PICS-Monster "FRESH" turkey on the FEC

I've raised & cooked big turkeys. (My largest dressed out at 44 pounds!) I only have a Smokette so those large birds don't fit and I'm relegated to using the Weber grill to smoke it.

That said, my favorite way to cook those large birds is to rub it with CS's Spicy Chicken Rub and smoke away.

Hmmm....

I've done some 20 lb'ers but not 25.

First question I have is will it fit in your smoker????

You might have to cook it in halves that big.

48 should be fine, MAYBE a little longer. TQ is an option, but I don't think you'll need TQ even if it does take longer as you're cooking about 200 and the finish temp is 165.

We'll have to talk our way through this one, but that's my fast answer.

1st question should have been, is the brining bucket(5 gal igloo water cooler) big enough? Yes, but if that thing swells very much, I'm in trouble!

The Turkey is around 15" long and 14"X14", so it looks like the FEC will hold it whole.

I'd not put TQ in the brine if it was gonna be ate at the house, but ya gotta understand my 25yr old is taking it to the church at 4pm and they are eating at 5;30pm, going on hay ride and somehow I'm just worried on how that Turkey is gonna be taken care of. Am I wrong in thinking the TQ will help if they leave it out and don't get it all ate?

Another question, will the TQ make a difference on the length of brining or the salty taste? I'm using a ratio of 1 gallon of water to 2/3 cup of non-iodized table salt, with 2 teaspoons of TQ?

They're eating the family pet? LOL.

If you have room in a refrigerator, get the orange 5 gallon bucket from Home Depot. That's what I use. Maureen doesn't like me taking up that much room in the garage fridge around Thanksgiving, but we get by. It's easily handled a bird 22 lbs. Course, there may be a reason why you're using the Igloo Cooler.

I haven't used the Tenderquick when brining a bird, but have used it for jerky and fish in addition to the salt. I haven't noticed an increase in salt flavor.

A 44 lb bird!! Pete. Are you raising turkeys or ostrich?

Yeah Pags,

You know I have a reason for the water cooler...LOL! I found it along the hi-way, it had split the outside, but the lid was still there and the inside was in good shape. I've found that it is really nice for chickens, all I have to do is put a empty milk jug in there and the lid on and the jug will keep the chicken submerged.Two gallons of brine will fill it full, heck the turkey only took 1.5 gallons. I've used it enough that I'm real sharp on how much and yes it will hold 8 whole chickens and only use 1 gallon of brine.

Told the kids that they had to pluck the bird, I'd recommend them or anyone else not to eat the skin, too many pin feathers. I guess I should have went and taught them how I was taught to pluck chickens in hot water and sear the pin feathers, oh well!

The brine that I made was Smokin's Holiday brine, dang that stuff is good.

The kids said if the coyotes hadn't carted off the old tom, it would have been 10-15 lbs more. I hope they can cut this with a steak knife, it is grain feed!

This would be the 26.5 lb "Fresh" hen



This would be a pic of it getting naked...LOL!



This would be the hen getting a bath of a paste made up of butter and rub(McCormick" chicken rub with some raw sugar, white pepper, and paprika).



Can't even tell there is run under the skin, oh I did use some toothpick to secure the skin back down. Somehow, experience taught me this.



This would be the finished product. I started it out for a few hours at 224* on the FEC and then I added a butter socked cheese cloth to the bird. I cooked another hour and then turned the smoker to 275*. I hit the cheese cloth with some butter flavored Pam. I cooked it until the probe read 130*, at that point, I turned the smoker up to 325*. I took the cheese cloth off the last hour and hit it once again with the Pam. It really wasn't quite as dark as the pic looks, but I'll probably cut back on the time without the cheese cloth on my next try.

I'm sure the kids will have some kind of feed back, ya know how kids are?

Looks really good Cal. I know I don't need to but I will anyway. How'd it taste??

Like the pictures Cal. Way to go!!

I like the way you handled the skin and the butter rub. Except for the toothpicks, the skin looks like it wasn't even touched. I've got to work on that. Thanks for the inspiration.

Looks great, can't wait for the final report.

Guess it turned out okay wasn't any leftovers for me to sample, kids said that it was TOTALLY ate, even some skin. They also said that this skin was crispy, I knew there was a good reason to buy the FEC.

I brined it for 51hrs with Smokin's Holiday Brine. Let the bird air dry all night in my cold frig/freezer(that's another story). I put the bird on at 8:52am on 224*, 12:15pm turned to 274*,2:15pm turned to 324*, took off at 3:40pm with a reading of 158* in breast and 187* in legs.I used CS hickory and BBQ Delight apple mixture on pellets.

Tented and put in cooler, with extra crumbled newspapers. Kids said it was so hot the minister had a hard time cutting without burning his hands.They also said it was very moist, minister wasn't quite sure what to do about the rub under the skin,oh well! Guess some folks haven't been taught by Smokin', thanks again!

I want to thank all the forum members for their turkey reports, this is how I figured on about how long it would take...6hrs and 50 minutes on a 26.5 lB fresh turkey...I had thought it would take around 7hrs after studying the turkey reports.

Oh!, it wasn't tuff at all.

Nice job Cal. And a nice picture report also.

Look's tasty....nice job!

I want to nibble on those wings.

quote:

Originally posted by Pags:
I want to nibble on those wings.

Ummm...they look crunchy and chewy and a bit crispy don't they? I'd *LOVE* to munch on 'em myself!

Looks like I'm not the only one that stands on top of a chair to take pics of food. Gotta get that good angle! Nice bird Cal.

quote:

Originally posted by Trucky1008:
Looks like I'm not the only one that stands on top of a chair to take pics of food. .

It's funny but everyone seems to absorb ALL the details in the photos we publish. I've had all sorts of questions about the pictures I posted of my deck, not about the BBQ, but stuff in the background, etc, etc.

Made me laugh.

Good eye Trucky

Trucky. I just thought Cal was really tall.

I think he's got the same kitchen chairs that we do!

Thanks guys!, I should give you the line, "I put that number 9 shoe right there so you could tell the size of the turkey".

I didn't even notice the shoe until Trucky brought it up. Sure does put the bird in perspective. Damn. That's large.