I get turkey angst for Thanksgiving. I am never sure enough of the quality
of the bird to be cooked, nor of my ability to prepare it to meet everyone's
expectations, my own included. I rarely fail to make the damn things edible,
but I just get psyched out about the whole ordeal. Why, I scream in my mind,
couldn't the legend of the Pilgrim's harvest feast of thanksgiving have
shaped itself around the pig as the center focus of the modern Thanksgiving
meal. Turkey angst sucks!!!

To try something new, I spatchcocked a 21 pound bird, gave it a light rub of
herbs, and then laid it out on a half-sheet pan in the fridge, uncovered,
for 48 hours.

On Thanksgiving, I took it out of the fridge and let it set for an hour. I
stuck it in a 450F oven for 30 minutes, then transferred the bird to my
Weber Genesis grill. The grill had been set up with a half-sheet pan
directly on the 'Flavorizer Bars'. I laid a couple of chunks of hickory, one
at each end of the pan, and had the grill at 350F. There was some good smoke
as the bird was laid breast-side up directly on the grill. The bird was
pulled when it reached 155F, taken into the house and placed on a cutting
board. I covered it in a layer of foil (not wrapped), and left it to rest
for the next thirty minutes while the internal temp of the meat increased.

The bird was tender, juicy and extremely flavorful.

Thank gawd that I don't need to worry about doing a turkey for another year.
Thanks for letting my get that off my chest.

Damn you to hell, turkeys!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

--
Dave
"A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher
a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts,
build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders,
cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure,
program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly.
Specialization is for insects."......
Robert Heinlein

snap

The bird was tender, juicy and extremely flavorful.

Thank gawd that I don't need to worry about doing a turkey for another year.
Thanks for letting my get that off my chest.

Damn you to hell, turkeys!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sound like it was worth the fear factor Dave!

When I splach a turkey I break the breast bone so that the entire bird is
the same thickness. Helps to ensure even cooking. Just an idea for you.

Gene

On 25-Nov-2011, "Dave Bugg" > wrote:

> I get turkey angst for Thanksgiving. I am never sure enough of the quality
>
> of the bird to be cooked, nor of my ability to prepare it to meet
> everyone's
> expectations, my own included. I rarely fail to make the damn things
> edible,
> but I just get psyched out about the whole ordeal. Why, I scream in my
> mind,
> couldn't the legend of the Pilgrim's harvest feast of thanksgiving have
> shaped itself around the pig as the center focus of the modern
> Thanksgiving
> meal. Turkey angst sucks!!!
>
> To try something new, I spatchcocked a 21 pound bird, gave it a light rub
> of
> herbs, and then laid it out on a half-sheet pan in the fridge, uncovered,
> for 48 hours.
>
> On Thanksgiving, I took it out of the fridge and let it set for an hour. I
>
> stuck it in a 450F oven for 30 minutes, then transferred the bird to my
> Weber Genesis grill. The grill had been set up with a half-sheet pan
> directly on the 'Flavorizer Bars'. I laid a couple of chunks of hickory,
> one
> at each end of the pan, and had the grill at 350F. There was some good
> smoke
> as the bird was laid breast-side up directly on the grill. The bird was
> pulled when it reached 155F, taken into the house and placed on a cutting
> board. I covered it in a layer of foil (not wrapped), and left it to rest
> for the next thirty minutes while the internal temp of the meat increased.
>
> The bird was tender, juicy and extremely flavorful.
>
> Thank gawd that I don't need to worry about doing a turkey for another
> year.
> Thanks for letting my get that off my chest.
>
> Damn you to hell, turkeys!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
>
> --
> Dave

I can't imagine how you could have done it better Dave, but I suspect
that's not the comment you're fishing for. So, just let me say that you
did everything right and you should not be surprised that it worked like
it was supposed to.

Yeh, I go through that shit too. Age won't make it go away. T-Day
I was at my daughters house with about 15 other guests and nobody
would step up to carve the ham and bird. That's the first time I ever
carved a baked ham or turkey. I just pretended like the turkey was
an over large chicken and carved the ham lengthwise instead of trying
to slice it in steaks. Worked like a charm. I don't want to talk about
how the green bean casserole got dumped on the floor while I was
carving the ham. That's a sequel to the oven fire that messed up the
casserole in the first place.

