189 replies to this topic

[Markus]

Tomorrow is going to be awesome.  We've turned down a handful of invites elsewhere so we can just stay home.  Stay in our pajamas all day except for when we walk the dog post-feast.  Cook up a bunch of food for dinner.  Got a 20 pound turkey for $11 at Ralph's.

 

And 6 hours of Walking Dead/Talking Dead.

 

It's gonna be a good day.

[Mike in STL]

That's awesome, can never have too much Thanksgiving food in my mind. 

 

I host a big Thanksgiving party for my friends every year the weekend prior.  Did it this past Saturday.  Made a smoked turkey for the first time (well, at this event, I did a test run a few weeks before).  It's really good, my favorite way to do it that I've found (like it better than fried, which is also good, smoking until half-cooked and then finishing in the fryer sounds like an idea worth investigating).  Only catch is can't really stuff it, since I butterfly the turkey to get more exposure to the smoke and to cook faster.  But can still make tons of dressing/stuffing and then add pan drippings to that to get that "in the bird" flavor, also leads to a smoky gravy.  Also, stock made from the leftover smoked carcass is amazing and really smoky, made turkey gumbo with it that I've been eating all week and is fantastic.

 

My parents and my wife's parents live near each other, so we still do the "two Thanksgivings" plan on Thursday. 

 

And this year, we leave for our delayed honeymoon to Thailand on Friday.  Hopefully still in enough of a food coma to get some sleep on the cross-world flight!

I'm doing a smoked turkey tomorrow for the first time. Any tips?

 

I've had it in a brine since yesterday. Made a rub for it. Also going to put a beer can in it. I'm estimating from what I read that it will take about 4-5 hours at 300 degrees for an 18 pound bird. Sound about right? 

[SportsGuy]

Just deep fry it...takes about an hour.  

 

But seriously, smoked turkey sounds good.

[Cisc-O's]

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.  I want to give thanks to Chris for putting up this message board and trying like crazy to make this the best place possible.  I also want to thank all the posters that make this place awesome.  Hope you guys have a good Thanksgiving.

 

Cisco

[BSLChrisStoner]

Have a good one everyone...  I'm thankful for all of you.

 

Let us know the best sides and desserts you have..

[Mike in STL]

I'm trying out a southern style stuffing today made with bread and cornbread, and bacon. Also saw on food network a restaurant that puts stuffing in a waffle iron, and makes leftover turkey sandwiches with stuffing waffles for the bread. That has to be money.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

[Mackus]

That's awesome, can never have too much Thanksgiving food in my mind.

I host a big Thanksgiving party for my friends every year the weekend prior. Did it this past Saturday. Made a smoked turkey for the first time (well, at this event, I did a test run a few weeks before). It's really good, my favorite way to do it that I've found (like it better than fried, which is also good, smoking until half-cooked and then finishing in the fryer sounds like an idea worth investigating). Only catch is can't really stuff it, since I butterfly the turkey to get more exposure to the smoke and to cook faster. But can still make tons of dressing/stuffing and then add pan drippings to that to get that "in the bird" flavor, also leads to a smoky gravy. Also, stock made from the leftover smoked carcass is amazing and really smoky, made turkey gumbo with it that I've been eating all week and is fantastic.

My parents and my wife's parents live near each other, so we still do the "two Thanksgivings" plan on Thursday.

And this year, we leave for our delayed honeymoon to Thailand on Friday. Hopefully still in enough of a food coma to get some sleep on the cross-world flight!

I'm doing a smoked turkey tomorrow for the first time. Any tips?

I've had it in a brine since yesterday. Made a rub for it. Also going to put a beer can in it. I'm estimating from what I read that it will take about 4-5 hours at 300 degrees for an 18 pound bird. Sound about right?

I butterflied mine, which made it cook pretty fast and makes it so the thighs cook in the same time as the breasts. 3 hours at about 300-325 for 14 lb bird. If you leave it whole, probably would have been like 5 hours (whatever those timer calculations say for oven roasting would be the same time/temp/weight for smoking if you truss it the same way). But always base it on temp not time.

I'd go easy on the smoke. A little goes a long way. I used a full chimney worth of charcoal (only lit a dozen briquettes and let those ignite the others throughout the smoke), but only added two fist sized chunks of wood at the beginning and that was it. I use my Weber grill with an insert, not a standalone smoker. And I pulled it a bit early (about 155 deg) and finished it in the oven under the broiler to get the skin extra crispy.

Just drink the beer, don't put the can in the turkey.

[Greg Pappas]

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone.

[DJ MC]

Happy Thanksgiving!

