I decided to do a Turkey on the OTG


 
T

Tim Murphy

TVWBB Fan
Dear Board,

I have never cooked a turkey before in my life in an oven let alone on the OTG. Theresa and I have plans for a family Thanksgiving and I decided I'd do the turkey for the gathering so I figured I'd need some practice.

With no idea in my mind for a proper recipe I decided to wing it using tips from recipes I have seen online. I used a roasting pan. The pan has carrots, onions, celery, garlic, salt and pepper and poultry seasoning along with the giblets and turkey neck stewing in a can of chicken broth. I figure I can strain and drain the broth and make gravy. Our pitbull Bear will love the stewed turkey bits and if the gravy doesn't turn out I have a couple of jars stashed.

Here is the start of the cook.

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[/url]P1010010 by Tim Murphy, on Flickr[/IMG]

P1010011 by Tim Murphy, on Flickr

Here is what it looked like after an hour and just before I flipped the breast side up.

P9070012 by Tim Murphy, on Flickr

P9070013 by Tim Murphy, on Flickr

I'm praying this works!

Regards,

Tim Murphy :)
 
Dear Board,

This is what we wound up with. The turkey turned out perfectly. Even the gravy was very good and I suck at gravy. Out pitbull Bear dug the stewed lungs and kidneys and other entrails that cooked in the bottom pan and were used to make gravy.

I will never be afraid to make a turkey on the grill again. In fact I'll make one when it's not a normal meal to make because everything turned out that well.

21238922881_bed5f1248a_c.jpg
[/url]P9070004 by Tim Murphy, on Flickr[/IMG]

21044135319_d9a2e323ec_c.jpg
[/url]P9070005 by Tim Murphy, on Flickr[/IMG]

There is a nice meaty carcass left to use to make turkey noodle soup and we have a ton of meat left over. Two people don't really dent a 14 pound turkey.

Regards,

Tim Murphy :)
 
Dave O (Alaska) said:
Time? Temps? Looks like it came out great!
Click to expand...

Dear Dave,

It took about 3 hours and 45 minutes at 300F to get to 175F internal. It was a 14 pound turkey so that was only a little longer than I expected it to take.

It turned out very moist and tender. You could cut the breast meat fairly easily with your dinner fork.

Regards,

Tim Murphy :D
 
Nailed that one on your first try Tim, nice cook! Barb and I do turkeys all year long and in October Chris will open up the turkey threads and oh boy you will see the turkey masters come out and there will be all kinds of great ways to cook turkeys.
 
Turkey on a Weber is the only way to cook one. Rich and I have been doing that for years, I don't remember the last time we did one in the oven. Next time you will have to try smoking it that gives it a whole different flavor.
 
Looks great Tim. From the pics it looks like you did indirect. That is always how I do my Turkeys. The Weber site has some great tips for turkey also. You might want to check out brining the turkey. This makes for a really great and moist bird. Did you use any wood chips or chunks and if so, what kind and how much. Sounds like you did great.
 
Dear Bob,

I used soaked cherry chips but not very much of them. I probably used the equivalent of a coffee cup full of chips over the entire cook.

I had considered brining the turkey but I was a little behind on time due to a late start in the thawing process. i would have needed to start the process a day earlier if I wanted to get a 12 to 18 hour brine done. Instead, I just cooked it indirectly at as low a temperature as I could maintain. It never got above 300 F and the turkey turned out very moist and tender. I carved the one side of the breast off in a big chunk like they show on the Weber Grills site and then cut it rather thickly across the grain into serving size slices. The slices were easily close to 3/4's of an inch thick and there was no need for a knife at dinner. The pieces cut easily with a fork.

I can't wait to do another practice one before I commit to doing the Thanksgiving Turkey but if I can repeat what I did this time around I'll have no fear of cooking a big meal for a larger crowd.

Regards,

Tim Murphy :)
 
Tim,
One of the reasons I started doing our turkeys was that we had an oven/broiler and not a double oven. That made it easier to cook for a big holiday. That problem has now been dealt with by installing a new double oven. That said, I would never go back to doing the turkey in an oven since the quality we get in the Weber is so much better. I have done them in both the Performer and the WSM. For me, the Performer is my preferred turkey cooker since I prefer the higher heat. Using the indirect approach with apple chips and brining the bird is my preferred approach but what works for you is the best way to go. Also, my wife preferes a little less smoke flavor on the turkey. Never be afraid to use your outdoor cookers for most things you cook. It is more fun and I think the food tastes better. Again, congrats on a great cook and a great step forward. Enjoy that bird.
Bob
 
Your turkey looks tremendous , Tim. I haven't tried one yet on my OTG but this encourages me. I have done a few on the wsm both spatchcock and regular...top rack no water pan , high heat and they come out nice. As Bob mentioned , you do get a bit more smoke flavor with the wsm , but if you stick to charcoal with no smoke wood , it's not too pronounced. But my wife is also in the "less is more" camp when it comes to smoke.
 
Dear Bob and Frank,

I love smoke flavor and if I had some chunk apple wood I would have used it. I wasn't paying close attention to the chips and chunk wood I have left and was down to hickory chunks and cherry and pecan chips. I just grabbed the cherry chips and used them. For my first attempt I decided to go a little easier on the quantity of smoke. In retrospect I probably should have used a little more wood. The smoke flavor that we got was very light and I like the reddish shine the smoke puts on the skin. Theresa usually is pretty tolerable of smoke flavor on everything I cook and she said that maybe it was a little on the light side too.

I don't have a smoker, yet, so I am relegated to cooking on my OTG or my Genesis gas grill if I am in a bit of a hurry. I'd cook over a fire pit if that was my only choice. I cook outside 12 months of the year. The gasser is under the front porch so it is weather safe. The OTG sits in the garage and comes out to the driveway for use. Unless it is pouring down rain it is always my first choice for cooking. I've done some nice long cooks during snowstorms and I am looking forward to cooking in the snow again this year. I picked up 10 bags of Kingsford Blue at Home Depot on Saturday during their sale so I should be good for a while.

I like to try different things on the grills and I am sure I'll find something else to do. I was scared of doing a turkey at first but the one I cooked yesterday was one that a received free last Thanksgiving at a local supermarket and I had immediately put it in the freezer to keep. I figured if I messed it up it was a free turkey anyway, so what did I really have to lose? After I turned the turkey over to breast side up I figured I was doing fine and put the hotdogs back in the freezer before they thawed. It was worth the almost 4 hours it took to cook! ;-)

I'll be sure to watch the board often as the Fall progresses to see what other ideas folks have for turkeys too. I like to try different things and so far except for salmon I haven't cooked anything that I wasn't willing to make again.

Regards,

Tim Murphy :)
 
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