***Thanksgiving Turkey***

[ksm]

Re: ***Thanksgiving Turkey***

Thank you for the wise words. Knowing where you "shoot" the IR thermometer is very helpful -- as is the "long heat soak before baking" counsel. Shay's response, though, confuses me: how do you get an oven temp from an IRT without pointing the laser at something? (Sorry to be so dense.)

One other question about morning-after-fires, prompted by Shay's experience.

A few weeks back we made pizzas & bread at night and then put the oven to bed with the idea of making cinnamon rolls in the morning -- the rolls were already formed and rising in the refrig. By morning, though, the oven temp was too low (about 290 I think), so I made a fire, but the heat didn't seem to hold -- which I took as an indication that it wasn't hot enough long enough. The rolls turned out fine; just took a little longer than expected. So I'm looking for experience/advice about building a next-morning-fire and how to gauge if it's burned "long enough." Again, thank you. Kathy

[blacknoir]

Re: ***Thanksgiving Turkey***

I just point in the middle. I believe this should give me the highest temp between the gun and the back wall which I always take as the inside temp.. next time I'll shoot the floor and ceiling and throw an oven thermometer in there and see what I get.

The 'long enough' is a tough one. What I try to do is get a fire going that raises the temp a good 200 degrees above my goal. Once I reach that I stop adding wood and let it die down to hot coals. At this point it should be getting close to my goal temp. Once it reaches a 20-30 degrees above my goal I start removing coals. By the time I have it cleaned out it should be sitting right where I want it and I can put the door on.

Small fires aren't going to do much because they just don't give out enough heat for the brick to soak up. Starter fires, what you'd normally use as a first step to getting a Pizza firing, will usually raise the oven temp ~200 degrees or more depending on things like outside and inside temp.

This is why I did a test Turkey. I wanted to know how hard it would be to get the temp up to where I wanted it and then how long it would take to cook once I did. All in all it ended up being pretty easy to do.

btw, you don't have to remove all the coals if you want to keep the heat up and you want a smokey flavor. I'm not a fan so I took mine out.

[ThisOldGarageNJ]

Re: ***Thanksgiving Turkey***

when I cook the turkey this time, i think im gonna strap some bacon over it with toothpicks for a litte extra zip.... or maybe i shouldnt play with my previous success.. any thoughts ???

Cheers
Mark

[wlively]

Re: ***Thanksgiving Turkey***

When I cooked mine I rubbed a mixture of bacon grease, butter, and herbs over the outside and under the skin. The skin was beautifully brown and crispy. Nice flavor without overwhelming the turkey.

[ksm]

Re: ***Thanksgiving Turkey***

Shay ... Belated thanks for the extra info. We're doing a late Thanksgiving this year, so we're firing the oven Fri night for pizza and bread and then will need to reheat it to cook turkey & the sides the next day. So your advice will be put into practice soon. We all will be very grateful for that advice since raw turkey is not a good thing. Kathy

[blacknoir]

Re: ***Thanksgiving Turkey***

I went the Alton Brown route and brined it over night.. then the next morning I rubbed it with Canola Oil.. skin was perfect.

Kathy, I'm sure it will turn out great. I'll be popping my turkey in the oven tomorrow. Weather wasn't too kind today so I didn't fire it up for Pizza's so I'm going to leave a little extra time to really heat up the oven and then let it cool down a bit. I'll try and post my findings tomorrow.

[ThisOldGarageNJ]

Re: ***Thanksgiving Turkey***

Will be lighting my fire around 7 am today.... want to make sure I get a good heat soak so I can put the bird in around noon.. 20lbs, I also want to make sure I let the oven have time to equalize and cool down a bit before i put it in,,,,

[mfiore]

Re: ***Thanksgiving Turkey***

I'm right with you, today, Mark! 2 turkeys for us. My wife doesn't trust my WFO skills yet (except pizza), so she is making a back up bird in the conventional oven. My fires lit! Our turkey throw down is on!

[ThisOldGarageNJ]

Re: ***Thanksgiving Turkey***

Mike,,
You have the superior weapon...... You will win..... Dont forget before and after pics..

Good Luck
Mark

[mfiore]

Re: ***Thanksgiving Turkey***

Yeah, I sort of feel bad for her. But, hey, she brought this on!!

[blacknoir]

Re: ***Thanksgiving Turkey***

That's hilarious.. a backup turkey.. you can use hers for sandwiches eh?

[ThisOldGarageNJ]

Re: ***Thanksgiving Turkey***

you can use hers for sandwiches eh?

if its edible......

[trockyh]

Re: ***Thanksgiving Turkey***

if its edible......

Mark you are bad.

[mfiore]

Re: ***Thanksgiving Turkey***

Time will tell. Oven's fired. Had some quick pizzas for lunch (why waste the high heat). Here go the turkeys!

[blacknoir]

Re: ***Thanksgiving Turkey***

Mine's in the oven now.. Ceiling was 500 and the floor was about 680.. back wall was 480.. I think this is close to what I had before but time will tell.