Turkey Time!

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Janet H

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Anyone doing a turkey this year? I thought I might step out of my comfort zone and do one in the Weber. Any advice?
 
Buy fresh !!! I did a basic brine on the last I did on the Weber it was very good. Doing the Weber or the oven buying fresh "free range type" is well worth the extra.
 
I have to work nights on Thanksgiving so I'm going to make a stuffed pork loin instead of a turkey this year, a lot less involved. I like to inject a turkey rather than brine it, it is a lot less hassle.
 
I love deep fried turkey, bought a turkey fryer some years back and loved the bird it turned out, then moved to a place where I didn't have a decent spot to use it. Still have the fryer and now am in a place where I can deep fry one again, but will visiting the father-in-law for Thanksgiving this year.
 
How do you do it??

How the heck do you cook a turkey on a grill rotisserie? I can't keep chickens to stay on the damn thing, so the thought of trying to wrestle a turkey on there is totally daunting.
 
Works just like with a chicken. Depending on how much room you have in the pit..head space..floor space etc. you might be limited in size. For example on my gasser it maxes out on about a 9 pounder and sometimes you have to cut off the wings so it dont bump into stuff. Have a lot more room on a charcoal grill or two but havent tried a turkey on one of them yet. Makes the best turkey in the world if you got the room to spin it.
 
I have large rosemary and sage bushes in my yard. The rosemary is pretty woody and both are close to 5 feet tall. What do you think about adding some of this to the kettle when cooking the turkey?
 
Smoked and fried myself, I brine, and inject my smoked birds. For the deep fried, I really do nothing. They both always come out great.

Are you going to be smoking it on your Weber, or are you going to be grilling it?

Janet I would use Rosemary and Thyme, Sage is also good for poultry. I don't use it because I dont like it. You could always use a pinch of all-spice. Dont use too much it is potent stuff.
 
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Dittos..had a smart cookie type tell me one time on using the aromatic spices of which Rosemary and Thyme are full fledged members of the genre..if you can tell what it is for sure when you taste the food you have used too much. He say just give em a tease on the flavor. Always made sense to me. Rosemary in the fire should make it taste like Rosemary..lol.
 
Are you going to be smoking it on your Weber, or are you going to be grilling it?

I was thinking about smoking. The guest list is getting long and with sides, I'm running out of oven space - so the weber seemed like the choice. I have to admit I don't use it much - it's big and often we just fire up the propane grill for steaks or burgers (sooo easy) Now I'm wondering if I can slip a couple of loaf pans of stuffing in there too ;)
 
I smoked a free range turkey this summer. It was the toughest bird, and coincidentally the most expensive, turkey I have ever cooked. And I have smoked a lot of turkeys. It was the only thawed at the store bird I could find so I bought it out of necessity. I have smoked 4 wild turkeys and the "free range" bird was multiple times tougher than a wild bird. Maybe just a bad one ... .
 
Thanks for the tip Griff. Thought it was just the price which kept me from buying one of the free range birds. Should have known it would also not be fit to eat. For a regular old pumped turkey nose down in a water smoker works well to cook it. Take out the top rack to give some room. Always makes a good bird.
 
We are uppercrust Honeysuckle White afficionados. The BB's have a funny looking breastes. Makes em hard to hold face down without tumping over. Sorta like Dolly in a round about way.
 
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