1st Mad Max Turkey - Mixed Results (PIC HEAVY)

Howdy,

yes, I'm late to the "post your turkey pics" conversations, but FWIW, we didn't even celebrate our Thanksgiving until Saturday, due to schedule conflicts.

At any rate, attached are the pictures. I tried a modified version of Mad Max's method - I modified it by injecting the turkey with a Cajun marinade (didn't taste as good as we'd thought - won't be using that again).



Also, being lazy, I decided to whip up the butter with the spices pictured in the Kitchen-Aid mixer.




That worked out quite nicely, and made a nice, even mixture with the spices and a nice, whipped texture for the butter.





Also, due to other "conflicts" - I took the ice pack off the breast but then didn't get around to putting it onto the Egg until about 2 hours after - so the turkey had been sitting on the counter for about 2 hrs at room temp w/out the ice pack.

I think this led to my first mistake - the breast temp kept reading about 10-15 degrees above the thigh temp. Thus, when my thighs got to 180, the breast was at 195, so that when I finally pulled the turkey, the breast was overcooked. :ohmy:



My next mistake was in NOT putting in enough lump - after about 2 hrs, I couldn't get the Egg to go above 300. I tried stirring the coals, using my own homemade wiggle rod, etc... but nothing helped.

I had put it off as long as I could, but I had to pull the turkey out & add more lump.

This resulted in my next mistake - apparently the plate setter gets quite hot while in the Egg at 300 for 2 hours!!! So hot, in fact, that even using the "as seen on TV" "Ove-glove" didn't help, and I ended up dropping the plate setter. It only cracked on the corner, so it was still (somewhat) usable, but it still cracked, nonetheless.

Another mistake I made was in the mashed potatoes. I tried the "twice-baked" style, making them once the traditional way, then reheating them 24 hrs later on a cedar plank in the Egg.

As can be seen in the pic, they didn't quite turn out like the pics of other people's attempts I've seen - mine didn't have the nice crust on the outside - they just melted & gooped over the sides of the plank. I think this was because I put way too much cheese in the taters (GF said she likes a lot of cheese, so I happily obliged). :silly:



The highlight, however, was the gravy - I followed Mad Max's instructions for the gravy, except I didn't chop up the "spare part" meats (the neck & the entrails). But I did use them for making the stock. I modified that as well - rather than put that stuff in a pot on the stove, I put all that stuff in a slow cooker (crock-pot) & let it do it's thing. It seemed to work out nicely.

I also didn't scrape out very much of the "black crud" from the drip pan, as it was pretty well caked on there, but the little bit I did get, along w/ the juices from the turkey, as well as the stock, seemed to provide a very good, flavorful gravy. :woohoo:



So, lessons learned would be:

1.) Ensure you have PLENTY of lump to last the whole cook
2.) NEVER try to pick up a scorching plate setter!!!
3.) KEEP the ice pack on the breast, and if you think you're gonna put the turkey in at a certain time but do not, then put the ice pack back ON until you're ready!!
4.) Don't use so much cheese for the mashed taters (and, quite possibly - let them cook longer on the Egg to develop that light crust).

If any of you gurus can provide any more insight as to what happened, please let me know. FWIW, everything was still edible & good, it just wasn't "magical" like I was expecting...



thanks, (and a SPECIAL thanks to Mad Max)!!!!
Rob