TALKIN' TURKEY!! (The official/unofficial turkey thread)

dadsr4 said:

Toms are castrated, so taste like a hen.

Basically, if you want a smaller bird, you're stuck with a hen. Larger birds are castrated toms.

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I would prefer to cook 2 small birds over a larger one

They do not "castrate" male turkeys or chickens normally for the retail market. The testes in the birds are internal and a surgical procedure would be cost prohibitive. Since they're processed at such an early age it isn't necessary. My choice would be a hen but they will be in general lighter in weight. Even in cattle which the males are I'd still prefer a heifer for meat quality.

Norm said:

They do not "castrate" male turkeys or chickens normally for the retail market. The testes in the birds are internal and a surgical procedure would be cost prohibitive. Since they're processed at such an early age it isn't necessary. My choice would be a hen but they will be in general lighter in weight. Even in cattle which the males are I'd still prefer a heifer for meat quality.

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Interesting. That is what I've been told by many different people. I should have known better, since I knew the testes are internal in birds.

Norm said:

They do not "castrate" male turkeys or chickens normally for the retail market. The testes in the birds are internal and a surgical procedure would be cost prohibitive. Since they're processed at such an early age it isn't necessary. My choice would be a hen but they will be in general lighter in weight. Even in cattle which the males are I'd still prefer a heifer for meat quality.

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Thanks. I thought that, generally speaking, the Hens are preferred as long as it's big enough.

ok - let me move my questions to here:

1 - Smoking on the weber summit - use the low position and the diffuser or use the indirect method?
2 - Weber recipes have the bird sit in liquid - I've done this before and wonder why they dont use a rack - as you would in the over?

SirPorkaLot said:

IMHO this is a mistake.

For the brine period (2-3 hours per pound for dry brine), you want to keep all the moisture that the salt pulls out of the bird, close to the skin so it gets pulled back in.

Try wrapping tightly in plastic wrap for brine period and then air dry for a few hours (this is plenty of time to dry skin) before smoking

You will find you get a significantly juicer (20% based on our tests) product keeping it wrapped tight during the brine.

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It's less work not wrapping it, and like I said no one makes a juicer turkey. Juices gush out the breast. I've done it both ways. I couldn't tell a difference.

Crotonmark said:

ok - let me move my questions to here:

1 - Smoking on the weber summit - use the low position and the diffuser or use the indirect method?
2 - Weber recipes have the bird sit in liquid - I've done this before and wonder why they dont use a rack - as you would in the over?

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I've never used a summit just my drum. My drum has three racks, 2 cooking and one for the pizza pan diffuser. I always cook mine one the top grate not in a pan. Just"neked" on the rack. They have been super moist and tender. I know this isn't the same cooker as yours, but maybe it will help.

Crotonmark said:

ok - let me move my questions to here:

1 - Smoking on the weber summit - use the low position and the diffuser or use the indirect method?
2 - Weber recipes have the bird sit in liquid - I've done this before and wonder why they dont use a rack - as you would in the over?

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I did this one on the Akorn with the pizza pan diffuser. Turned out great. Straight on the rack no pan.

Has anybody found a roasting pan that they really like that fits a Large BGE?

I've got one that I've used many times over the years, but it is a non-stick, and I think I'm missing out on the Fond....

I want one that I can get some extra bits of flavor out of. :mrgreen:

Any of these in the 14" size will fit perfectly. We bought the stainless one years ago. Very easy to clean. Liked it so much we bought a second one. https://www.paellapans.com/Pans-s/3.htm

Just finished doing the dry brine on my turkey, which I will never do again. I think maybe 2/3 of the brine remained on the turkey when I started to wrap it in plastic wrap. Hopefully the 3 days in the fridge will still do the job. Plastic wrap and I have never gotten along, and I made a mess of that, too. Next time will just be the old standard wet brine, even if this does end up being my best turkey ever.

Tannhauser42 said:

Just finished doing the dry brine on my turkey, which I will never do again. I think maybe 2/3 of the brine remained on the turkey when I started to wrap it in plastic wrap. Hopefully the 3 days in the fridge will still do the job. Plastic wrap and I have never gotten along, and I made a mess of that, too. Next time will just be the old standard wet brine, even if this does end up being my best turkey ever.

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It helps to have the turkey a little moist when you apply the dry brine (so it sticks)
I always rinse my turkey before anyways, so this works well for me

LYU370 said:

Just spatchcocked my first turkey. No kitchen shears.. What a P.I.T.A. Coat of Harvest Brine and into the fridge.

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Pruning shears, well scrubbed, work great.

Here is one more great idea how to make turkey juicy with marinade of wheat beer, soy sauce, orange juice. It's really tasty, I recommend to everyone to try it.

I've scanned through the majority of the 49 pages of this thread--AWESOME STUFF! Doing my first smoked turkey this year for T-Giving. I have an enhanced bird, so I am skipping the brining phase (more cuz I'm lazy) and am going to inject with Creole Butter as my family loves that stuff in our fried birds. Will be working on a large WSM and plan on cooking with cherry/pecan/apple mix of wood as hot as I can get my WSM--prolly bout 325-335. I plan to rinse 12 lbs bird on Wed even and place in frig to dehydrate overnight. Will get up in morn and inject bird, rub down with butter mixture both under and on top of skin, and then rub with some Tony Chachere's and let come to room temp while smoker is started and clearing the smoke up.

A couple questions:

1. Should I put the bird directly on grate or put it on rack in pan? Advantages to each?
Will on way or the other help crisp the skin better? Will either help moisture of the bird?
I don't need any drippings as my wife is doing a traditional one in the oven and will make gravy with that.

2. When should I inject the bird to promote the best chance for crispier skin? The night before I put it in the frig for dehydrating? Or the morning after dehydrating? Obviously, there is some leaking effect from the punctures in the bird. If I inject in morn, I will obviously pat dry the bird with paper towels after, and then butter and rub. Thoughts?

Thanks ahead of time for you input!

The bird directly on grate will help crisp the skin better.

Two birds brined with Harvest Brine and into the fridge wrapped in plastic wrap and foil. Right side bird is a Shady Brook Farms enhanced 9% bird, #13.5lbs. Left side bird is a Butterball Fresh enhanced 4% bird, 11lbs. Picture is before the brine, fyi.

Thanks for the great post.

Did my Harvest brine tonight as well on my 13.85lb Publix Greenwise Turkey. I like the GW chicken so hopefully the turkey is good. No issues applying the dry brine. My bird still had a little ice stuck to the skin so some moisture for the rub to adhere but i took my time and patted it down. I did not put any on the breast meat directly. Not sure if i was supposed to or not so hopefully it'll work just fine. My wife helped me with the plastic wrap. Leaning towards spatch cocking but i have a couple days to decide.