Thanksgiving in August!

Definitely try the brine, Greg, if you have not already for the turkey.  Last Thanksgiving, I did a turkey (brined) on the smoker and one in the oven for the family gathering.  The smoked turkey was completely gone but lots of left over oven turkey!  This year, I am going with smoked only, and  may add a turkey breast (smoked) for extra turkey just so we don't run out.  But the oven will only warm the bread this year.
 
Greg, I did a turkey a while back and I have to say it turned out great. I use the bones of the carcass for Chinese congee which makes great leftovers too.
 
BedouinBob said:
Greg, I did a turkey a while back and I have to say it turned out great. I use the bones of the carcass for Chinese congee which makes great leftovers too.
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I use the bones for turkey bone gumbo ... also makes great leftovers.    But, I'm always eager to try something new - do you have a recipe you'd be willing to share for your Chinese congee? (I haven't checked the forum yet, so pointing me there is good, too!)
 
My wife who is chinese said, that this is rice porridge. In a sieve, rinse rice under cold water and let drain. Put rice, 8 cups water, and salt into a 4-qt. saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce heat to medium-low, and cook, partially covered and stirring occasionally, until the rice takes on the consistency of porridge, about 1 1⁄2 hours. Divide porridge between 4 bowls and garnish each with a drizzle of chile oil, scallions, chiles, and crispy shallots. Also this is a breakfast meal so often times she will just cook the rice until it is of porridge consistency, but will add maybe some ginger or JUJUBE fruit. Which is good for the blood.
 
DivotMaker said:
That looks fantastic, Libo!  Just for fun, try one sometime without the pan of veggies under it.  You'll get good smoke penetration on all that good bottom dark meat, and it will have brown skin all the way around.  No problem with the pan method; just try one for comparison.  Was that chopped garlic cloves I saw in the picture, in your mire poix?
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Thanks Tony!  Yes, that was garlic.. A whole bulb of it.  And an apple.

I am planning on doing my next turkey without the pan

Fyi, I used 4.5oz of Cherry.  This Turkey took 6 hours to hit 165. Probably due to the pan. Still great!
 
Leah, congee is easy. The recipe I have from "1000 Chinese Recipes" book is 6C water per 1/2 C rice. I toss the carcass water first and go about 1 hour to take all of the flavor into the water. When I pull the bones out I take all of the meat off (I always leave a little extra on the carcass when carving so that there is plenty here), set aside, and then toss in the rice. Cook to porridge which takes about 1.5 hours. Add the meat back in and then salt and pepper to taste. Very simple and is always a fall treat.
 
With the bird flu, turkeys have become pricey and hard to come by here in my neck of the woods. But I did find a Butterball (13 lbs) at Aldi's for $15.00. Right now this baby is thawing in the refrigerator and I plan to smoke it next Friday or Saturday.

The bad news is that it already has a 8% solution added to it, so I think I may pass on the brine and just go with the rub. From what I have seen here about 4 hours at 250 degrees in my #2 smoker should do it. I plan to smoke it in a large throw away pan to catch the juices. For wood I am thinking around 2 oz. of cherry?

This is be my first turkey, so any additional thoughts or input would be appreciated as always!

Thanks Greg
 
You will be pleased with turkey in the SI.  At Thanksgiving, I do a turkey in the SI and one in the oven, and the SI turkey is the first to go...no leftovers!  I use cherry for turkey, usually about 3oz or so.  Enjoy!
 
swthorpe said:
You will be pleased with turkey in the SI.  At Thanksgiving, I do a turkey in the SI and one in the oven, and the SI turkey is the first to go...no leftovers!  I use cherry for turkey, usually about 3oz or so.  Enjoy!
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Hey Steve,

I am looking forward to it, I notice on my last chicken smoke I did 3 oz. of cherry so I will do the same with the big bird!

Greg
 
Greg, turkeys turn out great. I used to do them on my gasser but since the SI I've never looked back. I usually do one baked (for my traditionalist daughter) and one smoked.
 
Greg,

Stuff your bird with chopped celery, carrots and onion - I know you'll be glad you did!  And if you must use a drip pan (I never do), don't put the turkey in it...leave it below.  Let the heat and smoke get to the bird 360!
 
