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The Turkey Thread

kevwun

By kevwun
in Food and Travel

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Etexhorn13
Etexhorn13

I smoked a 12 lb and my dad roasted a 22 lb. His might be the prettiest turkey I’ve ever seen, but my smoked turkey seemed to get the most compliments. I think that may have more to do with the folks

PittsburghTiger
PittsburghTiger

I just took this off the smoker. It’s a backup turkey for the dinner tomorrow at a friend’s place up on the Allegheny. It looks good and smells better.

Both Tacos
Both Tacos

Turkey spread of smoked Turkey breast and fried Turkey.

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elfenix

elfenix 34353

Posted
Posted
50 minutes ago, CycleTex87 said:

We’re having a smaller family gathering this year and I don’t want to do the whole roasted turkey. How about a breast?  Are they available for the most part?  

nope. heb is closed.

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TonyTexas

TonyTexas 10537

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, CycleTex87 said:

We’re having a smaller family gathering this year and I don’t want to do the whole roasted turkey. How about a breast?  Are they available for the most part?  

It’s really takes very little additional effort or money to do a whole turkey. And you’ll have leftovers for sammiches. 

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Baboontyme

Baboontyme 2829

Posted
Posted
3 hours ago, CycleTex87 said:

We’re having a smaller family gathering this year and I don’t want to do the whole roasted turkey. How about a breast?  Are they available for the most part?  

You can definitely get just a breast. If you custom order one you can get them up to even 18 or 20 lbs. Depends on what people like. I do not like dark meat so I would be happy with just the mammaries but the prevailing opinion seems to be opposite. 

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Baboontyme

Baboontyme 2829

Posted
Posted

I ordered a bird this weekend. 20-24 lb range Amish turkey. I pick it up on the 23rd. I wasn't able to do my annual spatchcock tradition last year due to some construction but I'll be back on my game this year with the reciprocating saw. 

I saw something on threads recently where people are "frogging" their birds instead of butterflying them. Basically this seems to be where you cut the neck/spine out but then make some deep cuts above the thighs and you butterfly it vertically instead of horizontally. I am not sure why this is becoming a thing, I don't really see any advantage to it. Has anyone tried it?

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Chips O'Toole

Chips O'Toole 1327

Posted
Posted
On 11/3/2024 at 5:43 PM, CycleTex87 said:

We’re having a smaller family gathering this year and I don’t want to do the whole roasted turkey. How about a breast?  Are they available for the most part?  

HEB actually has boneless turkey breasts that have already been pre-brined to some extent and are fantastic smoked. Requires pretty much no prep. 

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Woland

Woland 749

Posted
Posted
We’re having a smaller family gathering this year and I don’t want to do the whole roasted turkey. How about a breast?  Are they available for the most part?  

Breasts are available both on the bone and boneless. I smoke several breasts the day before, and after they have rested, seal them in Food Saver bags. Day-of I reheat the breasts in boiling water. Turkey is moist and it’s one thing less I don’t worry about the day I have guests.
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dcbc

dcbc 14548

Posted
Posted (edited)

Since last year, I've started cooking the Anthony Bourdain "Stunt Turkey" a couple of weekends before Thanksgiving to use to harvest the bones for stock, and the pan drippings and vegetables I toss under the rack for the gravy.  That wasn't his reasoning, but the cooking process is really simple.  And despite its being just the typical oven-bird, it always turns out delicious and is super easy for those who don't want to go to much trouble in the cooking process. 

 

Roasting pan.  Rack.  Bird.  Brush 2 T melted butter over the outside of a 10 lb turkey.  Salt and Pepper to taste.  2 cups of water in the pan.  Roast at 425F for about 2 hours until it temps done.  Baste regularly.

 

Once carved up, I freeze the bones, drippings, and veggies until stock and gravy day next weekend.  The veggies get milled into the gravy along with the drippings.  I vacuum-seal and freeze the meat, which we give to a family we help out from time to time. 

