ChadVKealey
TVWBB Pro
The rotisserie got a good workout this weekend!
Thursday's gobbler was a 16 pound fresh/natural turkey that was treated to Alton Brown's honey brine. I had trouble getting it balanced, but the motor kept on chugging. Click on the picture to see the video.
I wanted to try something new, so I also made up a batch of Alton's "root vegetable panzanella" to roast under the turkey and catch all those delicious drippings:
The Performer was running 350-375 without a problem and the internal temps were well into the "done" range (172 in the breast, 185-195 in the legs & thighs) in just 2.5 hours. The skin softened up during the 1.5 hour rest/transport to dinner, but the meat was absolutely fabulous and the carcass made 3 quarts of the best damn turkey stock I've ever tasted.
Today, I cooked another, smaller (12 pound) turkey for 2nd Thanksgiving. This one was dry-brined, again using one of Alton Brown's recipes. I think flavor-wise, it was just as tasty as the wet-brined one, but the texture was less mushy, though still tender. For some reason, the same setup (two charcoal baskets with a water/drip pan in the middle and a few small chunks of apple and cherry and the lower vent open 1/2 way) was only giving me 325-350 today. So, even though it was a smaller bird with less water weight, it still took a little over 2 hours. It probably could have used another 20-30 minutes, but it was done enough to eat for me.
Thursday's gobbler was a 16 pound fresh/natural turkey that was treated to Alton Brown's honey brine. I had trouble getting it balanced, but the motor kept on chugging. Click on the picture to see the video.
I wanted to try something new, so I also made up a batch of Alton's "root vegetable panzanella" to roast under the turkey and catch all those delicious drippings:
The Performer was running 350-375 without a problem and the internal temps were well into the "done" range (172 in the breast, 185-195 in the legs & thighs) in just 2.5 hours. The skin softened up during the 1.5 hour rest/transport to dinner, but the meat was absolutely fabulous and the carcass made 3 quarts of the best damn turkey stock I've ever tasted.
Today, I cooked another, smaller (12 pound) turkey for 2nd Thanksgiving. This one was dry-brined, again using one of Alton Brown's recipes. I think flavor-wise, it was just as tasty as the wet-brined one, but the texture was less mushy, though still tender. For some reason, the same setup (two charcoal baskets with a water/drip pan in the middle and a few small chunks of apple and cherry and the lower vent open 1/2 way) was only giving me 325-350 today. So, even though it was a smaller bird with less water weight, it still took a little over 2 hours. It probably could have used another 20-30 minutes, but it was done enough to eat for me.
