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Turkey Not So Good

charlieBGE
charlieBGE Posts: 17
in EggHead Forum
Help me out guys. We went to my brothers for Thanksgiving dinner. The family is coming to our house for Christmas. So I thought I'd practice doing a turkey so I'd be ready for Christmas. I cooked an 8 lb breast. It was very tough. Not tender at all. I think I overlooked it. Just wanted some advice from the pros. 
1. 8 lb breast. 
2. It was frozen when I put it on the egg. 
3. Indirect 350 DigiQ. 3.5 hours. 
4. No brine. 
5. Salt & pepper only. 
6. When it hit 165 on the remote I checked it with the thermo pen. I probed several different spots. Some places were 170-180. Some spots were 157. 
7. The remote probe was in the thickest part of the breast. 
8. I think the different temperature reading caused me to overlook. 

Thanks for the help. Christmas is coming soon. 
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Comments

  • Dyal_SC
    Dyal_SC Posts: 6,536
    Gotta thaw it out first for even cooking.  
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  • jhl192
    jhl192 Posts: 1,006
    I think you have answered your own questions.  Thaw first,  pull at 155 and let rest for 1/2 hour.  It will reach 160.  You may want to rotate a few times so it cooks more evenly.  Hottest part of the grill is in the back.  Also may want to cook 275-300 for longer time and brine for extra moisture.  Next time will be awesome! 
    XL BGE; Medium BGE; L BGE 
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  • Thatgrimguy
    Thatgrimguy Posts: 4,738
    edited November 2015
    I would pull it in the high 140s and let it rest. You don't need it to get 165 or even 160, Turkey held over 150 for 3.8 or more minutes is every bit as food safe as turkey that hits 165 for .2 seconds.

    So start checking when your internal probe says 140, when the lowewst temp you can find is  147+ then pull the bird tent some aluminum foil over it and let it rest for a half hour. You are golden and your bird will be much more juicy.



    and frozen birds don't cook very evenly. If you have to use frozen cook very low and slow and expect the skin to be rubbery crap. Like 225.
    XL, Small, Mini & Mini Max Green Egg, Shirley Fab Trailer, 6 gal and 2.5 gal Cajun Fryers, BlueStar 60" Range, 48" Lonestar Grillz Santa Maria, Alto Shaam 1200s, Gozney Dome, Gateway 55g Drum
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  • Mickey
    Mickey Posts: 19,768
    3.5 hours for a breast should be a clue. You had to read this forum and notice most whole cooks were under 2.5 hours. My longest turkey cook is about 100 mins. 
    IMO get rid of all the wires and invest in 

    THERMAPEN



    Salado TX & 30A  FL: Egg Family: 3 Large and a very well used Mini, added a Mini Max when they came out (I'm good for now). Just given a Mini to add to the herd. 

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  • SmokingPiney
    SmokingPiney Posts: 2,319

    You should have thawed the breast.

    Living the good life smoking and joking
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  • gearslut
    gearslut Posts: 7
    +1 thaw.....
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  • ColAngus
    ColAngus Posts: 123
    I cooked a turkey on my egg last year and was extremely underwhelmed... so much that we bagged the traditional turkey yesterday and my cajun wife cooked an awesome gumbo.

    We had 15 people who never had gumbo before and they loved it.
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  • theyolksonyou
    theyolksonyou Posts: 18,459
    ColAngus said:
    I cooked a turkey on my egg last year and was extremely underwhelmed... so much that we bagged the traditional turkey yesterday and my cajun wife cooked an awesome gumbo.

    We had 15 people who never had gumbo before and they loved it.
    I could get behind some thanksgiving gumbo. 
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