Edited by dcbc
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South Austin

South Austin 52646

Posted
Posted
31 minutes ago, dcbc said:

Since last year, I've started cooking the Anthony Bourdain "Stunt Turkey" a couple of weekends before Thanksgiving to use to harvest the bones for stock, and the pan drippings and vegetables I toss under the rack for the gravy.  That wasn't his reasoning, but the cooking process is really simple.  And despite its being just the typical oven-bird, it always turns out delicious and is super easy for those who don't want to go to much trouble in the cooking process. 

 

Roasting pan.  Rack.  Bird.  Brush 2 T melted butter over the outside of a 10 lb turkey.  Salt and Pepper to taste.  2 cups of water in the pan.  Roast at 425F for about 2 hours until it temps done.  Baste regularly.

 

Once carved up, I freeze the bones, drippings, and veggies until stock and gravy day next weekend.  The veggies get milled into the gravy along with the drippings.  I vacuum-seal and freeze the meat, which we give to a family we help out from time to time. 

And what, good sir, are you going to do with the turkey stock?

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dcbc

dcbc 14548

Posted
Posted
27 minutes ago, South Austin said:

And what, good sir, are you going to do with the turkey stock?

This batch will go into the dressing and the gravy.  The stock from the T-day bird, well, you know where that's going. 

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Baboontyme

Baboontyme 2829

Posted
Posted
6 hours ago, dcbc said:

Since last year, I've started cooking the Anthony Bourdain "Stunt Turkey" a couple of weekends before Thanksgiving to use to harvest the bones for stock, and the pan drippings and vegetables I toss under the rack for the gravy.  That wasn't his reasoning, but the cooking process is really simple.  And despite its being just the typical oven-bird, it always turns out delicious and is super easy for those who don't want to go to much trouble in the cooking process. 

 

Roasting pan.  Rack.  Bird.  Brush 2 T melted butter over the outside of a 10 lb turkey.  Salt and Pepper to taste.  2 cups of water in the pan.  Roast at 425F for about 2 hours until it temps done.  Baste regularly.

 

Once carved up, I freeze the bones, drippings, and veggies until stock and gravy day next weekend.  The veggies get milled into the gravy along with the drippings.  I vacuum-seal and freeze the meat, which we give to a family we help out from time to time. 

Goddammit dcbc. Looks like I'll be going to the store later. If it's open. 

Oh and I ordered a cheapo meat slicer today so I need something to practice on. 

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Gatorubet

Gatorubet 30326

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Posted

My failsafe method that everybody loves is to throw a stuffed 12 pound turkey on my Weber kettle grill.   I make a big ass mound of briquettes and once it’s going I create a round circle of briquettes and stick the bird in a pan on top of the grill and close the lid.   The temperature is so hot that the skin of the bird turns extremely dark brown, almost almost black, and all the moisture stays in the bird.

The breast meat never gets that very white color it does in birds that are dryer, but instead stays extremely moist and slightly pink (even though the temperature is absolutely high enough to eliminate any problems).  

The bird comes out with a slight hint of barbecue smoky flavor - but not a smoked turkey taste.   A 12 pound stuffed bird is done about in about 2 1/2 hours.   At about an hour and a half I will add more coals.    You need to make sure the air vents remain open, and I always stick something like a nail under the lid to allow a little more air than the vents will provide to make sure the coal heat remains constant.    

The nice side benefit is that it frees up your oven for whatever the hell else you’re doing on side dishes.  I have never had a complaint and it is almost stupid proof.  If you screw up in the coals (or you buy cheap coals that burn too quickly and don’t last) you just throw it in the oven at 400 for another 30-45 minutes and it doesn’t seem to change the taste or meat moisture at all.

 It’s just one more of a bunch of ways to cook a great bird. 

