Brian Johnson
TVWBB Pro
So I got my ~10lb pre-brined frozen bird thawed, covered w/a basic kosher salt, coarse ground pepper, onion & garlic powders mixture, and ready for the top rack of my WSM. I lit 2 chimneys full of KBB, foiled my empty waterpan, spread the coals, added some Pecan wood, and put my bird on. About 2 hours later she was done! I was a little surprised at how quickly it was done, but not really considering it was only 10lb.
If I can get the finished photos off of my wife's phone I'll add them here later (lest I be accused of making the whole thing up), but for now I will describe what we ended up with. A beautiful looking, really tasty, moist bird w/rubbery skin.
Because I was doing other things around the house, I didn't do a good job of making regular observations of temp and cook time, but I'm pretty sure the dome temp read around 300-325 F every time I did get around to looking. All vents were wide open the entire cook. So here's the question: Is there some trick to not having rubbery turkey skin? Do I need to cook on the lower grate? Is there something special that should be done (or not be done) during prep? I did brush the bird with olive oil before applying the seasoning (I do this when I roast turkeys in the oven and whenever I do whole chickens on the grill). Should I skip this step and apply the seasoning dry?
Thoughts? Suggestions?
If I can get the finished photos off of my wife's phone I'll add them here later (lest I be accused of making the whole thing up), but for now I will describe what we ended up with. A beautiful looking, really tasty, moist bird w/rubbery skin.
Because I was doing other things around the house, I didn't do a good job of making regular observations of temp and cook time, but I'm pretty sure the dome temp read around 300-325 F every time I did get around to looking. All vents were wide open the entire cook. So here's the question: Is there some trick to not having rubbery turkey skin? Do I need to cook on the lower grate? Is there something special that should be done (or not be done) during prep? I did brush the bird with olive oil before applying the seasoning (I do this when I roast turkeys in the oven and whenever I do whole chickens on the grill). Should I skip this step and apply the seasoning dry?
Thoughts? Suggestions?
