OldSmokey Turkey

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OldSmokey Turkey

Postby CaptJack » Thu Nov 08, 2018 1:45 pm

ok OldSmokey Club..
Thanksgiving is just around the corner and it is time to talk about cooking our turkeys in our OldSmokeys
I think the 22" OldSmokey is the ABSOLUTE best turkey cooker that has ever been built!!
it blows away- the oven, frying in peanut oil= dangerous ;) ,the CharBroil SRG- SmokerRoasterGrill Infrared cooker (i had one & sold it), any Weber, &any Kamado ;)
the 8"in between the fire grate and the grill grate!
the almost vertical sides of the lid!
&the almost 12"in of space under the lid!
and the fact that the 2-sided charcoal piles give us temps over 300°= crispy skin (Y)
it just doesn't get any better (Y)
before i talk about the setup i'm going to talk about brining your bird
I use the Reynolds oven bags- two sizes- the regular (bone-on turkey breast) &the BIG turkey bag= 24# bird
the bags are TOUGH!!
and you can make your brine mix and pull it up tight around your bird
which makes it much easier to put it in the fridge over-night
twist the bag closed and use a plastic pull tie to hold it closed
one of the tricks is to make sure the breast is DOWN- in the bag- in the spices ;)
the basic bine recipe is 1-cup of salt to 1-gallon of water
i add orange juice, the Costco version of the salt free Mrs.Dash, garlic, etc..
it's your recipe ;)
and you can poke the whole bird with a sharp fork to help the mixture get into the meat
I also have an injector for injecting melted butter &or apple juice into the breast meat ;)
ok- it's setup time
before Bruce@OS gave us the hinged "FlipSide" grill grates
we bought spare grill grates for $10 and broke out the grill wires to make custom grill grates for 1-sided & 2-sided indirect cooks, to add charcoal and wood during the cook
you will notice them in some of my pics. i made them many years ago, and since i clean everything after every cook, they are still going strong
i have a FlipSide grill grate that i use for photography for Bruce@OS, for the OldSmokey website
but i still use my old grates with the wires broken out for my convienence ;)
i have 4 grill grates for my OldSmokey ;)
i use an 10x14 foil pan upside down as a separator-divider-riser for the two charcoal piles
with a 12x17 foil pan on top as a drip pan, I lay in a layer of foil to make clean up easier
I did a special cook for pics for Bruce@OS with just the "FlipSide" grill and no roasting rack for pics
but when i cook i use an oven roaster 'V' rack to hold the bird ;)
what's great about the 2-sided indirect charcoal method is the dark meat is closer to the two charcoal piles so when the breasts get to 160° the thighs and drumsticks are already around 175°
i never let the breasts get past 165°
one thing i've been thinking about is another method of cooking the bird.
the big thing the last few years is to "spatchcock" a whole bird to help speed up the cooking
you cut out the backbone of the bird, then break the breast bone so it will lay flat
but when we were growing up and we went to a big BBQ social they always cut the chickens in half, which does the same thing as spatchcocking but it makes it much easier to handle the pieces on the grill.
I haven't cut a whole turkey in half and cooked it directly over the coals at 8" but i'm going to just for the test.
Attachments
Weber_OldSmokey.jpg
10801857_10153397563944199_6581816385144707635_n.jpg
BriningBag3.jpg
OST_setup_001_1200.jpg
OST418_1200.jpg
OS_turkey_004.jpg
OST427.jpg
9-9-2012-7-49-32-PM-8425347.JPG
9-9-2012-7-49-32-PM-8425347.JPG (37.65 KiB) Viewed 1955 times
22"OldSmokey • 2-burner gasser with GrillGrates
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Re: OldSmokey Turkey

Postby OldUsedParts » Thu Nov 08, 2018 3:34 pm

Makes me wanna "Gobble Gobble Gobble" :tup: :salut: :cheers:
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Re: OldSmokey Turkey

Postby CaptJack » Thu Nov 08, 2018 4:17 pm

OUP
did you ever drive down and pick up your 22"OS from Bruce?
as I remember you were seriously thinkin' hard on it
I still love it better than all my other cookers
it would be the only one if I only had one
i don't use my vertical smoker or my pellet pooper
just the OS and my 2-burner tail-gater gasser from Sam's
22"OldSmokey • 2-burner gasser with GrillGrates
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Re: OldSmokey Turkey

Postby OldUsedParts » Thu Nov 08, 2018 5:13 pm

Not yet, Capt'n and mainly because I want to replace my ECB with it and so far the ECB is still taking care of me, however, it is definitely starting to show it's age. I do quite a bit of beer can Chickens and an occasional Holiday Turkey and it has always been my go to for them. :salut: I have a Kingsford Kettle that I rarely use and will probably give it to my Son to use on his Deer Lease the next time I see him.
I am determined to sustain myself as long as possible & die like a soldier who never forgets what is due to his own honor & that of his country—Victory or Death. William Barret Travis - Lt. Col. comdt "The Alamo"
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Re: OldSmokey Turkey

Postby Russ » Thu Nov 08, 2018 7:26 pm

Beautiful and such detail, I love it. Christmas isn't far away.

Russ
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Home smoker.

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Re: OldSmokey Turkey

Postby spacetrucker » Fri Nov 09, 2018 9:59 am

such a great post and pictures, I had to read it several times to "absorb" all the information.
You are a great salesman for Old Smokey!!
Lots of good information in your post, Thanks for that!
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Good Cue to ya..
Vernon

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Re: OldSmokey Turkey

Postby CaptJack » Fri Nov 09, 2018 1:20 pm

ok gang
the experiment begins
I picked up a 11.6# turkey at Aldi
on the holiday special price of .87¢# = $10.11
it's in the cooler under ice to defrost
then i'll brine it
then i'm going to cut it in half and cook it bone side down
direct over the coals at 8"
just a regular BBQ roast
it will obviously be a much quicker cook
i'm guessing maybe 1+-hours?
Attachments
2018_turkey.jpg
22"OldSmokey • 2-burner gasser with GrillGrates
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Re: OldSmokey Turkey

Postby Txdragon » Fri Nov 09, 2018 11:19 pm

Excellent write up, sir!
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Re: OldSmokey Turkey

Postby Tejano0369 » Sat Nov 10, 2018 5:14 pm

great post. thanks for the write-up.
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Re: OldSmokey Turkey

Postby CaptJack » Mon Nov 12, 2018 3:45 pm

the bird is in the brine
Attachments
OS_0379.jpg
22"OldSmokey • 2-burner gasser with GrillGrates
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Re: OldSmokey Turkey

Postby castironchris » Mon Nov 12, 2018 4:38 pm

looking forward to seeing the results!!
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Weber Smokey Mountain 22"
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Re: OldSmokey Turkey

Postby CaptJack » Tue Nov 13, 2018 12:02 pm

update> I took the turkey out of the brine
then i cut out the backbone, cut off the excess skin and fat, and cut it in half at the breastbone- cutting out the breastbone.
i browned off the backbone and cut away pieces and have them in simmering water to make a base stock at the moment. which i will probably use it for the gravy later.
I've covered the 2 halves and put them back in the fridge until i'm ready to do the cook.
at present were having some pretty cold and blustery weather here in Houston, and i'm going to wait until the wind calms down and the temp comes back up some
22"OldSmokey • 2-burner gasser with GrillGrates
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Re: OldSmokey Turkey

Postby Txdragon » Tue Nov 13, 2018 1:08 pm

This cold front is whippin' people pretty good now. My wife told me earlier she drove through some snow in Texarkana earlier today.
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