Turkey Help/First cook

Unknown · December 2005

Santa arrived yesterday w/my LBGE and Christmas dinner will be my first cook....
I'm using the turkey recipie out of the book...but am a little confused after reading several posts...I have the vertical stand, gonna rub turkey down w/butter and add spices, put on stand, put stand in pan <to catch drippings> and go for it. I do have a plate setter, should I put that in there, then my grate then my pan/w.turkey? I only have mesquete wood chips, is that gonna work? how long should I wet/soak the chips b/f putting them in there? The better this meal is the less likely hubby is to gripe---Thanks so much!

SSN686 · December 2005

Morning Arlene:[p]Welcome to the neighborhood! Be prepared for a change in your life. [p]As for how to prepare the turkey, check out the link below to Mad Max's FAMOUS prep directions. For it to the letter for the best turkey and gravy you have ever had.[p]Keep coming back with your questions.[p]Have a GREAT day!
Jay
[ul][li]Turkey link[/ul]

Unknown · December 2005

SSN686,
Thanks..but I want to do it the "book" way first...and thats where I'm confused at...anybody done a turkey the book way???

stike · December 2005

Arlene,[p]i hate to say this, but there's not one person on this forum who advocates using the book.....[p]seriously.[p]but let's simplify. just remember the BGE is an oven (at least, as far as your turkey is concerned).[p]you would cook it basically the SAME way as in your oven.[p]325-350, for 15 minutes a pound (most directions say 20/pound, but we all have been finding it to be more like 15).[p]open the lid, take out the grate... put in the lump.
grate goes back on. light the fire in the middle, maybe 2 spots. use the manual for lighting. it ought to be the first thing you burn in the BGE....[p]put the grate back on, then pizza stone on top giving you a platform. this will bring it to temp slowly.[p]shut the lid, open the bottom vent all the way, keep the daisy off. let the flue/draft get going, maybe 5 minutes, 10. the set the bottom vent halfway closed. put the daisy-wheel vent on, slide it shut, and spin the daisy holes full open. [p]give it a few minutes to close in on a temp. make any changes to the vents by about 25%. 25% more closed, or more open. see what that does to the temp.. [p]give it a half hour. don't try to dial the temp like your thermostat. think of it as a gas pedal. open it up if you need to raise temps a bit, but not all the way. 325/359 is pretty easy to get and a good first time cook temp.[p]when stable, add chips (right before cthe bird).turkey takes smoke well, so don't go too nuts with the chips. no need to soak. they can't burn any faster than the fire will allow them.[p]mix them in somewhat uniformly on top, down in a bit too. maybe two handfuls. [p]make sure you have a thermometer probe in the bird (breast).[p]if you don't, don't panic. hopefully you have at least a stick and read thermometer, maybe one that can be left in.[p]open it, and put the bird in. if you have a roasting pan with an elevated rack that can go in it, that goes first, on the stone. though an extra wire cookie rack between the two helps keep drippings from burning (if there's direct contact with the pan bottom/stone), but you can add wine, water, etc. to the pan if need be.[p]no stuffing in the bird, for a few reasons. gets too smokey often, slows the cook, risk of sam and ella coming to visit. test closing the lid. make sure the dome themometer isn't hitting the bird.[p]shut the lid, look at the temp.
you just added 12-15 pounds of relatively cold mass, the dome temp goes down from that and from opening the lid. so what do you do?
nothing.[p]the temp will land right back where it was (unless you bumped the daisy while opening the lid). make sure the vents are set as previously. maybe 10 minutes, it'll be bavk to 325..[p]now. have a glass of wine. or seven.
check the temps.[p]hardest part for a newbie is not opening the lid. scratch that itch if you need by looking thru the daisy.[p]if you get nervous, finding 375 and not 350, dial back by 25% as i mentioned. don't try to choke the thing quick to drop right to your desired temp. it'll cause problems. likewise, don't try to go up 10 degrees by opening the vents wide, then shutting them to stop the climb when you hit the target.[p]seriously, if you can practice the first hour fiddling with temps, then after that, you are essentially doing the same thing as cooking the thing in your oven.[p]read max's directions. they ARE a recipe, but behind it is a solid how-to-cook-a-turkey method.[p]if you still think max is a loon, (we all do, frankly), then at LEAST do the ice bag trick. i mix in a little salt, because it draws more heat from the breast. [p]oh, the bird's own directions say 20 minutes a pound, probably. bunko. assume 15, so that you don't go out and find it at 200 in the breast... start checking meat temps at 12 minutes a pound, plan on 15, allow for 20.[p]this took so long to type, you are probably already eating the bird.[p]