--
Brick(Better to remain silent and be thought a fool
then to speak up and remove all doubt)

In article >,
Omelet > wrote:

> In article >,
> "Dave Bugg" > wrote:
>
> > I get turkey angst for Thanksgiving. I am never sure enough of the quality
> > of the bird to be cooked, nor of my ability to prepare it to meet
> > everyone's
> > expectations, my own included. I rarely fail to make the damn things
> > edible,
> > but I just get psyched out about the whole ordeal. Why, I scream in my
> > mind,
> > couldn't the legend of the Pilgrim's harvest feast of thanksgiving have
> > shaped itself around the pig as the center focus of the modern Thanksgiving
> > meal. Turkey angst sucks!!!
> >
> > To try something new, I spatchcocked a 21 pound bird, gave it a light rub
> > of
> > herbs, and then laid it out on a half-sheet pan in the fridge, uncovered,
> > for 48 hours.
> >
> > On Thanksgiving, I took it out of the fridge and let it set for an hour. I
> > stuck it in a 450F oven for 30 minutes, then transferred the bird to my
> > Weber Genesis grill. The grill had been set up with a half-sheet pan
> > directly on the 'Flavorizer Bars'. I laid a couple of chunks of hickory,
> > one
> > at each end of the pan, and had the grill at 350F. There was some good
> > smoke
> > as the bird was laid breast-side up directly on the grill. The bird was
> > pulled when it reached 155F, taken into the house and placed on a cutting
> > board. I covered it in a layer of foil (not wrapped), and left it to rest
> > for the next thirty minutes while the internal temp of the meat increased.
> >
> > The bird was tender, juicy and extremely flavorful.
> >
> > Thank gawd that I don't need to worry about doing a turkey for another
> > year.
> > Thanks for letting my get that off my chest.
> >
> > Damn you to hell, turkeys!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
>
> What are you bitching about? :-) Sounds like you did good!! You can
> purchase turkey's cheaply this time of year. Buy some extra ones to get
> more practice... <eg>

Turkey is so overrated. I prefer hotdogs to most turkey dindins I've
been subjected to.
F'rinstance, this year: The in-laws cooked up a bird that looked nice
and roasted and ready to carve.
THEN
I spotted the popped-out plastic doohickey sticking out of the
tittymeat...
I at least had some good sides and gravy to make up for the drydrydry
turkey.

monroe(gimme pig gimme cow)

Dave Bugg wrote:
> I get turkey angst for Thanksgiving. I am never sure enough of the
> quality of the bird to be cooked, nor of my ability to prepare it to
> meet everyone's expectations, my own included. I rarely fail to make
> the damn things edible, but I just get psyched out about the whole
> ordeal. Why, I scream in my mind, couldn't the legend of the
> Pilgrim's harvest feast of thanksgiving have shaped itself around the
> pig as the center focus of the modern Thanksgiving meal. Turkey angst
> sucks!!!
> To try something new, I spatchcocked a 21 pound bird, gave it a light
> rub of herbs, and then laid it out on a half-sheet pan in the fridge,
> uncovered, for 48 hours.
>
> On Thanksgiving, I took it out of the fridge and let it set for an
> hour. I stuck it in a 450F oven for 30 minutes, then transferred the
> bird to my Weber Genesis grill. The grill had been set up with a
> half-sheet pan directly on the 'Flavorizer Bars'. I laid a couple of
> chunks of hickory, one at each end of the pan, and had the grill at
> 350F. There was some good smoke as the bird was laid breast-side up
> directly on the grill. The bird was pulled when it reached 155F,
> taken into the house and placed on a cutting board. I covered it in a
> layer of foil (not wrapped), and left it to rest for the next thirty
> minutes while the internal temp of the meat increased.
> The bird was tender, juicy and extremely flavorful.
>
> Thank gawd that I don't need to worry about doing a turkey for
> another year. Thanks for letting my get that off my chest.
>
> Damn you to hell, turkeys!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Isn't that why we, in this Great Country of ours, get to make the choice of
what to prepare and eat.
A couple of very popular choices include either Ham or Prime Rib.
Of course, since you live in this country and you are able to make your own
choices about what to eat for just about any meal, you can serve anything
that your heart desires.

