Cooking Thanksgiving Turkey a Few Days Ahead of Time

[dcbc 14621]

I've been "permitted" to smoke a turkey on the Sunday before Thanksgiving.  My plan is to smoke it on the WSM, let it rest, vacuum seal it, refrigerate it, transport to Houston, reheat with a sous vide on Thanksgiving morning, carve, and serve for lunch.

Anyone see any problems with this plan?  I have the food saver pleated bags that should fit a whole turkey with no problem.  What temperature do I reheat it to before carving?

 

[cactusflinthead 27626]

Reheat time and temp, the integrity of the plastic seal in transport and keeping it cold but not waterlogging it on the ride down. 

250 for the reheat and as long as it takes, maybe foil and butter it up some if it has started to get tight

double bag and maybe even duct tape on the seams. 

Big ass cooler and lots of cooler packs or maybe packed with a raggedy old blanket or news paper on top of it and packs then more packs. If you are toting down some frozen other stuff using them as cooling packs would work too. Thinking out loud. 

[dcbc 14621]

Running through a practice bird today. Just buttered, panned, and foiled this bad boy.

 

 

 

[DalTxHornFan 3129]

I've done this before to good effect, though I usually spatchcock the turkeys I [brine and] smoke.

[dcbc 14621]

Edited November 4, 2019 by dcbc

[drt 642]

I'm not sure 250 on the reheat via SV, was that supposed to be 150?  Sounds really high if not a typo.

[Incredulity 11836]

1 hour ago, drt said:

I'm not sure 250 on the reheat via SV, was that supposed to be 150?  Sounds really high if not a typo.

water boils at 212...  superheated water??

[drt 642]

Jesus.  I'm going to go drink some coffee now.

[Sam Lin 3581]

12 hours ago, Incredulity said:

water boils at 212...  superheated water??

Pressure cooker at ~15psi will give liquid water at 250F.

https://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/water-vapor-saturation-pressure-d_599.html

[El Diablo 4232]

It's turkey you can serve as mashed potatoes!

[elfenix 34595]

i don't think cactus read the OP much

[cactusflinthead 27626]

19 hours ago, elfenix said:

i don't think cactus read the OP much

What am I missing here?

[elfenix 34595]

On 11/3/2019 at 3:42 PM, dcbc said:

reheat with a sous vide on Thanksgiving morning

 

On 11/3/2019 at 4:07 PM, cactusflinthead said:

maybe foil and butter it up some if it has started to get tight

foil and butter in sous vide?

[cactusflinthead 27626]

5 minutes ago, elfenix said:

 

foil and butter in sous vide?

If he's going to bag it that's redundant. 

Kinda defeats the purpose of smoking it doesn't it? I'll run the risk of drying out the breasts trying to get the skin crisp again, hence butter. Seen injections too. 

I'm not much of culinary player. Boiling it in a bag, even fancy named, is not a favorite. 

[gsoda3 3342]

save yourself the trouble and just order a deep fried one from popeyes.

[dcbc 14621]

5 hours ago, elfenix said:

 

foil and butter in sous vide?

I think I meant stick some butter in the bag with it and let it melt over it during the reheat.

Guessing that taking it to 150  to reheat is a good gameplan.

5 hours ago, gsoda3 said:

save yourself the trouble and just order a deep fried one from popeyes.

Line's too long since the return of the sammich.

[dcbc 14621]

5 hours ago, cactusflinthead said:

Boiling it in a bag, even fancy named, is not a favorite. 

I hadn't planned to boil anything.

[Gladeite 375]

I have smoked several with varying results.  My best method so far has been to inject liberally with Tony Chachere butter mixture and spatchcock on BGE.  Last year, all the ham was left and not a single bite of turkey remained.  

I will do my practice turkey next week.  New grill and unfamiliar with its cooking tendencies. .  

[gsoda3 3342]

5 hours ago, dcbc said:

Line's too long since the return of the sammich.

you can call in the order and then pick it up on thanksgiving day.  takes a couple hours in the oven to warm up.  it's really good.  totally worth it if you'd rather not mess with it all.

[Deej 77482]

11 hours ago, gsoda3 said:

save yourself the trouble and just order a deep fried one from popeyes.

Popeye's ain't got time for your turkey. Do you even chicken sandwich, bro?

[dcbc 14621]

2 hours ago, gsoda3 said:

you can call in the order and then pick it up on thanksgiving day.  takes a couple hours in the oven to warm up.  it's really good.  totally worth it if you'd rather not mess with it all.

Appreciate it, but I kind of want to mess with it.  First time in my mom's 80 years that she's handed over the bird to me.  Power play.

 

[gsoda3 3342]

13 hours ago, dcbc said:

Appreciate it, but I kind of want to mess with it.  First time in my mom's 80 years that she's handed over the bird to me.  Power play.

 

that's huge! expecting full documentation.  and samples.  

[LW Goatman 1127]

I love smoking Turkeys and do them year round. PSA, buy turkeys the day after Thanksgiving and Christmas. The ones out in the thawing bins are dirt cheap.

[dcbc 14621]

It is done.  Pray for Mojo.

[immamac 43989]

not spatchcocking a turkey is a mistake for a smoke. There's 0 chance that it cooks evenly. Also smoking Sunday to reheat Thursday is a horrible mistake. Expect a horrible textured bird.

[dcbc 14621]

14 minutes ago, immamac said:

not spatchcocking a turkey is a mistake for a smoke. There's 0 chance that it cooks evenly. Also smoking Sunday to reheat Thursday is a horrible mistake. Expect a horrible textured bird.

Oh, Captain, you have had since November 3 to reply.  Waiting until this point is not helpful at all.  I'm already in the traffic pattern.

That said, I have had fantastic, unspatchcocked Turkeys in the past.  And I had even temps when I took it off today. 

As for the reheat, we shall see.  I'll be honest when I update this thread though.

Edited November 25, 2019 by dcbc

[dcbc 14621]

Update.  Great success!  Evenly cooked.  Did not dry out in the reheat.  Brought it up to 140 F, where it held for about 20 minutes before slicing. 

 

 

 

Edited November 28, 2019 by dcbc