Spatchcocked turkey on the UDS

[Wampus]

Just pulled a bird out of a 24 hour brine. It's sititng in the fridge right now tightening back up. After church, I'm gonna SMOKE THAT SUCKA!

I've never done it before with a turkey, but I plan on spatchcocking it and putting it on the drum.

We'll have dinner tonight and I'll slice the breasts for lunchmeat and pull the rest for soups, enchiladas, whatever.


PRON TO COME!

[JLStout]

I'm doing the same thing today. Nothing better on a Sunday afternoon than football and bbq!

[fingerlickin']

Wampus I spatched my first turkey last Thanksgiving and I'm not going back, you'll love it. Looking forward to the pron!

[Grizzly6]

I tried this a couple of months ago. It turned out good, but I need to perfect my technique.

I did not carve mine, I put the BBQ gloves on an pulled it. I preferred this and it turned out better than slicing off hunks, just my opinion.

Let us know how it turns out.

[sheepdad]

We Want Pron!!! We Want Pron!! We Want Pron!

[Wampus]

^^^^^ OK, so PRON it is my friend!!!!



So I did a 24 hour brine in a simple brine of:

2 gallons water
2 cups table salt
1 cup dark brown sugar
1 handful (probably 1/4-1/3 c) whole peppercorns

I took the turkey out of the brine Sunday morning, rinsed it and let it sit in the fridge for about 6 hours to dry out and let the skin tighten up.

The boys were hanging out so I decided to put them to work.
Little Kempis loading the charcoal basket:


Orion loaded the chimney:


And Guerin lit the chimney:



Time to prep the bird!


Here's the bird out of the fridge:


And here it is spatchcocked (from the back):


Picked this up a while ago and decided this was the rub of the day:


Rubbed and ready to go:


On the drum it went:


I left all the vents open to crank the heat. It ended up climbing to about 400. I just let it ride.

About 3 hours later, the breast meat was FINALLY ready (at 155 IT). The whole thing came off to rest. After about a 30 minute rest while I finished up the sides, HERE it was:


Got enough carved to fill a platter:


TIME FOR DINNER!!!!!


Here's my plate, sides were mashed taters, giblet gravy, oven roasted carrots and biscuits:









SO, the bottom line was it was good, but not my best.
This was the first time I've spatched a turkey and I had some observations........

One thing I noticed was that the breast meat took longer to finish than the rest of the bird, which is not typical (as I've noticed). I assumed this to be due to the fact that since the bird was all spread out the breasts were the largest (most massive) pieces of meat and therefore, took longer to get cooked through. I don't usually find this to be an issue when I spatch chickens though, so I was a bit puzzled.

After about 2.5 hours, I went out and checked and the thigh/leg quarter was showing about 165 in the thigh while the breast was only at 112-115. The bird looked GREAT at that point.

By the time the breasts were where I wanted them, the skin had darkened quite a bit more than I wanted.

As with spatchcocking in general, I did like being able to get the seasoning over more surface area. and the cook seemed to go a bit quicker.



All-in-all it was a good turkey. Just not sure I liked the way it cooked for me. Anyone else had this issue or was it just me?




Thanks for lookin!

[1911Ron]

Would tenting it have helped?

[fingerlickin']

It looks great to me brother. I've noticed at least with the chickens I've been spatchcocking that the breast is done after the thighs. Frankly I like it that way since the thighs can take more heat without drying out. The first time I noticed I though it might just be a coincidence although it's been that way the last 3 times for me.

[MisterChrister]

I have no wisdom to offer, but I would FARK that turkey's world UP!!! BTW, I've done lots of chickens, but never done a turkey over fire. Am I safe in assuming that since I have a rotisserie, I should use it rather than just going straight indirect/baffled or spatched? With all other things being equal, will the self-basting rotisserie action produce a superior turkey the way it does my chickens?

[Wampus]

Originally Posted by MisterChrister

I have no wisdom to offer, but I would FARK that turkey's world UP!!! BTW, I've done lots of chickens, but never done a turkey over fire. Am I safe in assuming that since I have a rotisserie, I should use it rather than just going straight indirect/baffled or spatched? With all other things being equal, will the self-basting rotisserie action produce a superior turkey the way it does my chickens?

I will tell you this....

If I had a rotisserie.....I would DEFINITELY put a turkey on it!

[Wampus]

Originally Posted by 1911Ron

Would tenting it have helped?

Tenting it on the smoker? Dunno. Perhaps?

[porkaholic]

I always spatchcock my turkey but with one additional thought. After I cut the bird I skin the bird. Yes, I said I skin the bird, all but the wings. I then put on the rub of choice and cover that with bacon and more rub. Flavor is outstanding and the bird does not dry out at all. Tried this on chicken first and that worked so tried it on turkey. Thanksgiving with a naked bacon turkey is the standard now. Sometimes I coat the bird with spray veg oil to hold the rub in place.

[Wampus]

"Naked bacon turkey"

Now THAT I gotta see! Sounds interesting!

[porkaholic]

I am fairly new to this site so will try to upload pics tomorrow. Really is very good. Best part is, the bacon is a must with every bite of turkey.

[porkaholic]

Here is the turkey ready for the smoker and after it is done. Hope this works.

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