[Mike in STL]

I butterflied mine, which made it cook pretty fast and makes it so the thighs cook in the same time as the breasts. 3 hours at about 300-325 for 14 lb bird. If you leave it whole, probably would have been like 5 hours (whatever those timer calculations say for oven roasting would be the same time/temp/weight for smoking if you truss it the same way). But always base it on temp not time.

I'd go easy on the smoke. A little goes a long way. I used a full chimney worth of charcoal (only lit a dozen briquettes and let those ignite the others throughout the smoke), but only added two fist sized chunks of wood at the beginning and that was it. I use my Weber grill with an insert, not a standalone smoker. And I pulled it a bit early (about 155 deg) and finished it in the oven under the broiler to get the skin extra crispy.

Just drink the beer, don't put the can in the turkey.

Wanted to share how it went. 

 

Brine I used was great. Some cider, salt, brown sugar, orange peel, bay leaves, fresh rosemary, peppercorns, water. It's the second time I've brined a turkey (or cooked a turkey for that matter). If you don't brine it, you're doing it wrong. Really seals in the juices. You can use an injector, but poking holes in your meat is big no-no, IMO. 

 

Took about 5 1/2 hours at 300 in the smoker. I kept the smoke up throughout, but spritzed it with butter every hour to keep it golden and moist. By the 5th hour, it was getting past golden. So like you said to go easy with the smoke, i would probably let the last hour go without smoke. I'll also try to butterfly ( or spatchcock i think it's called) next time. The legs and thighs were just the slightest bit underdone when the breast meat was perfect. I finished them in the oven for another 30 minutes while I carved the breast and got the rest of the meal served. No big deal. 

 

Against your judgement, I did the beer can. I didn't notice a difference. It didn't have a beer flavor, It was moist enough likely from the brine and the spritz. When I took the can out its still had plenty of beer in it, as if it didn't steam away to keep the moisture up. Probably didn't get hot enough inside the big turkey to make a difference. Don't worry. I had plenty of other beer to drink. 

 

Kept a pan in the smoker for drippings which I made gravy with. No joke, best gravy ever. Had the smoke flavor in it. I could have sipped it from a glass it was so good. 

[Russ]

Next time you make stuffing use pretzel bread that is a couple days old. Unbelievably good.

[BSLChrisStoner]

I always enjoy bumping this thread.

[Mike in STL]

On the menu, as much made from scratch as possible.

Smoked Turkey
Mashed red potatoes
Candied sweet potatoes
Stuffing
Gravy from drippings
Baked mac and cheese
Green beans
Broccoli casserole
Mom's Deviled eggs
Grandmom's Jello salad
Dinner rolls
Apple crumb pie w/caramel sauce
Pumpkin cheesecake
Cinnamon rolls

[The Epic]

We got

 

Beans

Greens

Potatoes

Tomatoes...

[McNulty]

I think the crock pot turkey I did last year with bacon is making another appearance.

[Mackus]

Hosted my big thanksgiving with friends on Saturday night.  Made two turkeys, both butterflied but one roasted in the oven with a herb/butter rub and the other got a bbq rub and was smoked out on my grill.  Also made the stuffing (or dressing, I guess, since it was all done in a crock pot), gravy, and cranberry relish.  My friends brought all the sides and desserts.

 

I've now done it a few times, and smoking the turkey is by far my favorite way to prepare it.  Tastes amazing and gets a really dark, crisp skin.

[SportsGuy]

Never been a huge fan of the taste of smoked turkey for some reason.

 

And I guess its not as much the taste but how it has been cooked in terms of the meat being tougher.

 

Deep frying it is the way to go IMO.

[You Play to Win the Game]

Really looking forward to this Thanksgiving. This year has kicked my ass from a personal and professional growth standpoint. In a very good way, but nevertheless, I'm tired. I'm ready for this 4-day weekend with friends, family, football and great food. Hope you all have a great week and awesome holiday. 

[NewMarketSean]

Had a Friendsgiving yesterday, my buddy deep fried a turkey and used a Cajun rub and mix to inject into it -- hands down the best turkey I've ever had. I'm going to try to recreate it on Thursday. So freaking good.

[SportsGuy]

Had a Friendsgiving yesterday, my buddy deep fried a turkey and used a Cajun rub and mix to inject into it -- hands down the best turkey I've ever had. I'm going to try to recreate it on Thursday. So freaking good.

I usually do a jerk seasoning one.  I prefer that to Cajun but the Cajun is really good.

 

I am going to do a different seasoning this year.  Going to go more traditional with stuff like rosemary, garlic, thyme, etc...