Turkey a bit disappointing

tmEGGer

My turkey came out a little dry, but with good flavor. Please let me know if you see any red flags for dryness.[p]23 pounder, Bell & Evans, no solution added.
Brined with original Alton Brown brine for 24 hrs in fridge.
Rinsed, dried and loosely wrapped in plastic wrap for 12 hrs.
Put bag of ice on breast while in fridge for 25 minutes.
Stabilized Lg BGE at 350, added 1 pecan chunk.
1 hr after lighting egg, put bird on.
Setup was bottom to top: legs up platesetter, flat roast rack as spacer, roasting pan, v-rack, bird.
Had some trouble maintaining temp (very windy):
about 400 for 2 hrs, 325 for 2 hrs, 375-400 for 2.5 hrs.
Finish temps were 159 breast, 190 thigh.
20 min rest under HD foil before carve.[p]Maybe temp was too high? Maybe I should not have "rested" between brine and cook?[p]Thanks,
NutmEGGer

The Naked Whiz

NutmEGGer,
The only thing I think I would question would be using the 400 degree temps. The delay between brine and cook should not have been a problem.[p]TNW

mad max beyond eggdome

NutmEGGer,
did you butter it?. .. did you baste it regularaly?. ..my bird got treated to two sticks of butter, a half a bottle of wine, couple of apples, a lemon and an onion. . ..all that, plus the juices of the bird, made for a very moist turkey. . .. i also agree with the whiz, i don't think a couple of hours at 400 did it any good. .. just my thoughts. .

tmEGGer

mad max beyond eggdome,
I rubbed the bird with olive oil and put nothing in the cavity. Sounds like I need to keep the heat down.
Thanks.

mad max beyond eggdome

NutmEGGer,
i agree. . .regardless of anything else, i think that was probably the key. . .

tmEGGer

The Naked Whiz,
Thanks for the response. There are many opportunities to experiment between now and Nov 2005.[p]NutmEGGer

CampCook

NutmEGGer,
May I suggest you invest in the BBQ Guru. I have used this thing on a large BGE and a small. Enviroments include desert heat and howling gales off lake Huron.. It always behaves unless I do something really stupid.. There are two investments in my life I am rally proud of....Guess what they are.....

Unknown

NutmEGGer,
If your thigh temperature was 190, I will bet your breast temp was over 159, probably an inaccurate temp. Once the turkey meat passess 160 (the minimum safe temp), you are only drying out the bird. At 190, you are way over temp which is probably why it was so dry. The other possibility is that your thigh reading was off (probe too close to or touching a bone) & the high temp you cooked it at could be responsible for the drying out.

Sandlapper

NutmEGGer,[p]I say it was the Bell & Evans bird...[p]I've done hundreds of turkeys on the BGE and never had a disappointing product. FYI...I usually buy the traditional Butterballs or Shady Brook turkeys found year round. However, this year my Mother selected a Bell and Evans Turkey, which is a great product but as well I was a bit surprised by the end product. First off the B&E product has very little fat and a much lesser amount of dark meat. Because of this I paid special attention to the breast of the turkey icing down the night before and rubbing with lemon and olive oil. I also used the indirect cooking method for the first time which again seemed to place cooking attention on the breast. The end-product was beautiful and the breast one of the best I've had. However the by-products....legs, thighs, wings etc were less abundant and flavorful than self basting or fattier birds. NOW..having said all of this do yourself a HUGE favor and throw that entire carcass into a pot of cold water with some chopped celery, carrots, celery and whole peppercorns and simmer for about 3 hours producing some of the best smoked turkey stock you've ever had...