Turkey cooking

Unknown

I am a new BGE user. I have cooked a 4# chicken and a 12# turkey on a vertical roaster. With both fowl I have experienced a failure to achieve desired end point meat temperatures of 180 degrees while utilizing an oven temperate of 300 degrees. I cooked the chicken for two hours and the digital meat thermometer did not demonstrate any gain for the last 30 minutes. [p]The turkey (14.4#) was cooked for 4 hours and 15 min at which time the meat temperature had advanced only 2 degrees in the final 30 minutes. The red meat was not done. There was some charcoal remaining and the oven temperate was holding at 300 degrees to the end. The thermal meat thermometer (digital) registers 171 degrees. [p] What would you recommend be done to obtain an end meat temperature of 180 degrees in the presence of our external heat gauge of 300 degrees.

Bobby-Q

Cookingwonder,
Check your thermometers. If they are good then cook longer. If you have 300° then the food will get well above 180° given enough time.[p]HTH

badbruce

Cookingwonder,
After a 2 hour cook their should be alot of charcoal left.
Are you using enough? I usually fill mt large egg up with
charcoal to just under the top of the fire ring. Lasts all week, I cook almost every night.
bruce

Unknown

badbruce,
I put my charcoal one inch above the holes in the firebox as per the instructions. There was charcoal left when I was done. I would say 3/4 of the charcoal was used cooking the turkey. I will keep trying. Thanks!

Unknown

Bobby-Q,
Thanks, the thermostats are new and I pretty sure they are accurate. I will just be patient and wait until the temperature is right on. I am perplexed by the color of the meat being red. I felt it was not done.