As with any cook I do that will be serving a larger group I try to get a practice run in prior to the planned event on things I'm not that well versed on. I've smoked turkeys in the past with really good results but not this particular method. Last year was a spatchcock turkey and no one complained - spatchcock is a great method but I'm lazy and was looking for a way to get great results and be able to cook the turkey the morning of Thanksgiving then drive to "Grandmaw's" house about 30 miles away. The guy I bought the rotisserie set up from swears by using this method you'll never brine another bird. That has been true on chicken I've cooked with it but I figured it was time to give Turkey a try. So I set up the Yoder 640 for rotisserie, put an ample amount of Lumberjack Competition Blend in the hopper, fired up the cooker on 325 and drug the thawed out turkey out of the fridge.
Starts with a frozen Jenny-O grade A turkey. It's had a solution already injected. 8.8 lbs. I always thaw them out in the fridge. That takes several days
After a good rinse I dry the bird off and inject it with Tony's Creole Butter injection as per their suggestions of 1 ounce per pound so I inject about 9 ounces into this bird. I then gave it a light coat of vegetable cooking oil and put it in the Yoder. I then applied a nice coat of course Kosher salt and some of Blake Shelton's Special S??t (G rated to not offend anyone but that's what it's called).
3 hours @ 325. The Yoder rocks this temp like hurricane! It's cold here on Lake Texoma so the pellet consumption was a bit higher than normal but not that big of a deal. After 3 hours I was seeing temps close to 150-155 range deep in the breast meat so I cranked it up to 400 for another 30 minutes. This was an attempt to crispen the skin maybe? It was 164-167 when I pulled it after a total of 3 1/2 hours. I left the little "poppit" installed to see when it would pop out. It never did.
My lighting in the barn kitchen don't do the color justice. It actually looks better in person.
My final thoughts? This bird is money. Very tender, juicy, and the easiest Turkey I've cooked so far. I plan to repeat this on Thanksgiving morning and I'll probably throw in a double smoked spiral ham similar to the recipe that Jeff had sent out recently. I'll have to agree the rotisserie set up is another game changer when it comes to cooking birds. It does appear when cooking birds with a rotisserie they "self baste" so no brine needed? All I know is that is as good of a Turkey as I've every had. Thanks for looking and get those birds ready!
Starts with a frozen Jenny-O grade A turkey. It's had a solution already injected. 8.8 lbs. I always thaw them out in the fridge. That takes several days
After a good rinse I dry the bird off and inject it with Tony's Creole Butter injection as per their suggestions of 1 ounce per pound so I inject about 9 ounces into this bird. I then gave it a light coat of vegetable cooking oil and put it in the Yoder. I then applied a nice coat of course Kosher salt and some of Blake Shelton's Special S??t (G rated to not offend anyone but that's what it's called).
3 hours @ 325. The Yoder rocks this temp like hurricane! It's cold here on Lake Texoma so the pellet consumption was a bit higher than normal but not that big of a deal. After 3 hours I was seeing temps close to 150-155 range deep in the breast meat so I cranked it up to 400 for another 30 minutes. This was an attempt to crispen the skin maybe? It was 164-167 when I pulled it after a total of 3 1/2 hours. I left the little "poppit" installed to see when it would pop out. It never did.
My lighting in the barn kitchen don't do the color justice. It actually looks better in person.
My final thoughts? This bird is money. Very tender, juicy, and the easiest Turkey I've cooked so far. I plan to repeat this on Thanksgiving morning and I'll probably throw in a double smoked spiral ham similar to the recipe that Jeff had sent out recently. I'll have to agree the rotisserie set up is another game changer when it comes to cooking birds. It does appear when cooking birds with a rotisserie they "self baste" so no brine needed? All I know is that is as good of a Turkey as I've every had. Thanks for looking and get those birds ready!
