Well If you want to get Fancy with your Turkey...

That was a good video. Might try it sometime.

They make it look so simple...

Nice!!

Toast...was thinking the same thing. Might make it easier to get out of the basket when it is done.

That looks like it would work better than my last truss job!!

Matt

He does make it look easy. Has anyone else noticed that the breast meat is easier to overcook on a trussed bird? For me, the thigh on a trussed bird is usually at about 170 degrees when the breast hits 165. I carve in the kitchen, so a weird looking bird is no problem.

I've used those instructions on two turkeys now. It is pretty simple, but it does help if you have someone doing the play/pause while you are trying to keep up.

Did that for my test run last week. Did the pause, tie, pause, tie...

Reminder, put any aromatics in before you truss. That bird was so tight, I couldn't get anything inside it...

He definitely makes it look easy.
I was just given a Big Easy oil-less fryer a couple days ago to use this Thanksgiving. Does the cooking twine survive the heat or burn off?
I've been frying the family Thanksgiving turkey for several years now, and I try to pull the bird out of the oil when my internal thermometer in the breast meat hits 145. I get another 10-12 degrees from carry over and end up with juicy turkey. How much carry over do you guys see from the oil-less fryer?
Sorry if I've gone into thread-jacking territory Toast, but I think my questions are in line with your posts.

That video's on my TALKIN' TURKEY THREAD too.
I don't know how many times I've watched that thing in my kitchen. I think I finally have it figured out, but I always still watch it to be sure.

I have to say, I truss all poultry, and it never looks that clean or precise

Toast said:

Does the breast cook faster that way?

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Just my experience, but the turkey, as a whole, takes longer to cook on a kettle this way. The breast gets done before the thighs, too.

If I don't spatchcock this year, I'll be doing this - thanks for posting!

landarc said:

I have to say, I truss all poultry, and it never looks that clean or precise

Click to expand...

Sounds like a "Fukushima issue" to me. :becky:

Toast said:

Does the breast cook faster that way?

Click to expand...

The whole idea of trussing is that you get a more consistent doneness on the bird. Rather than the legs and wings hanging out there taking all that heat on their own, trussing draws everything up tight so that it's basically more of a uniform "roast" shape and will cook more evenly.

MY OPINION on why the breast gets done too quick (or quicker than the dark meat) has to do with the direct heat. I've played with this theory a good amount on chickens on various cookers and I think I'm on to something.

In other words, on a kettle, most of your heat (on a typical indirect cooking setup with bricks or some sort of diffuser) comes up and over the top of the kettle, just under the lid. So the breasts are going to get that heat more directly than the thighs and legs. On a UDS, though, since the heat is coming up from underneath, the thighs and legs get it first.

When I do whole chickens (and I do a LOT of em) on my UDS, I will always put the chickens on the grate (usually 3 or 4 at a time) so that the legs are in the center and the breasts are on the outer perimeter of the drum. This way, most of the heat from the fire, as it comes up the center of the drum, is hitting the dark meat first and the breasts, located along the outside, are cooking at a little lower temp than the legs and thighs. Doing this, my chickens usually end up cooking so that the thighs and legs are at 165-170 when the breasts are at 150-155. In fact, if anything, the breasts are usually a little behind, so then at the end, I'll just flip the birds so that the breasts are in the center and facing down so that they catch up at the end.

It would be hard to do this with a turkey due to the size. Still, cooking a turkey on a drum with breast side up will help keep the breasts from overcooking by the time the thighs are done.

PLUS....don't forget to ice the breasts! This will help too.