Dry Turkey

What temperature were you cooking it at? Carryover cooking is much like inertia, the higher your cooking temp and size of meat, the higher your carryover cooking.

In other words, a 12 pound Turkey cooked at 225 all the way might come up an additional 5 - 10 degrees once you pull it, and the same 12 pound Turkey cooked at 300 might come up as much as 10 to 15 degrees while resting.

The FDA/USDA recommends 165 internal for Poultry, and I would probably have pulled the Turkey at 150 - 155, depending on your cooking temp. Brining also increases your margin for error.

Hope that makes sense!

You were probably cooking a four lb breast and a couple three lb leg pieces,and cooking it low and slow you would have minimum carryover temp.

Just keeping them warm would be the goal.

Like Bacchus said,if your therms were correct/accurate you maybe needed to pull earlier.

Nothing says you can't knick it with a sharp point knife and check for clear fluids.

Hope this helps a little.

That makes great sense. Does that also apply to ribs and brisket, pulling the brisket and 180? By the way, I was cooking at 225.

Many thanks for the help. I don't post often but I read the forum every day.

You just need to think about your load and the product.

Poultry breast is very critical to internal temps,and few other items might be.

Folks may nick a half chicken breast,and if clear,pull at 158*.

Toss in a ziploc for 15-20 mins and they are good to go.

Ribs have a small meat to bone ratio,and nobody knows what temp ribs should be anyhow.

A slab of St.Louis could finish at 2 1/2 lbs,so you just try to keep them warm.

Now you cook eight 16 lb packers at 250*,dbl wrap and cooler,they'll be too hot to touch in 12 hrs.

They could carry up 15 *.

Packers are an experience thing,where good notes are critical.

There are cooks that may cook packers at 350*,and pull when the probe passes all the way thru them.

They let them set out on the table in a cool breeze,to stop the cook,for 20 mins,slice and go straight to the comp box.

This is where you read Smokin' telling folks there are no exact formulas,like frying a 1/4 inch thick slice of bologna , one minute on each side in a 325* skillet,slap a little yellow mustard on some light bread,and you just became a great cook.

I rarely use the FTC method, mainly because it leads to overcooked food or soggy bark.

For most of the stuff we do, the carryover from temps around 225 won't be enough to worry about, but it's impossible to REALLY predict without knowing the mass of the item your cooking, the amount of thermal mass (how many butts, briskets) and the ability of the Cooler.

I never cook white meat to 165. Ever.

If I brine, I pull it at 155 but no later than 160.

Have you checked your temp probes? If they're a few degrees off and you cooked it to 165 and held it a while then it will have an effect.

However (I always have a however). turkey cooked to 165 and brined for 36 hours won't be dry unless something else happened. Keep in mind the quality of the bird too.

Sorry it happened, but it's a good discussion.

It moved me up the "learning curve" and the flavor was out of this world. A little extra mayo and some thinly sliced cucumber and all was perfect.

Thanks for the WONDERFUL response and the GREAT forum.

Mary Jayne in Tucson