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'stache

'stache 21894

Posted
Posted

My SIL got a free turkey from work and I'm responsible for cooking. I think I'm going to quarter it and smoke the breast and roast the legs and thighs in the oven. I've seen both the whole breast section smoked bone in and I've seen it taken off the bone for smoking. I'm thinking boneless, I want it to cook as fast as possible without sacrificing flavor. I've also seen boneless cooked without the skin. I've given up getting good smoked skin but I'm thinking of leaving it on for the smoke for moisture and taking it off late in the cook and reseasoning the breast. Lots of butter involved obviously. Wish me luck. 

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Beantown Express 2.0

Beantown Express 2.0 6568

Posted
Posted

So, I do a regular roasted turkey in the oven, but my family also wanted one of those Popeyes turkeys.  I picked it up a few weeks ago and it comes frozen and says to thaw in the fridge for 72 hours.  I put it in the fridge Sunday night and the fucker is still kind of frozen this morning (going on 90+ hours).  Thoughts on how to quickly thaw a turkey.  The directions say put it in a water bath but make sure to have a faucet on full running over it the whole time which doesn't make sense to me as that would flood everywhere if I do it inside.  I can fill my kitchen sink up with water but not sure how long it will take to thaw or how safe it is.  I prefer not giving all my guests food poisoning tonight.

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TwiceHorn

TwiceHorn 31637

Posted
Posted
7 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

I would do the water-in-sink method, but make sure the water remains cold.  Your tap water is unlikely to be cold enough -- add some ice every once in awhile?

Yeah water temp is supposed to be maintained at 40 or less, so they suggest icing it before putting it in the sink/container.  At that rate, it's supposed to take 30 minutes/pound.

So my turkey this year is a 10 pounder for a small group.  I put it in the fridge Sunday night, thinking cavalierly that 2.5 days should be enough for the smallest turkey I have ever seen.  I dry brined it yesterday with salt and spices and the breast and upper regions of the turkey seemed fine, but the leg and wing joints and bottom still seemed pretty frozen.  And this morning, I removed the neck and a big hunk of ice came with it.  And the lower regions are quite stiff.  Fuuurk.

Lots of places say roasting a partially frozen turkey is fine.  A couple mention that the formerly frozen parts may not reach temp as fast as the breast and the breast may dry out.  

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TwiceHorn

TwiceHorn 31637

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1 minute ago, TexasHooch said:

Kind of frozen= Mostly thawed.  Toss it boobs down a sink of 40-45 degree water.  Keep it at that temp by periodically adding ice or changing water.  It will be fine.

Welp, it's in the oven now.  Gonna slather the upper regions with butter when it comes out, kind of depending on the thigh/breast temp differential toward the end.

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TexasHooch

TexasHooch 5152

Posted
Posted
7 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

Welp, it's in the oven now.  Gonna slather the upper regions with butter when it comes out, kind of depending on the thigh/breast temp differential toward the end.

My comment was for Beantown, as it sounds like his is still in the bag.  Your situation wouldn't concern me at all though.

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Beantown Express 2.0

Beantown Express 2.0 6568

Posted
Posted

I a trying the water bath.  One site and Twice Horn say the water must be below 40 degrees.  The Popeyes instructions with the turkey say under 70 degrees.  I wonder if the difference is this is a cooked turkey and not raw.  My water is in the 63 degree range once I have added ice and I am all out of ice now.

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TwiceHorn

TwiceHorn 31637

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Posted
6 minutes ago, Beantown Express 2.0 said:

I a trying the water bath.  One site and Twice Horn say the water must be below 40 degrees.  The Popeyes instructions with the turkey say under 70 degrees.  I wonder if the difference is this is a cooked turkey and not raw.  My water is in the 63 degree range once I have added ice and I am all out of ice now.

Yeah, the cooked/raw thing probably makes a big difference.  USDA and many others say extended time above 40 and under 140 is very dangerous.  I think that's much less of an issue if it's already cooked.

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Beantown Express 2.0

Beantown Express 2.0 6568

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Posted

This may be somewhere in this thread already but for a regular roasted turkey what are the thoughts on starting it at 425 degrees for the first 45 minutes then 325 degrees for the rest?  I have a 20 pound turkey so trying to do the calculations on time in the oven.  I have seen 13-15 minutes per pound but not sure if that changes if I start the oven higher for the first 45 minutes.  As you can see, Turkey is not my thing.

