Gobblers were .80 cents a pound so I picked up a 13 pound bird as I have never did one on the Traeger. took a couple days to thaw. Mixed up some slaughterhouse brine and brined it up for about 25 hours. I pulled it outta the brine and dried it off. Made up some Creole Butter and injected her up. Stuffed the cavity with a quartered onion and an apple. Also stuffed in some rosemary out of the garden. lightly coated the skin with Mayo too.
Here she is at 11 am just on
I planned to smoke for 3 hours, the bring it up to 325 for the finish. About an hour in the Traeger had a flame out. The winds were gusting to almost 35 today and I could see it was going to play hell. I packed her up in a pan and stuffed her in the oven till I could get the Traeger re started. I also did not have any kitchen string so I used cheesecloth to tie the legs together in case youre wondering.
The smoking portion is complete and were ready to go up to 325 as you will see below (shes lookin good)
Just after 4 she was all done, breasts were up to 169 and the legs were at 180. I had to foil it since we were not going to eat till after 5 and left it on the Traeger to stay warm. When I pulled the foil off there was a ton of au jus in the bottom of the pan which I drained out into a bowl. here is the finished product
I dipped each slice of breast meat into the au jus before serving. My wife and mother in law were quite pleased as was I. I don't know if I would change a thing next time I do one of these. Enjoy!
Here she is at 11 am just on
I planned to smoke for 3 hours, the bring it up to 325 for the finish. About an hour in the Traeger had a flame out. The winds were gusting to almost 35 today and I could see it was going to play hell. I packed her up in a pan and stuffed her in the oven till I could get the Traeger re started. I also did not have any kitchen string so I used cheesecloth to tie the legs together in case youre wondering.
The smoking portion is complete and were ready to go up to 325 as you will see below (shes lookin good)
Just after 4 she was all done, breasts were up to 169 and the legs were at 180. I had to foil it since we were not going to eat till after 5 and left it on the Traeger to stay warm. When I pulled the foil off there was a ton of au jus in the bottom of the pan which I drained out into a bowl. here is the finished product
I dipped each slice of breast meat into the au jus before serving. My wife and mother in law were quite pleased as was I. I don't know if I would change a thing next time I do one of these. Enjoy!
