Non-traditional Thanksgiving

JacobDacey

New member
I've already informed my family we are going to have a nontraditional Thanksgiving. I fully intend to smoke the turkey on my Kamado.

Anyone have any experience or recipes on the matter?
 
I smoked a turkey a few years ago. Turned out pretty dam good.

I had a 5 gallon food grade bucket, filled it just enough to cover the turkey.

Recipe... just kinda faked it and started grabbing stuff from the spice cabinet.

White wine
Salt
Garlic powder
Pepper
Mustard powder

Not sure what else. Brined it for 2 days in the Kegerator. I think I used Apple wood in the smoker.
 
I've always wanted to try the deep fried turkey.

Any of you guys attempted this? I've seen videos where people over fill the frier and oil spills over and catches fire.
 
I've always wanted to try the deep fried turkey.

Any of you guys attempted this? I've seen videos where people over fill the frier and oil spills over and catches fire.

I haven't actually done it myself but I have observed my friend do it a few times. Not really hard to do, but you can't be stupid. Don't overflow the oil when you put in the turkey. Put it in slowly and don't have the container over full of oil. Should be obvious. If you dunk the turkey fast into the oil it will flow over the top of the pot. Slow is good! Don't put anything soaked with water in the pot. It will boil over and be a hazard.

Overall, if you use just a little caution it's safe and the results are delicious!!! No recipe, just cook it according to directions.
 
I've always wanted to try the deep fried turkey.

Any of you guys attempted this? I've seen videos where people over fill the frier and oil spills over and catches fire.

Place the Turkey in, then fill with water to the desire level and mark the height of the water. Take the turkey out and pat dry, remove the water and fill with oil to the height mark. Slowly place the turkey back in and you cannot overflow. The oil level will be right.

Be careful, it is easy to dry out a turkey deepfrying it. Watch the temp.
 
I've always wanted to try the deep fried turkey.

Any of you guys attempted this? I've seen videos where people over fill the frier and oil spills over and catches fire.

Place the Turkey in, then fill with water to the desire level and mark the height of the water. Take the turkey out and pat dry, remove the water and fill with oil to the height mark. Slowly place the turkey back in and you cannot overflow. The oil level will be right.

Be careful, it is easy to dry out a turkey deepfrying it. Watch the temp.

Yep, pretty much. You can measure while the turkey is still wrapped and adjust a bit for the cavity. Or measure a day prior to frying, then dry and do some injectible marinade and rub to let the bird sit over night. Get the oil (peanut) to 350 and hold it there for a while...maybe a bit above because plunging the bird will bring it down a bit. Then keep your eye on it and hope it at ~350... too low will be too oily, too high will burn some areas - and perhaps you if not careful. It is not too difficult, but does require attention. I have done it many times over that last decade or so. Damned good bird.
 
I've never done it myself, but I know it's easy to overcook a fried bird. A friend's dad did it one year and we got a terribly dry, greasy turkey.
I smoked a brined chicken with a little seasoning under the skin a month or so ago and it was amazing... can you think of any reason not to use the exact same procedure for a turkey?
 
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The Kamado looks like a great smoker. I have done several turkeys on my Weber, and they have always come out great. Usually took between 6 and 7 hours, added about 6 lumps of charcoal, the real stuff, every hour or so.
 
Deep-fried a turkey last year, smoked on the year before. Both turned out very well. Not much of a family gathering this year. Family is scattered to the four winds now. Think the wife and I are going to enjoy some nice thick, bacon wrapped filet mignon this year or maybe a smoked Boston Butt. Not sure yet. Not big on the pumpkin pie so that'll be substituted with strawberry cheesecake. And of course the all time Thanksgiving great, the sweet potato will be on the plate along with some fresh broiled vegetables.
 
As long as I have my brown and serve rolls then I'm happy!

Family usually does the traditional thing but also include ham and another entree for those that don't like turkey.

I want to try the deep fried bird ;)
 
what kinda setups are you guys using to deep fry the birds I am thinking about trying it this year.

A rig like this on a single, high BTU gas burner fed by a 25lb tank. Outdoors of course.

Bayou Classic 30-Qt. Turkey Fryer Pot Kit - 194543, Utensils Cookware at Sportsman's Guide
Camp Chef Maximum Output Single Cooker - 500024, Stoves at Sportsman's Guide

The biggest mistakes first timers make are:

not placing the bird in the pot then filling it with water to determine how much oil to bring to a boil. Doing this prevents the over flow of oil that usually ends up "burning down grandmas garage" as the comercial goes.

Using a still partially or fully frozen bird or a wet bird. Can you say "encapsulated steam explosion involving boiling and highly flammable oil"?

Not using a thermometer to monitor the oil temp / not getting the oil up to temp before sinking the bird.

Using the wrong oil.
 
what kinda setups are you guys using to deep fry the birds I am thinking about trying it this year.

If you use an electric fryer, there's no danger of the oil catching fire. Moisture is what causes the issues with propane fryers. A drop of moisture in the boiling oil will send oil everywhere, then the open flame does the rest. If you are gonna use propane get a good thermometer and watch the temp closely. I fry my turkey every year, comes out very tasty.


Sent from my Xoom using Tapatalk 2
 
Mixed results from my test turkey, but I guess that's good as it gives me something to fix. A few notes:
- Be careful with complicated brines; some flavor in my brine did not play well with the smoke flavor
- Use a lump charcoal that has very little smoke flavor on its own.
- Expect turkey to finish quicker, the design of a kamado basically makes it a convection oven and the moving air cooks things pretty fast.

Juiciest turkey I've ever made, but my flavor was off somehow. Going to keep the thanksgiving bird simpler and just go for it.
 

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