Roast or smoke a 12 pounder this Sunday


 
I bought a 14 pounder yesterday and did a quick-thaw water bath. I quartered it, seasoned with Tony Chachere's original spice blend for dry brine over night. I'll probably put the dark meat on around two ish today, then white meat about 2 hours before serving at 7. This is a "trial run" in prep for the big day. Just hoping thanksgiving day weather is OK for outdoor cooking.
 
Let's sear the dark meat first. Going with JD lump, no smoke wood tonight.


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My William Bounds pepper grinder jumped in the pic for a cameo.

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My $10 performer makes a great side table. Someday I'll cook on it.
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John_NJ said:
Dan- if you were to quarter and grill a turkey again, would you do anything differently next time?
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I'm not sure.

E6 worked well though I should have used a bit more Lump.

I like Brett's suggestion using 2 gallon zip lock bags, but I didn't have any on hand.

Nothing was flawed, nothing went wrong, it generally cooked according to plan, but the results were "just OK", and to be candid the last few chicken cooks I've done have all tasted better.
 
DanHoo said:
I'm not sure.

E6 worked well though I should have used a bit more Lump.

I like Brett's suggestion using 2 gallon zip lock bags, but I didn't have any on hand.

Nothing was flawed, nothing went wrong, it generally cooked according to plan, but the results were "just OK", and to be candid the last few chicken cooks I've done have all tasted better.
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Ok thanks for the reply.

Do you think you’ll try again grilling a turkey using the same quartering method?

I want to try it at some point, but like you I will not stray from the traditional roast whole turkey for thanksgiving day.
 
John_NJ said:
Ok thanks for the reply.

Do you think you’ll try again grilling a turkey using the same quartering method?

I want to try it at some point, but like you I will not stray from the traditional roast whole turkey for thanksgiving day.
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I've quartered turkey before, but have smoked them at a lower temp.

I've kept the turkey whole and roasted it indirect on my BGE

I've kept the turkey whole and roasted it on my gas grill.

My favorite method for thanksgiving is to cook a 22 to 24 pound turkey in the oven, with stuffing. I've done wet brine, Dry Brine, No Brine, but oven roasting is still my personal favorite.

edit: I guess I didn't really answer the question. I'm not sure. I think I'll keep experimenting.

I think my favorite smoked turkey was mesquite smoked on the BGE, using half mesquite lump and half of whatever else I had on hand to tame the mesquite. The skin was rubbery (as expected) yet the meat was really good. Moist with a nice touch of smoke.

In past years the smaller frozen turkeys have gone on sale around or just after thanksgiving for about 59 cents a pound in past years, and sometimes even less with a coupon, so its a bargain to cook these.
 
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John_NJ said:
Ok thanks for the reply.

Do you think you’ll try again grilling a turkey using the same quartering method?

I want to try it at some point, but like you I will not stray from the traditional roast whole turkey for thanksgiving day.
Click to expand...
note, i've been using my quartered, wet brine method for 12+ years now. it's the only way I will cook turkey. it's moist, juicy, flavorful and with mahogonay colored and crisp skin, 100% of the time.
 
BFletcher said:
This talk about spinning is reminding me of your garage door, lol. This is my current plan for Thanksgiving this year:

Brine with this (I've used this for the past two years):
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00O2ZXPEM/?tag=tvwb-20
View attachment 62155

Spatchcock with these cutters:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000PGG7ZQ/?tag=tvwb-20
View attachment 62170
I purchased them six months ago and used them on two or three chickens with excellent results; I'm looking forward to the experience of using them on a turkey since my previous attempts with other cutters on turkeys were dismal (possibly because I'm a weakling).

And most likely do a high heat cook on the SmokeFire.

Good luck!
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I have a similar pair from Amazon big difference doing a spatch chicken and doing a spatch turkey way more work and not cause your weak just a lot harder to get through it but you will.

Last year I did a 14 pounder on my UDS spatched took 2:45 then cut the drumsticks off and let them run another 15 minutes. Not a brine guy just used some rub cooked at 350 on the UDS thats a true 350 my therm is right below the cooking grate. I pulled the breast at 155 and like I said the drums went another 15 minutes best turkey I have ever had, we got an invite this year so not cooking.
 
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