vent? For 325 I usually only have mine about 1/2" or so. Also, try to catch temps on the way up to target. Bringing them down is always a challenge.[p]Since your temp shot up when you tented, maybe the foil was touching your dome thermo or channeling heat to it, giving a falsely high read. Also - calibrate your thermo with the boiling water trick. Often. I do mine about once a month and the dome thermo almost always needs a tweak.[p]Also, learning advice - I always, and I mean always, take temps in 2-3 locations to make sure I am getting a good accurate read. Take the time and money to invest in a good instant read thermometer like the thermapen. You will never regret that purchase.

mad max beyond eggdome

SDMark,
i baste every 20 minutes all day long... any evaporation lost to opening the dome is more than made up for with all the liquid i have in the pan (from two sticks of butter, half bottle of wine, and juices from two apples a lemon and the bird itself), so i really don't think basting is an issue with losing moisture.. .

mad max beyond eggdome

Squirrel,
one other thing, never worry too much if a turkey is done too early (or earlier than expected). ..mine is usually done anywhere from 1 - 2 hours prior to when i plan to serve it (gives me plenty of time to make the gravy, finish mashed potatoes, get the dinner rolls heated up, etc). ..i just set it on a platter and foil it up good. .. stays warm and plenty moist. .. .

Unknown

mad max beyond eggdome,[p]As I said, I'm not pro. Just speaking from my own experience. Listen to Max, he knows what he's doing.

mad max beyond eggdome

SDMark,
no problem. ..didn't mean to sound contrary either.. . i just really don't think that was his basic problem. .. i think the problem was the egg was hotter than planned, and that contributed to a quicker cook.. .. i'm still interested to hear how big is bird was.. . .[p]beers :-)[p]

thirdeye

mad max beyond eggdome,[p]I baste almost everything.... So from one old baster to another, I'm going to give you a call the next time I start getting beat-up after mentioning basting, moping or spraying. I might need someone to cover my back. Heheee. [p]~thirdeye~

Unknown

guys, in the middle of a 9 lb bird now..cooking at 300 over indirect stone and laying on grid...is the bird supposed to get pretty crispy on the skin this early in the game (after an hour). have a drip pan and brined overnight....

stike

Squirrel,
believe it or not, basting actually contributes to drying out turkey... especially in an electric oven. [p]the egg is a different animal than a regular electric oven, though. it's hard to dry out a turkey in the egg. you really simply can only dry out a BGE turkey by way overcooking it.[p]to baste or not is debatable, but your basting likely didn't have anything to do with your dry turkey. just need to check temps more often, mo' better.[p]egged turkeys take about 15 minutes a pound. you didn't say how big yours was, but unless it was 20 pounds, that nearly-five hour cook was probably just too long, too high

mad max beyond eggdome

thirdeye,
i'm there for you buddy. .. .

mad max beyond eggdome

rusty,
you haven't been reading my tips!! ..had a whole discussion about tenting and turning yesterday.. .. simply drape a piece of aluminum foil over the bird. .. .when its near to being done, remove the foil and let it brown up to the color you want. .. .

Unknown

mad max beyond eggdome,
Just checking back on this post.
The bird was 11#.
I really am thinking the temp being to high was a large issue. Also, thx for the math on cook time. 15"/#. [p]That was my test bird. Going to try again for Thursday.[p]Thanks to everyone for the input and inspiration![p]