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dcbc

dcbc 14548

Posted
Posted
10 minutes ago, Beantown Express 2.0 said:

This may be somewhere in this thread already but for a regular roasted turkey what are the thoughts on starting it at 425 degrees for the first 45 minutes then 325 degrees for the rest?  I have a 20 pound turkey so trying to do the calculations on time in the oven.  I have seen 13-15 minutes per pound but not sure if that changes if I start the oven higher for the first 45 minutes.  As you can see, Turkey is not my thing.

I cooked my stunt turkey a couple of weekends ago at 425F the entire cook.  It was about a 10 lb bird and was done in 2 hours.  Meanwhile, my 20+ lb bird has been on the WSM at a steady 300 for nearly 2 hours this morning, and the breast just hit 100F internal.  At 300, I usually plan on 4 hours for a 20 lb turkey.

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TexasHooch

TexasHooch 5152

Posted
Posted
24 minutes ago, Beantown Express 2.0 said:

I a trying the water bath.  One site and Twice Horn say the water must be below 40 degrees.  The Popeyes instructions with the turkey say under 70 degrees.  I wonder if the difference is this is a cooked turkey and not raw.  My water is in the 63 degree range once I have added ice and I am all out of ice now.

Yes.  Cooked vs Raw.  I thought you had both a raw and a Popeyes.

Here:

 

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Surly Bevo

Surly Bevo 25236

Posted
Posted
16 minutes ago, Beantown Express 2.0 said:

This may be somewhere in this thread already but for a regular roasted turkey what are the thoughts on starting it at 425 degrees for the first 45 minutes then 325 degrees for the rest?  I have a 20 pound turkey so trying to do the calculations on time in the oven.  I have seen 13-15 minutes per pound but not sure if that changes if I start the oven higher for the first 45 minutes.  As you can see, Turkey is not my thing.

Just follow Alton's advice

  1. Roast the turkey on lowest level of the oven at 500 degrees F for 30 minutes. Insert a probe thermometer into thickest part of the breast and reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F. Set the thermometer alarm (if available) to 161 degrees F. A 14 to 16 pound bird should require a total of 2 to 2 1/2 hours of roasting. Let the turkey rest, loosely covered with foil or a large mixing bowl for 15 minutes before carving.
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Beantown Express 2.0

Beantown Express 2.0 6568

Posted
Posted
2 minutes ago, TexasHooch said:

Yes.  Cooked vs Raw.  I thought you had both a raw and a Popeyes.

Here:

 

I have one of each.  Popeyes will go indirect on the grill set at 350 like the package says.  I also have a raw 20 pound butterball to roast.  I’m old fashioned and like a plain roasted turkey versus Cajun, fried, smoked.  Trying to figure the time for the butterball 8n the oven and the temps.

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Bozo_Casanova

Bozo_Casanova 26592

Posted
Posted (edited)
1 hour ago, jimmyjazz said:

I would do the water-in-sink method, but make sure the water remains cold.  Your tap water is unlikely to be cold enough -- add some ice every once in awhile?

I have never worried about this or bothered to change the water. 
 

(This is not advice)

Edited by Bozo_Casanova
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PittsburghTiger

PittsburghTiger 6211

Posted
Posted
21 hours ago, PittsburghTiger said:

I just took this off the smoker. It’s a backup turkey for the dinner tomorrow at a friend’s place up on the Allegheny. It looks good and smells better.

IMG_0964.jpeg

So, I sliced it up and the cook was a bit uneven. 85% is perfect and I will gently heat it up and take it with us. Because I was not certain how completely thawed it was, as others have mentioned, I will hold on to the legs to heat up later this weekend. The taste is very good.

Overall, I am pleased but, I do a lot better on the smoker with beef, pork and chicken and veggies.

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