stike · December 2005

sorry, believe it or not i forgot some stuff
hahaha[p]i'm assuming you will trust your meat thermometer to tell you when it is done, not the popper thingy (which is a fusible link, set to 'pop' at 180 or so in the breast). you want 160, 165 maybe in the breast. 180 ish in the thigh. the ice bag is what helps guaranteee the difference. [p]anyway.
cutting the bird.
your first reaction from the breast will be that it is undercooked. wht? because it will be soaking wet with juice, and you have probably never seen that before. it IS done, it's just not dry like often is the case. credit the ceramic lid...[p]second reaction, from the mother-in-law, usually, is that the pink tinge to the meat means it's also not cooked.[p]WRONG. that's the smoke. your BBQ pork is pink too. if they don't believe you, ask them how on earth the inside of the meat could be white, and cooked, and the outside would still be underdone? do not trifle with fools....[p]if they are still disappointed that you did not turn out a bird like old aunt bea, who successfully overcooked the christmas bird for 40 years, then jam their two slices in the microwave, on high, for ten to twelve minutes.

egret · December 2005

stike,
Now, that is way funny!!!!! ROTFLMAO.........

Unknown · December 2005

stike,
lol about the book....so here are my questions <and thanks a bunch BTW>[p]Light, but grate back on then pizza stone..don't have one <pizza stone that is> I do have a platesetter can I use that, legs up or down?
when adding chips..I do do that from the top right--so that means moving the stone and grate, adding 2 handfulls of chips then putting that crap back in correct?
Now I'm a very visual person....so there is the grate, on that a stone of some sort <pizza or PS> and the turkey, on the vert. roaster sitting in a pan of some sort as well...rubbed w/butter and seasonings...cook that bugger till it's done..12-20 mins per pound...

stike · December 2005

Arlene,
that's it.[p]it's not a big deal to yank the platestter out, and grate, to add the chips. [p]i often just slide them to the side and drop them in thru the grate.

eggor · December 2005

Arlene,[p]Take stikes advice and give max's recipe a once over. good tips from both. remember to ice the breast meat or warm the dark meat with warm water 1/4 full in the sink. Dark meat in the water and maybe ice on top. thats what i've did last time and it worked great. [p]I wouldn't use mesquite, actually that was the first bag of wood chunks that, used twice and gave to a neighbor. I think he threw them away. Don't use any chips or chunks unless you know that you will like the flavor. There will be plenty of turkeys in the future to play with the chips. But PLEASE, don't use Mesquite, it may ruin the bird.[p]Scott[p]and have a Merry Chistmas

eggor · December 2005

and one thing I forgot, stike didn't say how much lump and if you are reading that book instead of using it for firestarter, well your gonna have problems. If you burn that fire for an hour playing with the temp control and get a clean burn going. You will need to put in a lot of lump. I think the book said something about just above the holes in the firebox. Add about six more inches to that. [p]It takes a lot of lump to maintain a 350 degree cook for 4+ hours.[p]HTH[p]Scott

Unknown · December 2005

stike,[p]Thanks for details....I'm doing my first bird tomorrow and this really helped. I did a couple of test chickens the other night and was wondering how to get the breast and thighs to be done at the same time...I would have never thought of the ice bag trick. Thanks for the time you spent typing. It didn't go to waste.

Turkey Help/First cook

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