Thanksgiving Turkey

I was thinking of doing the turkey this year on the grill. Not necessarily smoking it, but I guess more of a "grill-roasted" turkey, low and slow over indirect heat. Has anyone tried this before? What are some things to consider?

If you are having guests for Thanksgiving Dinner,and are planning on serving just this one turkey, please make sure that everybody likes the taste of turkey prepared on the charcoal grill. Personally, I don't like the taste. A few other family members feel the same. Whenever somebody in the family hosts Thanksgiving and prepares a turkey on the grill, there is always another one roasting away in the oven inside.

I do turkey breasts on the grill all of the time and everybody loves them. The key (at least for me) is to use a good dry rub, indirect heating, wood chips and a drip pan with apple juice placed under the turkey.

Both the rub and the chips provide intense flavor, the indirect heating cooks the bird slowly and throughly, and the drip pan keeps the grill clean as well as adding mositure to the bird when the apple juice steams from the heat. Depending on how hot the grill gets you may need to cover the bird with some aluminun foil so that it does not brown to quickly.

Unfortunatly, it is to cold in the Chicagoland (go Cubs!!!) area to cook a turkey in this fashion for Thanksgiving but given the opportunity if I lived in a warmer climate this would be my preferred method.

Arggh!! I'm not ready for Thanksgiving yet!!! But since you asked, we usually smoke our turkeys.

quote:

Originally posted by EliseT

Arggh!! I'm not ready for Thanksgiving yet!!! But since you asked, we usually smoke our turkeys.

Sounds like a good way to strengthen the arm muscles. But, which end do you light?

Sorry, Elise, I just couldn't resist. Don't ask me why, but your post reminded me of a cooking show skit featuring a rastafarian chef that I saw on the old show, "Fridays", many years ago. In the skit, the chef includes "ganja" in every dish he makes. His finale is smoked whole chicken stuffed with "ganja"...you can guess the rest. He lights up the chicken and literally smokes it on camera. I just about died when I saw that! In case you're wondering which end he lit, it was the front end.

If you have a rotisserie for your grill, I would suggest using it. You will get a better application of heat. I would also suggest that you consider brining the turkey first if you are going to use a low and slow approach on your grill. If no brining, I would stick with a higher temp, 275 to 325, to finish the turkey quicker and hopefully keep more of the moisture to it.

John

quote:

Originally posted by KimChee43

quote:

Originally posted by EliseT

Arggh!! I'm not ready for Thanksgiving yet!!! But since you asked, we usually smoke our turkeys.

Sounds like a good way to strengthen the arm muscles. But, which end do you light?

Sorry, Elise, I just couldn't resist. Don't ask me why, but your post reminded me of a cooking show skit featuring a rastafarian chef that I saw on the old show, "Fridays", many years ago. In the skit, the chef includes "ganja" in every dish he makes. His finale is smoked whole chicken stuffed with "ganja"...you can guess the rest. He lights up the chicken and literally smokes it on camera. I just about died when I saw that! In case you're wondering which end he lit, it was the front end.

I remember that! And his workout program...a one and two...and INTO THEE BOAT! A one and two...and INTO THEE BOAT!

For some reason, smoking the bird works the best for me.

I have been told that adding spices to the water does nothing but I always do it. I add BBQ sauce, citrus, onions and other spices. I let it smoke for about 7 hours on my electric job and the turkey is delicious.

Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

I have grilled many turkeys over the years, and did one on Thanksgiving over the protests of my mother-in-law (what about the gravey?). I do mine in the weber using the indirect method, in two of those disposable aluminum tubs, usually available at your local grocery store during the season. I recall using a seasoned olive oil rub with herbs inside the cavity (fresh sage, thyme, salt, pepper), and hickory chips for smoke.

It can take two chimneys of charcoal to cook it, but it usually cooks faster than it would in the oven. If you keep the heat down you will get some nice stuff in the pan to deglaze with some madeira to start the gravey. The big drawback is I don't trust using stuffing with this method. We make a dressing using giblet stock.

We've also done goose and duck...WARNING!! Keep an eye on the grill when cooking these fowl. Flames shooting out every crack in the manner of a blow torch is not a good sign.

