This Thanksgiving proved to be easily one of the best ones ever... especially food-wise. We had about 15 people over and literally everyone was gushing about how amazing the turkey was. "Best turkey I ever had" was repeated by several guests. That made me pretty happy given the effort. Here's what I think contributed to that result which even to me... and considering I'm the harshest critic of them all when it comes to my cooking... exceeded my expectations: (edit - this is a long long winded post so proceed with caution :grin
Without a doubt, the new Stumps had biggest impact. I'm always amazed with this thing and this cook was no different. I got it to 325 and it just sat there. The amount of moisture this thing captures is just amazing. The couple times I opened the door I was just blasted with hot steam. The stack had a steady flow of steam like smoke coming out. I didn't use any wood... figuring the residual smoky seasoning of the smoker itself would be enough. I was right. It imparted just a nice subtle flavor over everything. I put a pan of homemade broth and wine under each turkey to catch the drippings. The turkey's were stuffed with Nancy's homemade stuffing. Just to keep things even, about halfway through, we pulled the rack the turkeys were on and rotated it 180 degrees. I'm not sure I needed that, but it was so easy to do so I figured "why not?"
For prep, I did a honey brine the night before. I put both turkeys in a big cooler and had them soak overnight. I could definitely notice the brine's impact. There's was a very subtle sweetness that worked with the subtle smoke... it was a great balance. The slight change in meat texture was noticeable but not at all off-putting in any way. When I pulled them from the brine, I thoroughly dried them. I actually used my leaf blower in a clean setting which really made a difference in drying the birds properly. it gets all the little nooks and crannys dry without wasting paper towels and having them sometimes stick.
Next, I injected butter into the breasts. I didn't have time to clarify the butter and to be honest... I never really noticed a difference. I used about one stick total. I got to use my new deluxe heavy duty injector from Spitjack. That thing is awesome and worth every penny of the $70 or whatever I paid for it. I'm a believer.
I rubbed the turkeys down with good olive oil, salt and peppered and in they went. They actually finished far quicker than I would have thought. I was thinking two 18.5 pound birds, stuffed, should be around 4 hours... it was just about 3 hours when the probes read 160 in both breasts. I verified with my Thermapen and the Mavs were dead on. Since they finished so early... I had to cooler them. I put hot water in a cooler... let it sit a bit... drained it... dried it... laid in towels put the turkeys in a pan and put them in the cooler. I put a piece of tinfoil over the top just to create a barrier between the turkeys and the towels on top. I had planned to put them breast down, but it was already a tight fit and I just didn't want to mess with it at this point.
When I pulled them from the cooler a little more than an hour later, they were still steaming hot and the pan had accumulated quite a bit of juice. I combined that with the drippings I collected from the pans in the smoker. I used half for my gravy... half as a starter for my overnight turkey soup I always make from the carcass and scraps.
The gravy was out of this world. I made a light rue, added about a cup of the drippings from the pan... I added a more homemade broth and ended up with a total winner. The wine, the light and smoky broth... turned into this amazing gravy. I don't make it too thick. I'm "famous" for my gravies and sauces, but this was over the top due to the dripping caught in the smoker. It added a superior dimension to the profile.
I'm always a bit nervous when I first carve into the turkey... because I'm never quite sure what to expect. I was gratified at how easily the knife went in and I could just see the juices dripping all over. I cut the breast off... football style... and cut the pieces against the grain. I deboned the thighs and slice the dark meat. The turkey was total winner in every way. Nancy was concerned it was going to be too smoky... she loved it.
The rest of the dinner worked out fantastic as well... We bought fresh brussel sprouts still on the stalk. I shaved them paper thin on the mandolin and sautéed them with diced pork belly, shallots, and garlic. It was an absolute winner. It was a beautiful dish and no one believed they were eating brussel sprouts of all things. Last year, through a lot of trial and error, I finally figured out a way to do mashed potatoes in my big stand mixer without the normal issues of the starches getting all gluey. I made the recipe for the dinner and my daughter came to me afterward and told me that she "hates to say it... but your potatoes are better than grandmas" which has pretty much been the gold standard for the past 20 years.
We topped it all off with some other sides and some really great wine... a Chardonnay from Far Niente and Pinot Noir from Williams Selyum.
This post went about 10 times longer than intended, but I wanted lay out what I did and what I thought worked and why. I like reading these sorts of things and feel I learn the most this way and figured I'd lay it all out. The final pic is the 2nd turkey that didn't get touched yet. It looks dark in the picture, but it's actually a deep red cherry/mahogany color. That got all carved and along with the scraps and carcass from the other turkey with the other half of the smoked dripping all went into a giant pot filled to the brim and just simmered all night. It made the most spectacular turkey soup yet. Next Thanksgiving...I'm not changing a thing.
