Reheating whole turkey

[AdamDenison]

I'll be smoking a turkey (first time!) the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. We'll then drive 3 hours to a relative's house. I plan to keep it warm in a cooler for the drive and then put it in the fridge overnight. My question is what is the best way to reheat the turkey on Thanksgiving without drying it out? I was thinking about covering with foil in a basting pan and slowly reheating on low temp. Good? Bad? Other ideas?

 

[BFletcher]

This isn't exactly an answer to your question but your title reads as though you are storing a whole, cooked turkey in the fridge... I had the impression that you had to carve it shortly after cooking and store as leftovers in the fridge.

 

[Timothy F. Lewis]

The transportation of the whole bird is a very bad idea! If it must move, the only safe way I know of would be to carve the whole beast and get it under 40 degrees ASAP! If beautiful presentation is what you’re looking for it won’t be as pretty s a whole bird but, were it me, I would separate wings, legs and thighs as much intact as possible, then lift each lobe of the breasts as is filleting a fish, cut as close to the breastbone and ribs as possible. Those “primal” sections can chill more quickly and be safer to transport. You can lay them out in a pan resembling the relative positions of the bird and transport them that way.
Reheating when you arrive is simple, since you will have foiled the pan before departure and kept it all on ice just put the pan in an oven (or grill, whatever heat source you have) and get it up to temperature.
Cooling the whole bird will create a very rich environment for bacteria to have their own Thanksgiving party! Do not do it that way!

 

[AdamDenison]

The transportation of the whole bird is a very bad idea! If it must move, the only safe way I know of would be to carve the whole beast and get it under 40 degrees ASAP! If beautiful presentation is what you’re looking for it won’t be as pretty s a whole bird but, were it me, I would separate wings, legs and thighs as much intact as possible, then lift each lobe of the breasts as is filleting a fish, cut as close to the breastbone and ribs as possible. Those “primal” sections can chill more quickly and be safer to transport. You can lay them out in a pan resembling the relative positions of the bird and transport them that way.
Reheating when you arrive is simple, since you will have foiled the pan before departure and kept it all on ice just put the pan in an oven (or grill, whatever heat source you have) and get it up to temperature.

Awesome! I thought keeping the bird whole would make sure the juices stay in. Hadn't considered bacteria. Thank you!

 

[Timothy F. Lewis]

Save juices when you break it down, then pour the collected juice on when you reheat. Glad I could help.
That’s just the way I would do it.
If I’m completely off base, someone will sing out and say so!
The skin won’t be very crispy but you could try a couple of minutes under the broiler to bring back a little bit of “snap”.