Anybody ever deep-fry a whole turkey? Is it as dangerous as they say? Comments, please. Thanks.

Thanks for all the comments and suggestions! I am going to give it a go!

quote:

Originally posted by KimChee43

Anybody ever deep-fry a whole turkey? Is it as dangerous as they say? Comments, please. Thanks.

I am still at work. Answering this question involves many things (and couple of them are philosophical ("to fry, or not to fry? That is the question")). I will sit down and try to give advice on this project when I get home from work, tennis, soccer, town council, supper .
I have done it a bunch of times. Like doing it (but then again, I like frying anything and when it involves giant things it only increases the potential for delicious frying satisfaction).

Maybe Rick F. has an opinion, as well. I am pretty sure he has been exposed to a few fried Turkeys in Natchitoches.

Come to think of it, Rick and I are both being exposed to turkeys everytime we turn on the television...we've got a bunch of them running around the state right now disguised as candidates for Governor. I wouldn't mind dropping a couple of them in a big pot of boiling oil.

quote:

Originally posted by Mayhaw Man

quote:

Originally posted by KimChee43

Anybody ever deep-fry a whole turkey? Is it as dangerous as they say? Comments, please. Thanks.

I am still at work. Answering this question involves many things (and couple of them are philosophical ("to fry, or not to fry? That is the question")). I will sit down and try to give advice on this project when I get home from work, tennis, soccer, town council, supper .
I have done it a bunch of times. Like doing it (but then again, I like frying anything and when it involves giant things it only increases the potential for delicious frying satisfaction).

Maybe Rick F. has an opinion, as well. I am pretty sure he has been exposed to a few fried Turkeys in Natchitoches.

Come to think of it, Rick and I are both being exposed to turkeys everytime we turn on the television...we've got a bunch of them running around the state right now disguised as candidates for Governor. I wouldn't mind dropping a couple of them in a big pot of boiling oil.

MAYHAW MAN: I am eagerly awaiting your info on deep-frying a turkey. Just about every year around Thanksgiving time, there's an article in the newspaper up here about some disaster (i.e. deck, garage, house burning down; someone being severely burned or maimed, etc.) that occurred while someone was trying to deep-fry their Thanksgiving entree. Oh...loved your political comments as well.

quote:

Originally posted by KimChee43

Anybody ever deep-fry a whole turkey? Is it as dangerous as they say? Comments, please. Thanks.

Yummy! And deadly!

quote:

Originally posted by EliseT

Arggh!! I'm not ready for Thanksgiving yet!!! But since you asked, we usually smoke our turkeys.

Doesn't it make your lips greasy?

quote:

Originally posted by Mayhaw Man

quote:

Originally posted by KimChee43

Anybody ever deep-fry a whole turkey? Is it as dangerous as they say? Comments, please. Thanks.

Maybe Rick F. has an opinion, as well. I am pretty sure he has been exposed to a few fried Turkeys in Natchitoches.

Come to think of it, Rick and I are both being exposed to turkeys everytime we turn on the television...we've got a bunch of them running around the state right now disguised as candidates for Governor. I wouldn't mind dropping a couple of them in a big pot of boiling oil.

I always have an opinion. No qualification for giving it, but who cares? Anyhow, I've never fried one, but have eaten many and loved them. In my neck of the woods there are two options: get your own frying kit (not too expensive) or have somebody do one for you--and there's no shortage of places to do that. My only addition is that I've been told that one always uses an injector for internal marinating. They're sold all over the place down here; if you can't find any around your neck of the woods, we can send sources.

I don't think we've got turkeys running for office: an insult to a noble bird. Buzzards, certainly. Or maybe catfish: slimy bottom-feeders who perform a necessary function--as do maggots.

quote:

Originally posted by KimChee43

Anybody ever deep-fry a whole turkey? Is it as dangerous as they say? Comments, please. Thanks.

