Thanksgiving Dry Run w pics

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SmokinVOLfan

Smoking Guru
Original poster
OTBS Member
Feb 27, 2018
6,078
5,213
Knoxville, TN
Well not really. I just wanted some smoked turkey and wasn't about to wait until Thanksgiving! Its that time of year where you can get cheap birds. First sale was Butterball's for $.99lb. Sign me up. Grabbed one and quick thawed in ice water over night in a 5 gallon bucket.

Seeing as this was a last minute decision I didn't have time to brine as I normally would. Roll with it. Spatched the bird out, pats of Kerrygold butter under the skin on the breasts with rub and then coated the outside in No salt Tony's.
turkey15.jpg


Rolling 275-300ish with hickory chunks. Progress picture.
turkey16.jpg


Bout 3 1/2 hours later I hit 165 in the breast. Bingo. Just the color I was looking for as well.
turkey17.jpg


While the turkey was smoking I threw together some sides. Broccoli Cheese casserole I kind of made up and of course the stove top stuffing. Not pictured is the mashed potatoes and gravy. Also deviled eggs brought by my wife's grandmother.
sides3.jpg


Plated shot. Forgot to take a pic after I put gravy on stuff.
turkey18.jpg


Cant forget about desert. Made a caramel apple pie. I am not much of a baker so this was my best attempt.
pie5.jpg


Served warm with some vanilla ice cream.
pie6.jpg


This honestly was one of the best turkeys I have done. Wife says it was the best. It was very juicy and flavorful even without a brine or injection. The sides brought it all together and everyone left full and happy. Thanks for checking it out. Only a couple more weeks and we will be seeing turkey galore. Everyone enjoy and stay safe out there.

John
 
Wow what a feast, especially for a dry run. Most excellent Job John. I just picked up our Butterball yesterday - also at .99/lb.

Point for sure
Chris
 
OMG!!
I was gonna say "Nice Bird", but then I looked farther---"Nice Plate"----Then I looked on & saw----"Nice Pie!!"
So I just gotta say "Everything looks Awesome, John!!!"
Nice Job!
Like.

Bear
 
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YUM! Nice cook and meal! Im gonna be watching the post thanksgiving sales and the day before.
 
Man looks awesome John! Perfect color on the bird. I imagine that bird may have been pre bribed with saline solution?
 
Man that all looks great! Never too early to start stretching your stomach for turkey day!

Ryan
 
Looks great. I wonder if brining an enhanced bird does not actually take away from of the flavor? I was planning on only doing a breast but looks like they cost as much or more than just getting a whole turkey.
 
Holy smoke John!! That's one heck of a spread buddy. I know you've been cooking turkeys for many years so this was not a trial run. You were correct stating that you just didn't want to wait two weeks for the official day to cook a big ol' bird. That looks excellent my friend. I've never spatched a turkey before but am going to do that in a couple weeks after seeing what you did here. That all just looks fantastic. Be nice if I could just pull your meal off the screen and serve it up to out guests. Sure would make my life a lot easier and it's certainly make several folks really happy :emoji_wink:

Robert
 
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