Poultry Thanksgiving Turkey

[CMTiger]

I did a bone in turkey breast back in early spring, and man, it was better than fried turkey to me. I’m very likely to cook the thanksgiving turkey and ham on the traeger this year!

Turkey breasts on my 575 are great. I start low around 175-180 for an hour then turn it up to 275 (set the Traeger at 300).

 

[aarieas]

I'll be doing this : https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B005VPTZUU/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1 (from a Timmy Link)

then smoke on Traeger with probably 2 tubes going at the regular oven suggested temp

Ordered my kit today! thanks.
What do you mean by 2 tubes?

 

[FireTechMike]

Has anyone used Meat Church's Bird Bath Brine? I've never brined anything. Haven't injected either. @Keeperovdeflame brine recipe looks interesting also. If any of my local grocery stores ever get turkey in I would like to try a brine recipe before Thanksgiving. Hopefully this week or next they should be arriving in SoCal.

I haven’t used it yet, but I have a bag in the pantry. I’m waiting until Christmas.

 

[cjcinkc]

Brine Recipe:
Add enough cold out of the fridge apple cider to eventually cover the bird while retaining about a quart in a large sauce pan. Add 1 cup of Kosher salt, 1 cup of honey, and a bundle of fresh Simon and Garfunkel fresh herb sprigs to the cider in the sauce pan and heat until the salt and honey are completely dissolved. Spatchcock your bird. Mix the cooled cider / honey mixture with the cider in your container. Add 1 cup of cold orange juice, along with one orange thinly sliced and your herb bundle.

Thanks for sharing the brine recipe. I modified to 1/2 gal of cider, then ice/cold water in the stockpot to completely submerge the spatchcocked hen. I also added 1 thinly sliced lemon to enhance the acid. Hopefully this weekend’s test run yields some yummy results.

 

[CMTiger]

Anyone hearing there may be a potential turkey shortage this year or just an rumor? I was in Publix yesterday and there was exactly one frozen turkey in the store.

 

[RustyJake]

Anyone hearing there may be a potential turkey shortage this year or just an rumor? I was in Publix yesterday and there was exactly one frozen turkey in the store.

They had mentioned it on our news that the US may face shortages on Turkeys this year due to COVID production issues. I believe they said the shortages will be seen in the sub 20 pound sizes
edit to add...they said it was mainly a shortage in fresh birds. Frozen should still be available

 

[CMTiger]

They had mentioned it on our new that the US may face shortages on Turkeys this year due to COVID production issues. I believe they said the shortages will be seen in the sub 20 pound sizes
edit to add...they said it was mainly a shortage in fresh birds. Frozen should still be available

Unfortunately down south the mere mention of potential shortages is sure to cause a shortage.

I have never even done a frozen whole bird. I’ve always just went the weekend or so before and bought a fresh one. Looks like that may not be an option this year

 

[MidwestSmoker]

I prefer to buy fresh turkeys as well, but gave up on that this year. I also like to get smaller birds (<14 lbs) and those are hard to get fresh or frozen even without supply chain disruptions. So I saw a 13 lbs frozen bird last week at my grocery store and bought it.

 

[CMTiger]

I prefer to buy fresh turkeys as well, but gave up on that this year. I also like to get smaller birds (<14 lbs) and those are hard to get fresh or frozen even without supply chain disruptions. So I saw a 13 lbs frozen bird last week at my grocery store and bought it.

I just got back from the grocery store. Picked up two birds…..frozen. 11.6 and 12.5 pounds.

 

[YYCRed]

Ordered my kit today! thanks.
What do you mean by 2 tubes?

I'm pretty sure @Slimpicker is using 2 smoke tubes. Cooking above 225F doesn't give you smoke. Smoke tubes

 

[Slimpicker]

I'm pretty sure @Slimpicker is using 2 smoke tubes. Cooking above 225F doesn't give you smoke. Smoke tubes

YES, exactly... (sorry, didn't see his Q) THNX RED

 

[CMTiger]

So…..what would be the edible/non-edible ratio on meat with two smaller birds compared to one that equaled that of the smaller two combined…..

Any other words…..anyone think I’m sacrificing meat by going the two birds route?

 

[traeger860]

Has anyone used Meat Church's Bird Bath Brine? I've never brined anything. Haven't injected either. @Keeperovdeflame brine recipe looks interesting also. If any of my local grocery stores ever get turkey in I would like to try a brine recipe before Thanksgiving. Hopefully this week or next they should be arriving in SoCal.

I haven't used it before, but I just picked up the kit from Academy this past weekend. I'm going to do a breast this year instead of a whole turkey.

 

[GrillMeister]

I buy World Market's Turkey Brine for $6.99. At that price it's a great deal.

World Market® Turkey Brine Mix

A masterful seasoning makes our exclusive turkey brine stand out. With the best in natural ingredients like sea salt, raw sugar, cranberries, sage, juniper, rosemary, orange peel and more, your bird is sure to taste delicious.

www.worldmarket.com

 

[Slimpicker]

I buy World Market's Turkey Brine for $6.99. At that price it's a great deal.

World Market® Turkey Brine Mix

A masterful seasoning makes our exclusive turkey brine stand out. With the best in natural ingredients like sea salt, raw sugar, cranberries, sage, juniper, rosemary, orange peel and more, your bird is sure to taste delicious.

www.worldmarket.com

View attachment 7599

I used this one last year, it's very good indeed.