28lb fresh turkey w/pics, questions


 
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Shawn W

Shawn W

TVWBB Emerald Member
Here are the pics.

Used TVWB ref topic Honey Brined turkey for 28lb fresh turkey. Used lump for the first time hoping to cook around 400F. The actual cook was 4.5 hrs at a grate temp averaging around 325F, range 285F - 365F, access door open 2" at all times. Every 90 minutes I threw a few handfulls of unlit lump in there. Removed the turkey at 164F in the breast.

Questions:

Why is the skin SO dark? Is it creosote?

To brine, I threw it in a cooler with some freezer (ice) packs. It was 50F the next morning and I was concerned. Are we lucky to not have gotten sick or was it safe?


Comments: the vertical roaster was horrible, it is three pieces. Try to get one that is only one or two pieces. The two top pieces kept coming apart on me as I tried to mount the bird. The tail HAD to go. I don't usually like the dark meat but this stuff is great! It's similar to pulled pork.


Boiling the carcass right now. The way it smells, I'm gonna make yellow split-pea soup out of it.
 
WOW....I never seen such a big turkey did the lid go on the WSM ok, how did the skin turn out was it crispy ??.... I'm going to do a trial run next week sometime with my new experimental method using the 22 1/2 grill without the grill, just sit the baby down on the charcoal grate between the coal racks, I've done this with chickens and they turn out crispy and moist...
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Bren H:
WOW....I never seen such a big turkey did the lid go on the WSM ok, how did the skin turn out was it crispy ??.... I'm going to do a trial run next week sometime with my new experimental method using the 22 1/2 grill without the grill, just sit the baby down on the charcoal grate between the coal racks, I've done this with chickens and they turn out crispy and moist... <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> The lid went on just fine. The skin was ok in places, not super crisp, but edible. In the folds though (like 'arm pit') it was rubbery and had to be tossed out.


BTW: ran with water pan empty
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Steve (Merc) McMurtry:
Shawn

Looks GREAT,What type of wood did you use?
Somebody posted a pic of a turkey the skin was dark red (cherry wood).

cheers <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Hey Steve, used 10 fist sized pices of apple wood. 5 in the first hour, 5 in the second hour. Smoke flavour was great. With the thing running so hot the first 5 smoke wood pieces burnt up within an hour. I thought smoke should be applied for at least 2 hours.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>
Why is the skin SO black? <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

To much smoke. Also the honey will darken it.
 
Sure could be too much smoke,but I did a turkey last weekend and I used alot of smoke and ended up with a dark skin, not too much smoke in flavor though. The rub I used didnt have any type of sugar. Just Tony Cacherwhatever Creole seasoning and some garlic powder. Dont get me wrong, it had a great taste but not overly smokie. After it was close to being done, I put it into a 425 degree oven hoping to crisp up the skin. The skin turned out like Shawn descibed, edible but not real crispy.Still better tasting than most turkeys ive ever had though! Sandwiches the next day were fantastic.
DP
 
Tony,

Smoke flavour in the meat is wonderful. So taste wise I don't think it was too much, guess the black skin is a by-product of cooking such a big bird so fast with much smoke wood. The breast meat was ultra-tender and ultra-moist. The appearance may be a bit shocking though for turkey oven roasters.
 
Dad gum!
icon_eek.gif

I had the record with a 26 lber.
So I guess I am reduced to having the US Title.
Until Thanks Giving that is.
icon_biggrin.gif
 
You go Doug! I ordered a 25lb turkey ... they sent me home witha 28 lb bird, I didn't intentionally go for any sort of record.
 
Shawn, It looks great! I usually don't eat the skin so it would have been perfect for me! I'm going to smoke my first turkey this thanksgiving.

Nick P.
 
Shawn...that bird looked good. I did one during Hurricane Jeanne awhile back..had nothing better to do with the power out in the house. LOL. Dang...that sure is a Huge bird. What'd you end up doing with the stock you made?
 
Hey there Matt, the stock is cooling right now ... it smells like ham stock so I'm gonna make yellow split-pea soup from it
 
When I took it out I let it cool for a few minutes, then I used plastic wrap, then double foil and held in a cooler for 3 hours. I didn't use any rub, just the honey brine for 20 hours.

Neck stump is kind of long huh? In the end I was happy to have the extra handle for this bird.
 
oh yeah, the tail....

I threw the tail on the grate for 70 minutes, the wife ate it for breakfast
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Shawn W:
oh yeah, the tail....