IT"S WONDERFUL--the first time i had it,LONG ago in Norlins, i didnt even realize it was deep fried--I noticed that it was as moist as a bird as i ever tasted and commented on it --then found out it was fried---it had also been injected with seasonings and was truly delicious--since then i have fried a few with friends and they all came out great. Any time you are dealing with large amounts of hot oil there is of course a certain amount of caution that must be used---we tend to cook first and drink beer later and its best if you are least as smart as the bird your cooking!-but with a good turkey fryer kit everything you need to do it safely is supplied. One hint that i found useful-
when you submerge the bird in the oil--the oil on the inside of the bird will cool quicker then that on the outside of the bird--we would lift the bird occasionally so the the oil could mix together and equalize the temp of the oil--also we used peanut oil---itworked out best in a deep fryer--this may cause allergy problems with a guest so check first before serving--all in all i reccomend that you give it a try this month and then youll be prepared if you do want to it for the holidays---the kits are very reasonably priced and the turkey is great!

BTW---RickF---LOVED the catfish comment---best description ive heard in long time!

The only problem that I have had with a fried turkey is that the seasonings injected often overpower the taste of the turkey to the extent that, if you ate it with your eyes closed, you couldn't tell what it was.

quote:

Originally posted by rbpalmer

The only problem that I have had with a fried turkey is that the seasonings injected often overpower the taste of the turkey to the extent that, if you ate it with your eyes closed, you couldn't tell what it was.

When your dealing with most commercial injection seasonings this is true> We used clarified butter that we seasoned up ourselves and LEAVING OUT the salt! Keep it pretty simple most times but we did do one with a heap of "la yuu"--asian hot oil, that got a bit extreme for some of the folks but i liked it!

I have a question about deep-fried turkey. Do you use a regular supermarket turkey (i.e. Butterball) which, if I'm not mistaken, has already been injected with some kind of substance ("flavored broth" maybe)? If so, why do you need to inject more seasonings? Seems to me a free-range turkey would be the correct choice. Cure my ignorance on this issue.

quote:

Originally posted by KimChee43

I have a question about deep-fried turkey. Do you use a regular supermarket turkey (i.e. Butterball) which, if I'm not mistaken, has already been injected with some kind of substance ("flavored broth" maybe)? If so, why do you need to inject more seasonings? Seems to me a free-range turkey would be the correct choice. Cure my ignorance on this issue.

I promise I am going to post tonight. Today is Wed and all of my deadlines for columns are today. I will have fun tonight. Today is work.

But quickly, under no circumstances do you want to use a butterball or other frozen "treated turkey" They have been injected with a saltwater solution that aids juiciness (they claim) but only boils right off in the oil and does nothing but make your fryer foam over (I learned the hard way). If at all possible use a fresh turkey (you can get them around the holidays at any decent grocer) or even better, got to a produce market and get one yourself and let them do the dirty work. They don't get any fresher than that.

As an added bonus because I did not follow through on my promise yesterday, I will tell you boys and girls the Thanksgiving Tale "The Great New Orleans Turkey Drop" also known as "The Turkey that Terrorized Oak St". I know you will be on pins and needles until then.

I will type all of this AFTER I enjoy tonights delicious meal. My neighbor called me at work and said that she had left a bunch of skin on, red fish fillets that they caught this morning. Mr. and Mrs. Mayhaw and the little Mayhaw's will be firing up the old brick PIT and BBQ'ing redfish and enjoying them with garlic potatoes and snap beans. I love my neighbors. They are nice people and often have too much fish in the freezer. I often suffer the same problem with ducks and venison, so they are very nice about bringing me fish.

In the early 1990's, I ran the kitchen at a YMCA camp in the Boundary Waters canoe Area of Northern Monnesota. As the canoe groups came in after their treks, I was to make a special meal as a "banquet" for the returning campers.

This would be turkey dinner for about 130 screaming yelling table pounding hungry kids.
I found an old pontoon boat and had a local guy cut and weld the pontoons into eight foot long BBQ's. Loaded these up with charcoal and did 6 large turkeys at one time.

They took forever and I had to feed more charcoal to them a couple of times probably because of the sheer bulk of meat on the grill at one time.

Next time, I cut the turkeys lengthwise and wrapped them in foil. I laid them out on their sides, rib bones down. I uncovered when the temp got up high enough, around 170-180, and let them brown up nice to the desired doneness.

