Smoked Turkey

Buck

I am a new owner of the Large BGE and I am smoking a medium turkey for Easter, and was loking for good adivice for a first time turkey. I plan on using a Spanek roaster with drip pan, and a Temp guage, what else to perfectly sucessful?

Wise One

Buck, you have the basics. I like to coat the outside with a little olive oil with some herbs mainly to give it a nice golden brown color. You can make it even more flavorful by brining but it sounds like you are ready to put it on the grill so save that for next time. The final suggestion is to use a little bit of pecan wood for smoking. It provides a very nice touch without being overwhelming. [p]Also, use a meat thermometer to check the breast temp before declaring it done. You should be reading from 170-180 in the breast, 180 in the thigh. You will be surprised at how juicy the turkey will be so don't use lack of juice as the measure of doneness. If you wait that long you will have overcooked it.[p]Now, we just need our resident Turkey Expert (both fried and grilled) Mr. Puj to chime in. He knows all the details that I might have missed.

PG

Buck,I agree with Wise One....I have a 4# turkey breast in my large right now, indirect with a drip pan with cranberry juice and a chunk of apple wood chugging along at 325* looking for about 180* internal.All this for lunch samiches for the week.....Page

Puj

Buck,[p]Smoke the turkey at a dome temp of 350°F. Under the assumption that your turkey is in the 12 to 16 pound range and that it is not stuffed, use 15 minutes per pound as the rule of thumb.[p]I will differ with Brother Bill in that I pull the bird out of the Egg when the breast temp reaches 160°F. I let the turkey rest 20 minutes before carving.[p]Our government's guideline is 180°F in the breast ... 170°F to 180°F in the breast is too done for my taste, but will still render a very good turkey.[p]Happy eats!
Puj

WooDoggies

Puj,
When pulling the bird off with the breast at 160 what steps do you take to ensure the thigh is done as well?
I have been lucky enough to never have the thigh underdone when cooking on the egg but I have heard others having this problem. Any thoughts?
WD

Puj

WooDoggies,[p]I focus on the breast temp and don't think much about the thigh. Just to be clear, I don't take a temp reading of the thigh. The thigh temp is "what it is" whenever I pull the bird from the Egg based on the breast temp of 160°F.[p]Puj

Unknown

WooDoggies,[p]I often wonder if my Egg has magical powers...Whenever I cook a Turkey or Chicken (300 degrees on a roasting stand or beer can) the breast meat is done at 160-165 degrees AND the Thigh meat is done at 180 degrees. At the same time! I don't know how it's done, but it is. I get fully cooked (180) dark meat and still moist and tender (160-165) white meat. The problem with oven baked turkeys and chickens is that you must wait until the dark mneat is done at 180 which kills the breast meat...That's why you often have dry breast meat in a turkey. Not with the Egg!

WooDoggies

Headhunter,[p]I've had similar results. The last turkey I cooked on the egg was with a vrack and drip pan. The thigh finished 10-15 degrees higher than the breast.
I don't get the differential but I'm not complaining either.:~)
And as some have mentioned here recently, if you brine the bird you can virtually eliminate a dry breast.
Happy cookin'[p]WD

Unknown

WooDoggies,[p]I was reading in the Dean & Delucca Cookbook about the white vs. dark meat phenomena...They way that the whole reason that white meat gets dry is that it isn't done at 180, like the dark meat, but at 160-165...They suggest taking the bird out of th oven qat 160-165, removing the breast and then to finich cooking the dark meat to 180ish. In the egg, it doesn't seem to matter. Others here say to cook the bird until the white meat's at 180 as well. I don't know if the properties of the egg keep it from getting dry or not...I've cooked beef tenderloin to 160 degrees...it should have been dogfood by then, but it turned out perfect...just med/rare