Turkey on a gasser


 
J Grotz said:
UPDATE: Unfortunately, there has been a change of plans and I will be cooking the turkey on my WSM 22. My SIL has come down with shingles, even though he had the two-part vaccine that is allegedly 97% effective. The poor man is suffering, so the family Thanksgiving dinner has been relocated to our house. Though I have missed cooking Thanksgiving dinner the past few years, I hate to do it under these circumstances. Thanks again for all the great gas grill turkey advice!

Jon, that Lamb shawarma looks so damn good!
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Do hope your son in law does better; that is a very painful thing to get.

That picture was taken while I was in Germany last month. The Turks call it "doner kebob" and has become very popular in Germany due to so many Turkish immigrants. (Reminds me of Taco food trucks here in South Florida!) My co-worker and I had it twice, the second time in the mall area in front of the Brandenburg Gate.
 
I used to eat a lot of those when I was stationed in Germany. THey used to sell them out of those sidewalk wagons. That was back around the time the Berlin wall went down though.
 
Bruce, let me know when you want to do some lamb!
I had gotten my bird out the night before your post about thawing, I’m afraid it’s still pretty “firm” I’m going to have to “brine thaw” it I think.
 
Yah, no problem with a brine thaw the last 12 hours. I will probably drop mine in brine Wednesday night as well, even though it is pretty much thawed already.
 
Yep, I ended up doing that last year (or the year before) with excellent results! Now I will be making up a brine tomorrow, along with cornbread sausage apple stuffing. The rest will have to wait for day of!
 
Well you all know my plan was to truss up the guest of honor on the kid's Genny rotisserie. Well looking at the size and how unwieldy that thing was I called an audible. First I made my own brine recipe. Figuring that more flavor would be better I used 4 containers of Sam's Club organic chicken broth. i.e. 1 gal. To that I added a whole cup of Kosher salt, 1/2 cup brown sugar, salvia/sage some onion, garlic and bay. Along with some vegetation carrots, and celery. Cooked that all together for a while, put outside to cool. Too that I added another gal of water and lots of ice and put the bird in a large food safe bucket. 24 hours later I got the Wolf going. But, here is where things went a little haywire. Used my wife's oven thermo laid the bird in a rack and started him breast side down, no pan under it in the middle. 2 outside burners on med high, next 2 burners medium. Two packets of cherry wood on the outside burner tents. Put bird in breast first leg side toward front as the Wolf is designed to run a bit hotter at front. This is where trouble began. Allowed about 30 min for temps to stabilize and took a small peek at thermo which was placed at front of grill. Knowing my grill the way I do my gut told me I should be about 360. But noooo I see 200. I'm thinking ***? Wait a little longer, 250. So I begin fiddling with burner settings trying to get things to steady out at 325 or so. Still no love so I turned the bird over about 2 hours in laying back bone right on the grates
Long story short suddenly I realize bird is finishing now MUCH quicker than anticipated for 325! Oven therm? Still at 250! So I now decide go by seat of my pants. Adjust burners back down noting limbs were getting done FAST. So now I put roasting pan under it. Continuing but now realize he's way too done too fast. By time I pulled it I was getting temps of 185 in breast and 180 in thighs and get this..............pop up still had not popped! Decided to pull him, put him in large covered roaster and off we went to kids. Time in the covered roaster prior to carving about 90 min.
Now best part. I was convinced the buzzard was going to be tough and dry. Oddly enough I begin carving and the meat is tender, juicy and flavorful. Perfectly seasoned too. So good even I liked it!
Everyone raved how good the bird was and said you can ruin a bird any time. Bottom line I think gathering my thoughts and flying by the seat of my pants going off what I KNEW about my grill, and the long brine saved my a$$. Sorry no photos
 
Larry, so what was the deal? Were you using the grill thermometer? It sounds like you need a new one or maybe use an external one. I used my THermoworks smoke and the differences in temps was huge compared to my lid thermometer. The only think I use my lid thermometer for is to check to see if the grill is heated up.

I am glad it all worked out OK for you in the end.
 
My Wolf never had a thermometer. I have considered installing one but hate the thought of drilling into that beautiful double walled heavy gauge 304 SS lid. Up til now I have always been able to simply estimate my grill and have had good results. I just did not want to ruin a $55 buzzard so I was trying to shoot for a 325 temp. Also I was trying to do a ballet with the timing
 
I went back to my roots and flew by the seat too! Sometimes that just works out right! Everything here worked out beautifully!
 
A little common sense and a clear idea of you want to accomplish is usually plenty to get the job done.
 
LMichaels said:
My Wolf never had a thermometer. I have considered installing one but hate the thought of drilling into that beautiful double walled heavy gauge 304 SS lid. Up til now I have always been able to simply estimate my grill and have had good results. I just did not want to ruin a $55 buzzard so I was trying to shoot for a 325 temp. Also I was trying to do a ballet with the timing
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Timing is my top priority. That's why I like the Meater Thermometer. It estimates the time remaining for the cook, which allows me to do sides and know when it's going to be ready.

I realize I've advertised the Meater a lot on this board, but I still can't see a downside.

Hope everybody had a happy Thanksgiving!

Slainte

Tim
 
My brother has some kind of thermo he bought. One probe clips on the grate and one goes into the food. That along with a timer. I sure could have used that. The only reason I got so in trouble with this bird is because it was like a ballet. The idea was I had to have it done at a pretty precise time, then into a covered roaster for a 45 min trip to kids house to continue it's rest period while I had a delightful beverage (scotch rocks) and a couple appetizers. So rest time would total between 60 to 90 min. I have found the longer those buzzards can rest the more cooperative they are. This one did end up with a 90 min nap. I think that and the brine saved me. Best damn turkey I have ever had
 
Larry, that thermo your brother has sounds like the Thermoworks Smoke or along those lines. They do take almost all the guess work out of it. One of the best things is you get an internal grill temp that is accurate and can be monitored from inside the house.
 
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