How many are egging a turkey for the first time?

egghead2004

This is my first T-day with the egg, thus my first egged turkey. The entire family (inlaws included) has enjoyed all of the other egged delights, so I was volunteered to cook the turkey. This really will be only my second turkey I've ever cooked, the first being on the Brinkman 8 years ago.[p]I really do not have a plan yet for my bird, I was wondering what some of you other first timers (OK, and the eggsperts too) are planning.... recipes, 2 brine or not 2 brine, stuffed, etc.

JPF

egghead2004,
This is my first Tday cook on the BGE! I have cooked three practice turkeys so far. I have only cooked 12-15 pounders so far. I brined my second one and it was pretty good. For the big day I am cooking on inverted plate setter with drip pan with apple juice in it. The turkey will have a apple, lemon, orange and some butter inside. I am going to rub butter all over the outside every hour till done. Cooking at 350 till done! Jon

Smoked Signals

egghead2004,
I'm cooking a turkey for the first time in the egg. Wife doesn't want a smoked turkey but wants the oven free'd up for other stuff. I think I'll start the fire early to make sure I have a clean buring fire before Mr. Turkey goes in. [p]I don't know how we're going to make the gravy as the drippings will probably be all crispy if the bird is not sitting in the juices ... my drip pan usually turns into a back char on long cooks. I'm thinking about employing 2 drip pans ... one for early juices and tid bits and the other for the remainder.[p]I think I will be brining my bird ... I nabbed a simple brine from somewhere. I probably should dig it out of the cabinet and make sure I have everything.[p]Good luck.
Doug

mad max beyond eggdome

Smoked Signals,
as long as your turkey roasting pan is set up over some kind of heat deflector, you should have great drippings for gravey. .. last year i rigged a water pan under my grid (i had to make sure to keep adding water during the cook, and roasted the bird in a traditional roasting pan. . . 20 pound bird, almost 7 hours at 325 degrees. . ..the dripping from that bird made for the best gravy ever! . . i will be posting my entire recipe in the next couple of days, but others have tried with great success also. ..basically, the bird is pasted with about 2 sticks of butter mixed with herbs, and i pour half a bottle of white wine all over/in the bird before it goes in the egg. . .between the butter, the wine, and the natural juices (plus i stuff the bird with more herbs, an onion, and two quartered apples, one in the cavity, one just in the bottom of the roasting pan), i get fantastic drippings for the gravy (probably almost a quart of 'crud')

David from RI

egghead2004,[p]
I plan on doing my turkey on the egg. Not on Thanksgiving, since I will be spending that with my Native American Brothers at the Mohegan Sun Casino.
I just read about suspending aluminun foil over the water pan to save the juices , then empty the juices into the water. Sounds good, and I look forward to seeing all the posts before I do mine.
David

Smoked Signals

mad max beyond eggdome,
Oh ... so you do it indirect in a pan rather then on the grid. Hmmmm ... that would work. [p]So the roasting pan is sitting on the platesetter or on the grid?

Jethro

mad max beyond eggdome,[p]Man I just read that description and have to ask:[p]How do I get an invite to your place for the next one of these Turkeys?![p]That really sounds wonderful.[p]Regards,
Jethro

fishlessman

egghead2004,
ive been cooking the smoked turkey buzzard recipe thats in the recipe section for a while and like it. raise the temp to 325-350 for the cook and pull the bird at 162-165 breast temp and wrap in foil and rest. if you make mad max's gravey make sure to use white wine, the red makes for a purple gravey. this year im planning on J Appledogs brine recipe. all that ginger just sounds good.

mad max beyond eggdome

Smoked Signals,
indirect - yes
platesetter - no[p]cause my turkey was so big, when i tried setting the roasting pan on the grid on top of an inverted plate setter, i couldn't get the dome closed. .. [p]what i ended up doing was borrowing a set up from nature boy... .basically, two metal bars bent in a way that they rested on the fire ring, with a pie pan for water, and then the grid set directly on top of it on the fire ring, then the roasting pan on the grid. . .this way, it was low enough in the egg to hold everything. ..also, in my roasting pan, i don't use a v-rack. . .i use a small trivet looking metal piece that the turkey sits on, but its only about 1 inch off the bottom of the pan. . .the pan and trivet thing i have are about 80 years old (had belonged to my wife's aunt). . .[p]i would suggest checking out your set up in advance, so that you will know what fits and what doesn't. .. if you are doing a smaller bird (again, mine was 20 pounds) in a smaller roaster, it may fit on typical grid over plate setter. ...don't wait till next thursday to find out though... .[p]max