Without a doubt, the new Stumps had biggest impact. I'm always amazed with this thing and this cook was no different. I got it to 325 and it just sat there. The amount of moisture this thing captures is just amazing. The couple times I opened the door I was just blasted with hot steam. The stack had a steady flow of steam like smoke coming out. I didn't use any wood... figuring the residual smoky seasoning of the smoker itself would be enough. I was right. It imparted just a nice subtle flavor over everything. I put a pan of homemade broth and wine under each turkey to catch the drippings. The turkey's were stuffed with Nancy's homemade stuffing. Just to keep things even, about halfway through, we pulled the rack the turkeys were on and rotated it 180 degrees. I'm not sure I needed that, but it was so easy to do so I figured "why not?"
For prep, I did a honey brine the night before. I put both turkeys in a big cooler and had them soak overnight. I could definitely notice the brine's impact. There's was a very subtle sweetness that worked with the subtle smoke... it was a great balance. The slight change in meat texture was noticeable but not at all off-putting in any way. When I pulled them from the brine, I thoroughly dried them. I actually used my leaf blower in a clean setting which really made a difference in drying the birds properly. it gets all the little nooks and crannys dry without wasting paper towels and having them sometimes stick.
Next, I injected butter into the breasts. I didn't have time to clarify the butter and to be honest... I never really noticed a difference. I used about one stick total. I got to use my new deluxe heavy duty injector from Spitjack. That thing is awesome and worth every penny of the $70 or whatever I paid for it. I'm a believer.
I rubbed the turkeys down with good olive oil, salt and peppered and in they went. They actually finished far quicker than I would have thought. I was thinking two 18.5 pound birds, stuffed, should be around 4 hours... it was just about 3 hours when the probes read 160 in both breasts. I verified with my Thermapen and the Mavs were dead on. Since they finished so early... I had to cooler them. I put hot water in a cooler... let it sit a bit... drained it... dried it... laid in towels put the turkeys in a pan and put them in the cooler. I put a piece of tinfoil over the top just to create a barrier between the turkeys and the towels on top. I had planned to put them breast down, but it was already a tight fit and I just didn't want to mess with it at this point.
When I pulled them from the cooler a little more than an hour later, they were still steaming hot and the pan had accumulated quite a bit of juice. I combined that with the drippings I collected from the pans in the smoker. I used half for my gravy... half as a starter for my overnight turkey soup I always make from the carcass and scraps.
The gravy was out of this world. I made a light rue, added about a cup of the drippings from the pan... I added a more homemade broth and ended up with a total winner. The wine, the light and smoky broth... turned into this amazing gravy. I don't make it too thick. I'm "famous" for my gravies and sauces, but this was over the top due to the dripping caught in the smoker. It added a superior dimension to the profile.
I'm always a bit nervous when I first carve into the turkey... because I'm never quite sure what to expect. I was gratified at how easily the knife went in and I could just see the juices dripping all over. I cut the breast off... football style... and cut the pieces against the grain. I deboned the thighs and slice the dark meat. The turkey was total winner in every way. Nancy was concerned it was going to be too smoky... she loved it.
The rest of the dinner worked out fantastic as well... We bought fresh brussel sprouts still on the stalk. I shaved them paper thin on the mandolin and sautéed them with diced pork belly, shallots, and garlic. It was an absolute winner. It was a beautiful dish and no one believed they were eating brussel sprouts of all things. Last year, through a lot of trial and error, I finally figured out a way to do mashed potatoes in my big stand mixer without the normal issues of the starches getting all gluey. I made the recipe for the dinner and my daughter came to me afterward and told me that she "hates to say it... but your potatoes are better than grandmas" which has pretty much been the gold standard for the past 20 years.
We topped it all off with some other sides and some really great wine... a Chardonnay from Far Niente and Pinot Noir from Williams Selyum.
This post went about 10 times longer than intended, but I wanted lay out what I did and what I thought worked and why. I like reading these sorts of things and feel I learn the most this way and figured I'd lay it all out. The final pic is the 2nd turkey that didn't get touched yet. It looks dark in the picture, but it's actually a deep red cherry/mahogany color. That got all carved and along with the scraps and carcass from the other turkey with the other half of the smoked dripping all went into a giant pot filled to the brim and just simmered all night. It made the most spectacular turkey soup yet. Next Thanksgiving...I'm not changing a thing.