My advice, use charcoal, cut and wrap as described. make the stuffing separate in the oven.

I do turkey on the weber grill, I have one of those baskets that holds the turkey in place and off of the grill. I put a drip pan below and the charcoal on 2 sides and just keep feeding the coals. The bird cooks in a little under 4 hours, I baste it periodically with butter but one time my sister talked me into using maple syrup and that was really good! I have been know to grill in the snow which we do get here in Chicagoland.

BTW, if any of you do live in Chicagoland, the Weber-Stephens warehouse in Huntley, Ill. is having their "yard" sale tomorrow (10/3)Unfortunately I saw this in my morning paper which is at home....I'm at work but I will try to post exact details sometime after 3pm today. I've not gone but I hear you can get huge deals on Weber products.

Or you can just order a smoked turkey from Bates Turkey Farm in Fort Deposit, Alabama

http://www.batesturkey.com/

Deep-Fried turkey is very very good. My brother did one last Christmas. Hopefully this will be a yearly thing.

We found that as long as you watch it, diasters can be avoided. In our case, watching the deep-fryer included drinking beer and playing darts, so that was fun.

It is messy. But it's worth it.

quote:

Originally posted by M&M

Or you can just order a smoked turkey from Bates Turkey Farm in Fort Deposit, Alabama

http://www.batesturkey.com/

I was driving from Montgomery to Baton Rouge and I stopped and had lunch at Bates. Very clean and neat and located directly off the Interstate. Great turkey.

Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

Mayhaw, looking forward to the Tale of the Turkey that Terrorized Oak St.!! We love deep fried turkey, I can get fresh ones from a turkey farm up here (I know, in Alaska??). But we prefer frying to any other cooking method.........well,......there is one other. When a cute little pussqette once asked one of my cooks how to tell when the turkey is done, he replied, "stuff the cavity with popcorn and when the **s end blows off, it's done". I think she believed him.

quote:

Originally posted by lleechef

Mayhaw, looking forward to the Tale of the Turkey that Terrorized Oak St.!! We love deep fried turkey, I can get fresh ones from a turkey farm up here (I know, in Alaska??). But we prefer frying to any other cooking method.........well,......there is one other. When a cute little pussqette once asked one of my cooks how to tell when the turkey is done, he replied, "stuff the cavity with popcorn and when the **s end blows off, it's done". I think she believed him.

I wonder what would happen if you did put popcorn in one,might be kind of fun for the kids...or as John Candy used to say on SCTV...."We're gonna blow it up real good!!"

I wrote the tale last night and it is pretty funny (to me anyway) but it is also about 3000-4000 words. I am going to link it to a website as it might be a bit cumbersome (not too mention bad form) to stick it in this forum. It is a mostly true story involving, gambling on turkey crap, drinking, New Orleans art world sub culture (or lack of culture depending on your point of view), The Louisiana Dept. of Health and Hospitals, and ultimately, fried turkey and the voracious consumption there of.

quote:

Originally posted by Mayhaw Man

quote:

Originally posted by lleechef

Mayhaw, looking forward to the Tale of the Turkey that Terrorized Oak St.!! We love deep fried turkey, I can get fresh ones from a turkey farm up here (I know, in Alaska??). But we prefer frying to any other cooking method.........well,......there is one other. When a cute little pussqette once asked one of my cooks how to tell when the turkey is done, he replied, "stuff the cavity with popcorn and when the **s end blows off, it's done". I think she believed him.

I wonder what would happen if you did put popcorn in one,might be kind of fun for the kids...or as John Candy used to say on SCTV...."We're gonna blow it up real good!!"

I wrote the tale last night and it is pretty funny (to me anyway) but it is also about 3000-4000 words. I am going to link it to a website as it might be a bit cumbersome (not too mention bad form) to stick it in this forum. It is a mostly true story involving, gambling on turkey crap, drinking, New Orleans art world sub culture (or lack of culture depending on your point of view), The Louisiana Dept. of Health and Hospitals, and ultimately, fried turkey and the voracious consumption there of.

Where can I read more on this subject?? Fascinated!

I want to hear the story too!