Ideas For Thanksgiving Turkey

[nabo4u]

Hey daRicksta, regardless of what method you go with, I absolutely recommend brining your turkey. 4 years ago, I came across Alton brown's recipe online. I used it for Christmas dinner. As a testament to how good it was, my wife's mother (who at that point had been married 35 years and had made every Thanksgiving meal since then) proclaimed that I would be making the turkey from this point forward. It was quite the statement, and though her husband and kids were shocked, no one complained. I've been making it twice a year ever since. So yeah, I definitely recommend brining


Jose

 

[xutfuzzy]

As far as what we end up with on Thanksgiving, I broached the idea of two smaller turkeys and separate parts to the divine wife and she's thinking it over. She's very traditional when it comes to Thanksgiving--one big bird and all, so we'll see. There will be just five of us for dinner but I'd love to do a taste test between an oven-roasted turkey and a smoked one.

I know what you mean about fighting tradition.  When I first brought up the idea of smoking a turkey she was rather hesitant because "it wasn't traditional."  With enough persuasion (I even put on my tight pants and walked around), I convinced her to allow me to smoke a small turkey and also let me make a "traditional" turkey in the oven.  Her turkey was just fine (nice and moist), but by the end of the night mine was clearly the favored bird.  Since then we have just smoked the birds, and it has since evolved to me making just the breasts (plus a drumstick for me).

So, to make a long story short, you could always make a small turkey plus an extra breast.  Consider it a "nudge" more than a "shove" in a new direction.

 

[xutfuzzy]

Hey daRicksta, regardless of what method you go with, I absolutely recommend brining your turkey. 4 years ago, I came across Alton brown's recipe online. I used it for Christmas dinner. As a testament to how good it was, my wife's mother (who at that point had been married 35 years and had made every Thanksgiving meal since then) proclaimed that I would be making the turkey from this point forward. It was quite the statement, and though her husband and kids were shocked, no one complained. I've been making it twice a year ever since. So yeah, I definitely recommend brining
Jose

  Absolutely true.  I use this brine as well.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/good-eats-roast-turkey-recipe/index.html

 

[toby bryant]

The 275 limitation on the MES 30 is why I do poultry in my charcoal Kamado Kooker. I am doing 2 breasts this year instead of a whole bird, I like the drumstick idea, will have to pick a few up.

No matter what you decide (or the wife decides), I am sure it will be great. Definitely brine the bird, makes a huge difference. Good luck!

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

 

[daricksta]

We're definitely brining the turkey this year. The wife decided that since she wants to cook the whole bird--and we just bought a 20 pounder--we're oven roasting it upside down per a recipe she used 2 years ago that turned out great. I do have a frozen whole turkey breast that will see the inside of my MES at some point--unless 275 is too low to cook it at.

 

[toby bryant]

It will do fine at 275 degrees, but the skin will not be crisp I would recommend finishing in the oven if you want crispy skin. Before I got my charcoal Kamado Kooker I did the whole chickens in the MES 30 and they turned out wonderful, great flavor but the skin was rubbery. So I had to finish them in the oven to crisp the skin.

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[daricksta]

Thanks, Toby. That's what I'll do.

 

[smokinfrank]

I just smoked a turkey breast (5.5lbs) in my MES 30. I coated the skin with granulated garlic and butter, Lysanders poultry rub, and shoved a half apple under the skin. I have a pan I got from Kohl's, made for beer can chickens, this works really well I just fill the can full of water. Set the smoker at 275, and use apple and hickory chips for smoke. Pulled the breast out when internal temp. hit 161, it took 2 hrs. It turned out awesome!!

 

[daricksta]

SmokinFrank, I plan to smoke a turkey breast in my MES 30 in the near future--if if ever stops raining here. Don't know what Lysander rub is but I've got a number of others I can use. I also will be using wood pellets instead of chips. Did the turkey skin turn out crispy from the garlic butter coating?

This year for our T-Day turkey, I'm following the advice of many here who said to brine the turkey. The wife bought a brining kit and the turkey should be defrosted enough by tomorrow to start the process. I had planned to smoke the bird but we're oven roasting it because of its size.