Big Jim

egghead2004, First one for me too! I haven't practiced yet, but plan on brining a 14-16 lb organic Turkey. I plan to stuff with apple, an orange and 1 onion. I will cook on a V-rack over inverted plate setter at 350-360 until done. I will use a drip pan with some type of liquid(still waffling between wine and apple juice)in it. I might add a chunk of apple wood for a slight smoke flavor. Jim

mad max beyond eggdome

Jethro,
thanks, but you can do it yourself. .. again, i'll have all the detail posted within the next few days. .. but both nature boy and q-fan, among others, have followed my gravy directions with great results. ..and when all is said and done, and regardless of what else you do. . .the gravy is really the key to a great turkey (in my most humble of opions of course). . .

mad max beyond eggdome

fishlessman,
LOL. .. i guess i take it for granted that people will use white wine. ..probably a poor assumption on my part. . .

fishlessman

mad max beyond eggdome, the red effects the color but i dont think it effected the taste, it is a very rich gravey. it just meant more for me, i drink the stuff on Tday.the looks around the table were priceless, gotta love it

Essex County

egghead2004,
This will be my first turkey, too. I've read the other comments and they all look great. But I was wondering about brining, then spatchcocking over an indirect setup. Has anyone done a spatchcock turkey?[p]Paul

terrafirmay

mad max beyond eggdome,
Do you get crisp skin? If I cook over a liquid, as you suggest, will I have rubbery skin?[p]Thanks.[p]****[p]

mad max beyond eggdome

terrafirmay,
my skin comes out pretty crisp (during a 7 hour roast, i usually have to 'tent' it with aluminum foil for a couple of hours to keep it from getting too crisp). . .however, becuase of all the herbs (mostly rosemarry/sage/oregano) that i put in the butter paste that i smear all over it, the skin isn't all that great for eating. . .i figure its a small price to pay for what's underneith it and for what it adds to the drippings/gravy. . . so unlike a lot of others, and this may be heresy to some, how the skin turns out from a taste/texture standpoint isn't that important to me (i still want it to look good though, and therefore the tenting procedure to get just the right color). ..

mad max beyond eggdome

terrafirmay,
my skin comes out pretty crisp (during a 7 hour roast, i usually have to 'tent' it with aluminum foil for a couple of hours to keep it from getting too crisp). . .however, becuase of all the herbs (mostly rosemarry/sage/oregano) that i put in the butter paste that i smear all over it, the skin isn't all that great for eating. . .i figure its a small price to pay for what's underneith it and for what it adds to the drippings/gravy. . . so unlike a lot of others, and this may be heresy to some, how the skin turns out from a taste/texture standpoint isn't that important to me (i still want it to look good though, and therefore the tenting procedure to get just the right color). ..

QBabe

egghead2004,[p]Not my first turkey, but it'll be the first Thanksgiving that I'm cooking. Here's what I plan to do (be sure to click on the thumbnail pic of the turkey to see it in full form)...[p]Tonia
:~)
[ul][li]My Turkey[/ul]

Unknown

QBabe,
That sure is one good looking bird,I can almost taste it. Thanks for posting the link and may you and yours have a great thanksgiving.[p]Cheers,
Bordello

QBabe

Bordello,[p]Thanks. It sure was fun to cook! Hope you have a nice T-day also.[p]Tonia
:~)

Borders

QBabe, you make me look like the rookie that I am!
Scott

Nature Boy

Smoked Signals,
You make a great point. A turkey with smoke on it can really throw some people off who are used to oven roasted turkeys. If your guests are not accustomed to smoked turkey, then a well established clean burning fire, and no smoking wood, is the way to go. Even then, the turkey will have plenty of flavor from the lump. [p]Happy Tday!
Chris