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turkey sitter didn't work

eggor
eggor Posts: 777
edited November -1 in EggHead Forum
ya maybe i should have done the mad max method, seems like many are happy with their bird, but a have had this turkey sitter sitting around for six months and had to give it a shot. turkey breast got to 160 and the thigh only 145. it was set up indirect with a drip pan, bird was brined for 24 hours. anybody know what i did wrong, or is the nature of the spaneck??[p]Scott

Comments

  • nikkig
    nikkig Posts: 514
    eggor,
    Well...it is kinda hard to know what went wrong without more details. What temp did you cook at and for how long. Also be more specific on your setup. Did you have it on a raised grid with a drip pan below, or on the regular level grid with a drip pan?

  • eggor
    eggor Posts: 777
    nikkig,indirect setup(pizza stone) below the main grid, drip pan on main grid with turkey sitter in drip pan, i added a little water to keep the intial drippings from burning some white grape juice (fresh smashed from the fridge) on a whim along with some apple slices. ran at 340 average dome temp. the brine was jsots "it came from the brine" 2003 eggtoberfest. the breast meat was at 160 in about 3 hrs and after 5 hrs i gave up on the dark ever getting to 180. I did take the breast meat off at 165 and put the dark meat back on less the spaneck for the last two hours and it only peaked at 160. I gave up (ran out of lump) and put it in the crock for soup. this was just a test run this morning, did'nt have any guests, but will at christmas. the flavor was great, meat very juicy, and will repeat the brine. its just that with company i don't want to hack off the breast meat and wait two more hours for the dark meat to get done. if you have any tips I can't be the only one that used a similar setup and ran into this. thanks in advance[p]Scott

  • Pakak
    Pakak Posts: 523
    eggor,[p]I haven't done a turkey yet (truthfully, I'm not a big turkey eater) but it sounds like the classic case for using an icepack on the breast BEFORE the cook. Whattaya think?
  • eggor, only a guess, but it sounds like you maybe lit the charcoal in one location, and since lump burns very slowly and controlled in the Egg, maybe the heat was not diffused. Was most of the heat under the breast.... It does not make sense....I do not see how this can happen.

  • nikkig
    nikkig Posts: 514
    eggor,
    Have you checked the accuracy of your thermometers...both the dome and whatever you were using to measure meat temps? Seems like it should have been done by 5 hours at 340 degrees. [p]~nikki

  • eggor
    eggor Posts: 777
    tn slagamater,
    well i lit the lump in the center after it got boing i stirred it up to redistribute the lit charcoal evenly and let it go for another 40 minutes before putting the bird in. I know that somethings are a learning curve. i just don't know what i did wrong.[p]Scott

  • eggor
    eggor Posts: 777
    nikkig,
    well i verified the the meat temp with three different thermometers, taylor remote, a slowww instant read, and the traditional leave it in the bird. verified the dome temp by sticking the instant read through two halves, to make sure i was in the ballpark. the only thing i can think to do different was that maybe the drip pan was too tall? it was the traditional lay it down in the oven disposable. just don't know.[p]Scott

  • eggor
    eggor Posts: 777
    Pakak,
    well that would have worked to some degree but by the temp differance the breast meat would have to have ice crystals to make up the 30 degree differance.[p]Scott