Turbaconducken


 

Darrel Williams

TVWBB Super Fan
So I went ahead and tried something that I always wanted to do. Turkey, bacon, duck, and chicken all in one. I'll talk more about the techniques I used, rather than a recipe, because the only other ingredients I used besides the meat were salt, pepper, cajun spice blend, and a wee bit of butter to gloss the outside.

I began with
23 lb Butterball Turkey
5 lb duck
4 lb chicken
1 lb bacon

I partially deboned all three birds.

First cut out the backbone. Then I used a knife to work out the ribs, keel bones, everything in the neck region, wishbone, etc. I did not remove wing bones or leg/thigh bones. I started with the chicken. It was easiest. The duck was pretty similar.

I then pre-roasted these 2 guys the day before with moderate amounts of the spices above. Also I precooked the bacon to doneness, but not to crispness. THis was a mistake. I should have crisped the bacon a little more, and used more, at least another pound.



The turkey was a little more difficult because there are a lot stronger connective tissue/tendons that had to be cut away rather than ripped. Another pair of strong hands helped stabilize the turkey as I was working it.
I had to be very careful that my knife in my right hand did not come close to cutting my left hand, or either of the two hands of the guy helping me.

I simply stacked -layer style - the cooked chicken, half the bacon, the duck, and the other half of the bacon on top of the splayed out turkey. Then we wrapped the turkey up, and tied it off with butchers twine. Actually, a third friend who is a surgeon tied it up while the two of us held the bird together. If you ever get to see a surgeon tying knots, it is amazing.

So next we flipped the thing over and sat the turkey in a large disposable foil roasting pan. It looked rather like a regular out-of-the-package turkey. Added just a bit of butter for color, and a sprinkle of S & P & cajun spice mix.

I moved it in the pan into my brand new Performer, which had two full baskets of freshly lit K banked banked for indirect cooking from either side.

I used my remote sensing thermometer to monitor temps, although I did not time it strictly. I would guess the whole cooking process was about 4 to 4.5 hours.

I let it go at about 425 for almost an hour, then I checked and it had the dark golden color I was looking for. I added heavy duty foil over the top of it. So at this point, the whole thing is wrapped in foil pan and aluminum foil. I cut back the bottom vent on the grill and got the temp to stabilize at around 375 for the rest of the cook. That was the dome thermometer temp.

I cooked it to 175 degree at the inside layer of the turkey, underneath the turkey breast. Then I pulled it off, leaving it tented for at least 30 minutes. I am sure that I got at least 5 degrees of carryover heat, but I did not measure it once it came off the Performer.

Now, you may say that turkey breast cooked to 180* is overdone, but let me defend myself here. I was cooking for a large group of friends, including kids, in a state park. I wanted to be cautious. The chicken and duck had been precooked, so those guys in the center only needed to be heated. Also, I used a Butterball turkey, which has plenty of added moisture. The meat was NOT dry at all. And I retained the drippings in the foil pan, which I carved and served from.

The whole deboning process made carving and serving VERY easy. That puppy was just a big round ball of meat with only easily identifiable leg or wing bones.

Things I would change next time:
More bacon
More crispy bacon (it was limp inside the birds)
Onions & maybe other aromatics (jalapenos?) to the foil pan and inside the turkey.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Geir Widar:
What a fun project! I'd love to see a picture of this cook! </div></BLOCKQUOTE>


Me too!!!! gotta have pictures
 

 

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