easter turkey


 
E

Erik

New member
first time poster, long time lurker.

I bought two turkeys after thanksgiving and threw em in the freezer. Cheap food is good food!
I offered to smoke turkey for the gf's family easter gathering. No big deal, I've done turkeys before. But they traditionally buy it precooked and dump gravy on it in a crock pot . I refuse to do that, but am curious about how to keep it moist when it's reheated Sunday since I'll be doing it at home on Saturday. Chicken broth? I don't want it to get soggy, but want it to retain moisture.

For other holidays they also have shredded pork from a local butcher store, but I brought pulled pork to the last gathering and they destroyed it. Which is good cuz it took 15 hours. I fear I'm making more work for myself at every gathering lol
 
How far away are you going? If it's not too far you can cook it the same day & transport in a cooler packed with towels. I did that's few years ago. It will stay hot for several hours.
 
Keep in mind it will keep cooking while in the cooler so pull it a bit sooner (like 10-15o) than you normally would.

But that's the way to do it.
 
Lewis B said:
How far away are you going? If it's not too far you can cook it the same day & transport in a cooler packed with towels. I did that's few years ago. It will stay hot for several hours.
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It's an hour and a half away. For a dinner time meal that's what I would do, but I'm not so keen on getting up at 5am to fire up the smoker.
 
Use the blowtorch ignition method and you’ll only need ten minutes to get it fired if you set it up the night before. That’s assuming you’ll use Minion method or, as I do, the sidelight Minion method, then you really can pretty much open the door, light the fires and kick the tires! Go back to bed for a few more hours.
 
Thanks for linking that thread Fletch!
I don’t like long distance transportation unless it cannot be avoided. The beauty of the whole birk being brought to the table is very “Norman Rockwellian” but, it really works best when done at home.
I stand by the sermon I preached in the other thread. Bacteria is the enemy of transported product like this.
 
Timothy F. Lewis said:
Thanks for linking that thread Fletch!
I don’t like long distance transportation unless it cannot be avoided. The beauty of the whole birk being brought to the table is very “Norman Rockwellian” but, it really works best when done at home.
I stand by the sermon I preached in the other thread. Bacteria is the enemy of transported product like this.
Click to expand...

A possibility I hadn't really entertained is to just to take it there and cook it. Granted, I wouldn't have my enclosure so wind etc would be less than ideal, but that idea doesn't sound half bad.
 
Put the grill (or smoker) leeward of a parked car but, not too close and, you should be fine.
I do mine on the kettle and I don’t have a lot of problem with wind or, I’ve learned to just live with it and soldier on.
If you can do it “there” it will make for a much more impressive presentation.
Keep us informed of how it goes!
One of the best ones I’ve done was done years ago with the “long leg” to windward and lid vent downwind like the old book says and let the good times roll! The color was magnificent, skin crispy, meat juicy! Everything we addicts of the Weber have come to expect of our kettles (or WSM).
Doggone it! Now I want a turkey AND a ham for Sunday!
 
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I ended up doing it Saturday, as lunch was scheduled for noon. Not having to worry about temp fluctuations and timing is nice, anyway.
I seasoned with kosher salt, pepper, garlic, and paprika over avocado oil drizzled on the bird, and put a few sliced Halo oranges in the cavity. 13lb bird was a little small, but it still took over 3 hours. I wasn't worried about the skin since it was going in a crockpot, so a lower temp didn't bother me.

I carved it up and put it in the crock pot and dumped all the cavity juices in, along with a couple cups of chicken stock. It really turned out well reheated Sunday.

Oh, I used Pecan mostly, with about a 3x3 chunk of mesquite.
 
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