Water Pan under Turkey


 
C

Chuck Wagner

New member
I'm thinking of placing a water pan on the grate under the turkey, with some stock items and water for a nice broth for gravy.
Has anyone done this with success.
Thanks
 
Chuck,
Welcome to TVWBB.

I wish I had thought of that. It sounds like a great idea. My turkey is already on with an empty drip pan under it. I do plan on capturing the drippings to use for the gravy. I have a stock pot on the stove with the neck, giblets and some vegetables (using this Alton Brown recipe http://www.foodnetwork.com/rec...y-recipe/index.html.)

On the other hand, I really hate to disturb the smoker once I've got it loaded and this might require opening it to get the pan out during the smoke. Also since I've brined the turkey, the drippings can be pretty salty. I suppose it might be best for me to keep the drippings separate and then add as desired depending on how salty they are.

thanks,
hank
 
We had our Thanksgiving this Saturday due to some relatives coming into town over the weekend. I smoked two turkeys on my Weber smoker using the basic brine. I tried to capture the drippings in the water pan but I mostly got fat and grease. I'm thinking cooking the turkeys in the 300 - 350 range boiled off the "good" liquid. Perhaps rigging the water pan where the drippings are captured closer to the meat would work better.
 
Chuck,

I foil my water pan and catch the drippings. After pulling the birds (I never do just one), my wife removes the drippings with a baster. We let that set overnight which seperates the fat from a thin layer of "smoke". We then mix that with the the broth we made by boiling down the bones, skin, excess fat, etc... Mix to taste as the dark brown "smoke" is concentrated. Always get great reviews from work and the family...

Cheers
 
I do my bird on a roasting rack in a large pan. with 1/2 water 1/2 white wine in the bottom. Use this and the drippings for my gravy. I prefer to use the neck, herbs and veggies in my stock; actually roast the neck and a turkey leg and wings prior then put in pot of water with gizzards and herbs for my stock.

Pan under bird will make the best gravy you've ever tasted, trust me. Here's a picture of the pan I use (sorry about the size of the picture, I thought I'd re-sized when I uploaded):
KKTurkey012.jpg
 
Adding white wine to the water is a great idea. I have had great success following the recipe in Joy of Cooking... if I remember correctly, its 1/2 cup of water... and nothing else. Plenty of drippings. I'll try mixing in some wine next time.
 
I used a foil pan on the lower rack and caught the drippings in that. It worked well. It's far enough from the fire to avoid boiling all of the water out though the drippings are still pretty concentrated. I mixed them in with a broth made from the neck and giblets and made a terrific gravy.
 
I plan on doing this as well. Found the recipe and procedure from another website. Not sure about the forum rules on posting links to other websites so I won't, but it sounds really good...
 
Lee you should get a OXO 4 Cup Fat Separator this will allow you to make gravy when ready to eat.
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Lee W:
Chuck,

I foil my water pan and catch the drippings. After pulling the birds (I never do just one), my wife removes the drippings with a baster. We let that set overnight which seperates the fat from a thin layer of "smoke". We then mix that with the the broth we made by boiling down the bones, skin, excess fat, etc... Mix to taste as the dark brown "smoke" is concentrated. Always get great reviews from work and the family...

Cheers </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
 
Thats what I did. I put some chicken stock along with half a white onion, some celery, some fresh rosemary and oregano and the neck and giblets. When the turkey was done I strained it and added it to a roux. BEST GRAVY EVER!!! ANd my turkey was brined but I had no issues with salt. I did use low salt chicken stock and unsalted butter for the roux just to be sure.
 
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