Base Line Turkey

I purchased an appliance, or five, this fall. At some point, Sears gave me a coupon for $20 off a whole turkey. The kids and I picked up a 19 pounder on Wednesday and I let it thaw out in the keg fridge. Today was the day.

I wanted to get a baseline with just the bird…no brine or anything special, so I fired up the BGE with a bit of my mixed-fruit wood chips. Had a hard time getting over 350 degrees. I either had blockage in the firebox or there is an issue with the thermometer. Rubbed the bird with olive oil, salt and pepper. Put the bird on for indirect cooking at 6:15 p.m. I checked the temp every 45 minutes or so. When I went out at 9:00 p.m., I noticed the temp was dropped and that I had run through my first load of lump charcoal. I pulled the turkey and reloaded. The turkey looked like it was done, so I did some temping and everything registered at 172 or higher, I pulled it off and brought it into the kitchen. Totally done. Nice smoke ring on the dark meat and the thigh…not so much on the breast. I did cook breast side up without flipping. Next time I’m going to get one of those upright stands. I could not imagine it would be done in less than three hours and hadn’t even planned to put my remote thermometer on until after the four hour, using the old 12-15 minutes per pound rule. The meat was not bad at all. Just as good as from the oven if not better. This was with no brine or rub, or anything. I need to read a bit more to see if the BGE cooks faster than an over and do some more experimenting. Not bad for a free turkey…well a $5.70 turkey.