I threw the tail on the grate for 70 minutes, the wife ate it for breakfast <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>


Love the tail! Guess I'd love your wife...
icon_smile.gif


I'm only able to see the first (uncooked) pic. No others are appearing for some reason. Anyway...
Some thoughts:

50 is certainly not where you want the temp when you finish the brine but you're cooking so it's not likely to pose a problem. Increase your ice packs and put 1 or 2 inside the cavity next time.
Creosote has a bitter, some say 'metallic' tang. You can taste it and hence know if that was an issue.
Sugars in brine or rubs will darken skin--sometimes dramatically depending on type and quantity.
Drying the skin helps crisp it. After removing the bird from the brine, rinse it and dry it well inside and out. Gently seperate the skin from the breast with your fingers and work your hand in as far as you can. Work it over to the thighs as well. (If your hand is large or if the skin seems delicate use a soup spoon, bowl down). Be careful not to tear the skin.Put the bird on a rack on a pan and stick it in the fridge, uncovered, for the day or overnight. The cold, circulating fridge air will help dry it.

Just before roasting, make a compound butter and work it under the skin as far as possible and/or tuck in some whole fresh herbs (thyme spigs, sage leaves) to help crisp the skin as well.
 
thanks for the suggestions Kevin, I'll spend a little more prep time on the next bird when it comes out of the brine and try these things

This time I did not rinse or dry the bird when it came out of the brine which was 3 gal water, 3 C salt, 3 C honey <+spices>.

Used Royal Oak lump for the first time on this cook. I filled the ring, then removed lump from the ring to fill my chimney starter. Dumped the full chimney of hot lump into WSM for fire up then as I mentioned previously, threw a few handfuls of unlit lump on every 90 minutes. I kept the access door open 2" at all times (propped up with a 2x4).

Do you think this contributed to the darkness of the skin? Is it a bad way to cook? Perhaps I should have lit all of the lump prior to putting the bird on and only added lit lump every 90 minutes.
 
I've been trying to write for 3 hours now but the traffic! (Friday. Atlanta. Nuff said.)

Finally got to see your pics. Wonderful looking meat!

Re: the skin. It looks creosote-y but hard to tell by just a pic. How did it taste? Any bitterness or acridity? Did you smell anything acrid during the cook (especially at the beginning or just after adding smokewood or coal)? It's odd, but I have found that some people taste it but don't smell it and others the reverse.

Tony Serra has a point. Could be too much smoke or too much sweet in the brine. I use a half- cup sugar or honey or a combo thereof per gallon and that seems to work out best for me.

Try the brine/rinse/dry and skin prep outlined previously.

I actually think your keeping the access door open with a 2x4 is a good thing with turkey and I think I'll do that myself. I think airflow is important. I have found my most successful cooks (turkey, butts, or otherwise) seem to be when I don't have to close my vents too much. I try to gauge my fuel accordingly so that I need not close my vents all the way in order to maintain temp. I've been thinking about this alot recently due to a post exchange I had with Dean Torges on this board. A post Jim Minion made last night on lump vis-à-vis briquettes and airflow further firmed my opinion.

My suggestion would be to keep your 2x4 but I'd go with your suspicion starting with fully lit fuel and adding lit fuel when you make your additions (for turkey, this works for me).

I would also suggest roasting conventionally rather than vertically. Possibly with so large a bird the skin's proximity to the wall of the cooker is an issue. (Just a suggestion, I am not familiar with vertical roasting.)

I hope this is useful to you.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR> I would also suggest roasting conventionally rather than vertically. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> My original plan was to have it cut in half and do 1/2 on each rack. The bird had other plans. It would not fit laying down. When I roast in the overn I roast breast down. I would like to put the breast down for vertical roasting too but it just wasn't going to happen with that bird and vertical roaster.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR> Any bitterness or acridity? <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> my wife had some of the skin before it was foiled. She said it was OK. I'll have to ask her to expand on that a bit. As for the meat, there was a faint metallic taste in some of meat that I attributed to salt brine. The brine did not seem to penetrate the breast fully, but close. Perhaps it was creosote then.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR> Did you smell anything acrid during the cook (especially at the beginning or just after adding smokewood or coal ... go with your suspicion starting with fully lit fuel and adding lit fuel when you make your additions ... <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> After dumping in the chimney of coals and after throwing the unlit lump, blue smoke billowed from WSM for say 20 minutes. Minion method does not say to keep your access door propped open and I now that I mention it I recall Jim saying one time during a discussion on Lit Vs Unlit briquettes something to the effect 'you only get the smell and taste from unlit briquettes when it has an open flame under it' ... with the access door open I certainly had flaming coals.

Meat is still very tasty .... I've had comments like 'that was the best turkey I've ever had' and 'will you do one for us at Xmas'. The split pea soup is quite good too.

I'm pretty sure I screwed this cook up.
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When leaving the access door open to run a hot WSM I'll only use lit lump or briquettes from now on.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Shawn W:
After dumping in the chimney of coals and after throwing the unlit lump, blue smoke billowed from WSM for say 20 minutes. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Aha!

But I hardly think you "screwed this cook up".
But definitely go with all lit on a cook like this.

(Btw, I so much miss Calgary since Canada changed their truck length laws. Was one of my favorite places to go.)
 
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