Turkey breast: where to stick the temp probe

TRex

Reading about the "15 minutes per pound" rule on turkeys, I'm starting to wonder why my 6 lb turkey breast took 3 hours at a dome temp of 325 F to reach 161 F internal in the breast. After 1 hr of cooking indirect, breast down, at 325 F dome, I flipped the turkey over and inserted the temp probe in the breast just to the side of the center bone, in a mirror image position to the turkey popper, and about 2.5" deep. There I read 81 F (I started with a refrigerated bird ~ 40 F). However, moving the probe out just 3/4 of an inch from the center bone, I read a temp of 122 F. Woah, big difference. I stuck the probe back where I was reading 81 F, figuring that I want the coldest/deepest part of the breast to reach 161 F, and it cooked for 2 more hrs before getting there. (My probe and batteries are brand new and I just calibrated the unit, so I don't think it's an instrumentation problem.) Is this the appropriate method/location to measure internal temp in a turkey breast, or is there a better place (and depth) to insert the temp probe?

The Naked Whiz

TRex,
Hey, bang a gong, dude... The two 5-6 pound breasts that I did a couple of weeks ago at 325-330 degrees also took close to 3 hours. Dunno....[p]TNW

Nature Boy

TRex,
My guess is it took so long because your cooking level was less than 325. How close was it to the drip pan? Liquid in the pan? Was your bird fully thawed?[p]I figger the center of the thickest part is the best spot for the probe. I usually feel with my hand and find the thickest spot. You might as well insert it at the beginning.[p]Just a few idears.
Cheers!
Chris

The Naked Whiz

Nature Boy,
I used a plate setter with a drip pan on it. The two breasts were on the grid sitting on top of the plate setter legs. I kept the dome temp at 325-330 the whole time. [p]By the way, my little experiment using Tsunami Spin was a failure. (Read on....) I did one breast with Montreal Steak Seasoning and one with the T.S. I brined both breasts and cooked them as above. I then put them in the fridge overnight, and then a cooler filled with ice the next day for transportation to the event. At 7 pm, I sliced both of them up, put them out on the table, got my food, ate my food, and then went back to the table to see which breast was eaten first. Dang, if they weren't BOTH completely gone before I could check. So, I don't know if the MSS breast was consumed 30 milleseconds before or after the TS breast. Sorry......[p]TNW

Nature Boy

The Naked Whiz,
LOL. At least they ate both, so you know it couln'ta been too bad! Preciate the report.[p]Even with the setup you describe, the cooking level can vary. Of course that is what makes Qin interesting. Every fire is different. Each cook has a different airflow. And the longer we Q, and the more we cook, the more adjustments we make so we can all get our own little ways of timing the cook. More reason to Q. Eh?[p]Beers....Chris

TRex

Nature Boy,[p]I cooked a fresh bird (was never frozen) straight out of the fridge in a v-rack sitting directly in a drip pan that contained some cranberry juice. The drip pan rested on four split fire bricks laying on their side (not edge), 2 stacked on 2. Dome temp was 300 - 340 during the entire cook. Heck, who knows. Thanks for the suggestion on probe location.

Nature Boy

TRex,
Yeah, with the bird sitting in the drip pan, you will definitely get an area of air around the chicken that is not as hot as it is up in the dome where the probe is. Especially with liquid in the pan that never gets much above 212. [p]If you have an extra polder probe, you might try measuring the temp a couple inches above your drip pan, and a couple inches from the bird and see what you come up with. You might be suprised, and end up, as an example, adjusting your vents to pump some more heat in so that your cooking level is correct when your dome reads 375. Then you might get closer to the timing you expect.[p]Just babbling here....
Beers!
Chris

TRex

Nature Boy,[p]Good point. I bet that's what was going on. Thanks.