Me? I enjoy preparing, cooking and eating a really good turkey a few times
throughout the year. Maybe it's just so I can keep in practice, but I
really enjoy the whole process. The looks on the faces of the guests when
they see the Golden brown skin on the bird just make the effort even more
worth it.

Or, you could brine the turkey in a bucket in your garage like someone we
all know, but I really don't reccommend this stupid procedure.

A.Nonny.Mouse wrote:

> Of course, since you live in this country and you are able to make
> your own choices about what to eat for just about any meal, you can
> serve anything that your heart desires.

True, but the group expectation is that I won't serve what I desire, but
that which family and friends want.

--
Dave
"A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion,
butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance
accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders,
give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new
problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight
efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects."......
Robert Heinlein

Sqwertz wrote:
> On Fri, 25 Nov 2011 14:50:02 -0800, Dave Bugg wrote:
>
>> Turkey angst sucks!!!
>
> I cooked my yearly turkey last month. I never make turkey on
> Thanksgiving. This year is duck, pork ribs, and lobster rolls. I
> missed Thanksgiving Day due to a big ****up, not on my part. So
> Thanksgiving is Today.
>
> -sw

Happy Thanksgiving, Steve. :-)

--
Dave
"A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion,
butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance
accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders,
give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new
problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight
efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects."......
Robert Heinlein

On 11/27/2011 4:10 PM, Sqwertz wrote:
> On Sun, 27 Nov 2011 14:51:39 -0600, Sqwertz wrote:
>
>> Not good for and ECBG.
>
> Not good for DUCK and ECBG.
>
> Pork can fgo lower and slower but I like to cooks duck at a higher
> temp. Today I would only be able to get up to 230 or so.
>
> -sw


With a WSM, you could get 300° with the right amount of coals.. :-)

BBQ
--
Vegetarian

An old Indian term for poor hunter...

On 12/5/2011 6:53 AM, Sqwertz wrote:
> On Mon, 05 Dec 2011 01:14:53 -0600, bbq wrote:
>
>> On 11/27/2011 4:10 PM, Sqwertz wrote:
>>> On Sun, 27 Nov 2011 14:51:39 -0600, Sqwertz wrote:
>>>
>>>> Not good for and ECBG.
>>>
>>> Not good for DUCK and ECBG.
>>>
>>> Pork can fgo lower and slower but I like to cooks duck at a higher
>>> temp. Today I would only be able to get up to 230 or so.
>>>
>>> -sw
>>
>> With a WSM, you could get 300° with the right amount of coals.. :-)
>
> The only drawback about an WSM over an ECBG it and ECBG doesn't have
> adjustable vents. But are adjustable vents worth the extra $200-$275
> that they charge for the WSM? **** no. I would add vents to my ECBG
> for the cost of a couple screws if I felt so inclined.
>
> -sw


No doubt, the WSM is considerably more expensive. I got lucky and got
mine at a 25 percent discount from MSRP. Doesn't happen often. I think
this was an error on Amazon's part to honor the sale price. As I recall,
the sale excluded Weber products, but putting in the code one got the
sale price. Their programmers didn't do good testing. The sale price was
honored at checkout time, so Amazon may have bit the bullet to maintain
good PR(if they even knew about the error).

I have an ECB or CharBroil Deluxe as it was called then. That was
snagged because it was mis-priced. I saw it at Home Depot; I knew it was
mis-priced and took advantage of it. I was happy with the ECB during the
summer months, but winter q'en was too much of a pia.

Webers MSRP increase a few years ago was way out of line. Not enough
improvements to justify a $100 increase in MSRP. If I needed to purchase
another smoker, I would still consider the WSM. Not necessarily purchase
one just because of their reputation of having a quality product.

As it stands now, I do not think I will need to purchase another smoker,
unless mine gets stolen. When funds were more plentiful, I did consider
a clay style barbecue. In all honesty, it would have been more for
showing off (keeping up with the Jone's type attitude) rather then a
cooker that does things easier and better.

Hell, just for kicks I may fire up the CharBroil again. But that won't
happen till May. I still use the grates when I need extra space in my WSM.

BBQ
--
Vegetarian

An old Indian term for poor hunter...

Sounds delicious. Sometimes freaking out a little bit is good. I've never put a turkey on a grill before I would be a little freaked out as well.