DivotMaker said:
Greg,

Stuff your bird with chopped celery, carrots and onion - I know you'll be glad you did!  And if you must use a drip pan (I never do), don't put the turkey in it...leave it below.  Let the heat and smoke get to the bird 360!
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Tony,

I will plan to stuff the turkey with veggies and normally add an apple. When I have done turkeys in my egg, I always put it in the pan and collected the dripping and made gravy. It looks like some do and some don't here, I think for my first pass I will plan to put it in a pan.

Greg
 
gregbooras said:
I will plan to stuff the turkey with veggies and normally add an apple. When I have done turkeys in my egg, I always put it in the pan and collected the dripping and made gravy. It looks like some do and some don't here, I think for my first pass I will plan to put it in a pan.

Greg
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I make gravy from the giblets and neck, simmered in a pan.  No need to collect the juice from the bird, imo.  I won't sacrifice the quality of the whole bird just to collect drippings.  The bottom of your turkey will not be smoky, and will not be cooked the same way as the rest, but that's just my 2¢. 

I sometimes add apple or lemon, if I have them on hand.  Any aromatic veggies/fruits are great!
 
DivotMaker said:
gregbooras said:
I will plan to stuff the turkey with veggies and normally add an apple. When I have done turkeys in my egg, I always put it in the pan and collected the dripping and made gravy. It looks like some do and some don't here, I think for my first pass I will plan to put it in a pan.

Greg
Click to expand...

I make gravy from the giblets and neck, simmered in a pan.  No need to collect the juice from the bird, imo.  I won't sacrifice the quality of the whole bird just to collect drippings.  The bottom of your turkey will not be smoky, and will not be cooked the same way as the rest, but that's just my 2¢. 

I sometimes add apple or lemon, if I have them on hand.  Any aromatic veggies/fruits are great!
Click to expand...

Hey Tony,

I always appreciate the input.

For me I am not really all that concerned about the lost of smoke flavor on the bottom of the bird. I may consider a drip pan underneath, I just hate to waste the juices. Also in my egg, it also prevented the turkey from drying out, which is most likely not a problem here.

Greg
 
I know what you're talking about, Greg, in the traditional smokers.  You won't have problems with drying in the SI.  I've smoked a bunch of turkeys in the SIs, with no pan, and they're always moist.  One reason I don't use a pan is that the dark meat takes longer to cook than the white.  So, by blocking the heat from below, you end up inhibiting the dark meat from being done at the same time as the white meat, and risk over-drying the breast meat by the time the dark meat is done.
 
DivotMaker said:
I know what you're talking about, Greg, in the traditional smokers.  You won't have problems with drying in the SI.  I've smoked a bunch of turkeys in the SIs, with no pan, and they're always moist.  One reason I don't use a pan is that the dark meat takes longer to cook than the white.  So, by blocking the heat from below, you end up inhibiting the dark meat from being done at the same time as the white meat, and risk over-drying the breast meat by the time the dark meat is done.
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Tony,

OK, I see your reasoning, but here, but are you saying that because the dark meat will be sitting in liquid it will take longer to temp?

Tony, I am willing to try the turkey without the pan, but have you tried with a pan and without?

Greg
 
If you want to use a pan, try putting the turkey breast side down in the pan. It's actually a common practice for traditional oven roast turkey, to roast for the first 1/2 of cooking breast side down, to keep the breast meat from over-cooking. The fat from the dark meat helps keep the white meat moist. And the pan will shield the breast meat from the heat. I've never used a pan in the smoker for turkey. Seems like you'd still get smoke flavor on the breast, just more subtle than the dark meat. Which might be enough smoke for the white meat.
 
SconnieQ said:
If you want to use a pan, try putting the turkey breast side down in the pan. It's actually a common practice for traditional oven roast turkey, to roast for the first 1/2 of cooking breast side down, to keep the breast meat from over-cooking. The fat from the dark meat helps keep the white meat moist. And the pan will shield the breast meat from the heat. I've never used a pan in the smoker for turkey. Seems like you'd still get smoke flavor on the breast, just more subtle than the dark meat. Which might be enough smoke for the white meat.
Click to expand...

Hey Kari,

After thinking about it, I am going to takes Tony's advice and do the turkey without being in a pan. Since I am not done a turkey in this smoker, I will go with the wisdom of the group here. Now my second turkey, I may break out and be wild (use a pan). But heck if it turns out as good as everyone says, I may not :)

Thanks everyone for the great input as always.

Greg
 
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