Turkey Cooking - 5 years running best turkey ever.

[no2gates]

I think we're going to try to brine the turkey this year. We always cook ours in a smoker.

 

[Shorts]

Matefrio, thanks for the video. I'll watch it. I was just prepping in the grill for tomorrow. Just me and husband with a 12lb turkey. We're going to do it on the propane grill, one of those "infrared" where it has the deflection pans under the grill grates and immediately on top of the gas burners.

Any tips? We were going to just put it in the pan like we would in the oven. Is that all wrong? Advice?

We've already done frying, one of those infrared cookers (came out good) and of course the traditional method of the oven. Just figured try another method for fun.

 

[matefrio]

Any tips? We were going to just put it in the pan like we would in the oven. Is that all wrong? Advice?

Brine it. Rinse and dry.

Put two teaspoons of salt, two teaspoons of pepper and one teaspoon of baking powder and rub all over the bird. The baking powder will make it brown and crisp the skin super nice... trust me, no funny taste at all. Let sit in fridge for 1hr with the rub.

Grill setup:

You'll want the tin pan with 3 or four cups of water in it. The pan catches the drippings, so the fire won't flare up and the water acts to even out the temp of the grill. The turkey sits on the grill directly above the pan.

Ok, now when you bring it in let it sit for at least 30 min. 45 is better.

Get a digital thermometer and check the temp 160 is white meat min, 170 is min for dark meat. Better get one that you can leave in as it grills.

 

[matefrio]

It's time to start thawing those turkeys if you haven't yet......

 

[Shorts]

Excellent - thanks.

I'm getting so hungry getting prepped for tomorrow.

 

[robertc1024]

Brine going. Aromatics still in the works. I've got two HUGE Rosemary bushes. One has completely taken over our garden.

 

[rsayloriii]

I've got 2 turkeys and 2 briskets smoking away for the last few hours now.

 

[robertc1024]

Turkey - in the oven. Pics later.

 

[Skip]

Ours just went into the Rotisserie.

"Character is doing the right thing even when no one is watching"

 

[Shorts]

Well, updating the T-day bird results - success!

Matefrio, thanks for the tips. I went online to the Butterball/Kikkoman site for a final walk through and found the recipe for a basic chicken brine. I didn't get it started until the morning of so the bird only sat in there for about 4hrs. It was 12lb and recommended is an hour per pound, but figured a few hours in the brine was better than nothing.

It went on the grill at 12:15 and we were sitting down to our plates just as the Cowboys were fumbling the opening kickoff.

Because of our pan and rack setup on the grill we had to flip the bird 2/3rds of the way through to get the bottom evened up & cooked. But it was no problem knowing if it was ready with the BBQ thermometer hooked up.

The turkey was good and juicy. I think I will be brining our Turkeys every year from here on out.

Here's the recipe I used. Not a "turkey" recipe, but the soy sauce, worstershire and brown sugar is my favorite marinade base. I couldn't pass it up.

Kikkoman Chicken Brine
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Ingredients:

2 Cups Kikkoman Soy Sauce
2 Gallons water
1 ½ Cups Kosher Salt
8 Cloves minced garlic
2 Tbsp. whole black peppercorns
4 dried bay leaves
¼ Cup Worcestershire sauce
¾ Cup brown sugar

Instructions:
Combine all ingredients in a large food safe container. Whisk until salt and sugar are totally dissolved. Place meat into brine. Leave in brine about 1 hour per pound of meat. Once done brining, pat meat dry before cooking. Roast the chicken and baste with Kikkoman Soy Sauce.
​

My recipe confessions...er, corrections:

- I did not have a full 2c of soy sauce. In fact I think it was only about 1c worth. But between the salt in there, the worstershire sauce and being a small 12lb turkey, it had a nice flavor on the skin.
- I did not have peppercorns so I just shook some black pepper in there. I used at least 1tbsp. Don't think it got near 2.
- When I pulled the turkey from the brine I drain it and patted it down dry. Then liberally brushed with extra virgin olive oil. I did not baste the turkey at all during cooking.
- I wrapped the wing tips of the turkey with oil so they wouldn't burn. Left the foil on the entire cook time. Wings came out a matching golden color as the rest.

Anyway, that's my update. No pics of it. But it came out like a good turkey should look. It's all gone except for two slices of white meat.

 

[Lucas Mccain]

I smoke my turkeys and also use a brine, they always come out perfect. I also brine whole chickens when I smoke them.

 

[V-Tach]

Since the thread is current......Turkey is not just for holidays...

Going up to George West this weekend to chase some Rio Grande's around......Spring Turkey season is here!