Thanksgiving Turkey

[Like Smoke]

I use a Turkey DunRight stand. For a large turkey, (Cooks the turkey breast side down, for a juicer breast) I remove the grill grate and set the holder in a tinfoil tray. I put a 1/2 inch piece of angle under the tray at the grease drip end to keep it level. I used apple cider vinegar and apple juice in the tray for moisture. The stand will work for a conventional oven as well. The whole thing can be tented if that's your preferce. I have attached a picture of it, the handle also rotates down when not lifting. Very pleased with the finished turkey.

https://www.amazon.com/Camerons-Tha...n-Roaster/dp/B00795V9F4?tag=traegerforum06-20

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[RayClem]

I use a Turkey DunRight stand. For a large turkey, (Cooks the turkey breast side down, for a juicer breast) I remove the grill grate and set the holder in a tinfoil tray. I put a 1/2 inch piece of angle under the tray at the grease drip end to keep it level. I used apple cider vinegar and apple juice in the tray for moisture. The stand will work for a conventional oven as well. The whole thing can be tented if that's your preferce. I have attached a picture of it, the handle also rotates down when not lifting. Very pleased with the finished turkey.

https://www.amazon.com/Camerons-Tha...n-Roaster/dp/B00795V9F4?tag=traegerforum06-20

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I have never heard of the Turkey DunRight stand. It sounds like an interesting concept, kind of like the beer can chicken.

What is your experience with the stand? Do you give it a two thumbs up recommendation?

It is not too expensive, but since I only do one, perhaps two, turkeys a year, I would have to find a place to store the stand. My wife is trying to get me to get rid of stuff I do not use regularly, so she would not be happy with a new gadget.

 

[Like Smoke]

I have used the stand in the oven and in the smoker, and have been very satisfied with the results. There is a pin with a small chain that holds the rack in the upright position. After use with the pin removed the two pieces will got into the dishwasher for cleaning. The two components lay flat and can be returned to the flat box for storage. The time I used it in the oven I slid the whole unit with turkey into a cooking bag, and set it into a flat pan to catch any leaking, worked fine. I would easily give the rack a two thumbs up, one of the better cooking tools I have purchased.

 

[RayClem]

i usually use mayo as a binder on poultry and never taste it.

I used mustard as the binder this year. While the mustard did not cause an off flavor, I think I will try to remember to use mayo next year.

 

[Keeperovdeflame]

I suggested he turn it off and restart. Like you explained it reset and reignited. Went on to finish the cook pretty much on time. Turkey came out perfect, moist, savory and delicious. I had no ida what to do, restart idea just dumb luck. I keep that info on file for future use. Thanks for your help.

 

[RayClem]

I suggested he turn it off and restart. Like you explained it reset and reignited. Went on to finish the cook pretty much on time. Turkey came out perfect, moist, savory and delicious. I had no ida what to do, restart idea just dumb luck. I keep that info on file for future use. Thanks for your help.

As they say in the world of computers, if all else fails, press the reboot button.

 

[OldMayfield]

We went with our old stand-by, Traeger Smoked Turkey: https://trgr.link/47dk0Z5. Smoked a tube of Cowboy chips as well.

It came out great as usual. The only surprise: The 16# bird was done in 3 hours at 300F: 170F in the thigh, 160F in the breast. Thus it spent 90 minutes in the cooler, but in the end, delicious!

The cook time was a surprise; last year it took 3:45 to cook a 14# bird. Similar weather both years here in Florida, I think: sunny, low 70s, not much wind.

 

[RayClem]

While there is nothing wrong with cooking at 300F, you will get more wood smoke flavor at a lower cook temperature. However, the use of a smoke tube might have counteracted the loss of smoke from the fire pot.

Generally, the rule of thumb for cooking turkey in a conventional oven is 13-15 minutes per pound at 325F. At that rate, your 16 pounder should have taken 3.5 - 4 hours. However, the Traeger is not a conventional oven; it operates as a convection oven. Air movement over and around the turkey increases the heat transfer and rate of moisture evaporation. Thus, the cook time can be reduced. Always cook to a final internal temperature as you did rather than cooking to time and temperature. You did well.

 

[DennisC]

I recently had a flame out when cooking. Not sure what caused it. The blower was running fine. The smoke stick was close to under the temp sensor so that may have caused an issue. I noticed the temp dropping 3 hours into a cook. I reset the controller and then restarted it. Soon there was a lot of smoke but the temp wasn't rising. A bunch of pellets had piled up in the fire pot and

As they say in the world of computers, if all else fails, press the reboot button.

See my cautionary tale about doing a restart without checking the fire pot and drum for unburned pellets. Just posted in Trager Problems part of the forum.

 

[DennisC]

I did a 13 lb turkey spatchcocked on my Pro 34 following the Meat Church method except used a pre brined Butterball and my own rub, which was delicious. The leg quarters took a lot longer to cook than did the breast. I took it out when the breast hit 160, chopped off the leg quarters and put them back in the smoker to finish. I smoked set at 275 which was about 260 at the gill height. Next time I will set the smoker to 300 as the cook was pretty slow.

 

[RayClem]

I did a 13 lb turkey spatchcocked on my Pro 34 following the Meat Church method except used a pre brined Butterball and my own rub, which was delicious. The leg quarters took a lot longer to cook than did the breast. I took it out when the breast hit 160, chopped off the leg quarters and put them back in the smoker to finish. I smoked set at 275 which was about 260 at the gill height. Next time I will set the smoker to 300 as the cook was pretty slow.

Just remember that the higher the cook temperature, the less smoke flavor you will get in the final product. I like to start off at 225F actual and then finish off at 400F for the last 30 midnutes or so to brown the skin.

 

[RayClem]

I recently had a flame out when cooking. Not sure what caused it. The blower was running fine. The smoke stick was close to under the temp sensor so that may have caused an issue. I noticed the temp dropping 3 hours into a cook. I reset the controller and then restarted it. Soon there was a lot of smoke but the temp wasn't rising. A bunch of pellets had piled up in the fire pot and

See my cautionary tale about doing a restart without checking the fire pot and drum for unburned pellets. Just posted in Trager Problems part of the forum.

Yes, any time there is a flameout, you need to clean the fire pot. Although rare, there are examples of Traegers exploding due to hot gases building up in the cook chamber. Even though the Traeger instructions say to ignite the fire pot with the lid closed on the smoker, I always leave the lid open when igniting my Ironwood. I only close the lid when the thick white smoke turns into thin blue smoke. That prevents the buildup of hot gases.

 

[Like Smoke]

My older Texas 075 instructions state
"With the Door open set the Temperature/Dial to SMOKE. In approximately 2 minutes you will notice whitish-gray smoke coming out of the Grill as the Pellets ignite. After assuring the Pellets have ignited, close the Door and set the Temperature/Dial to any cooking setting desired."
I have always done this and never had a problem, not sure why Traeger changed the instructions on their later models. I always vacuum mine out after use so it is always clean at start up and never added pellets to the fire pot. Its always started fine.

 

[Parrothead1809]

I'm a bit late to the party; Sorry I hadn't posted my Thanksgiving till today. Mrs P cooked a 12 lb'er in the oven and I did another 12 lb'er on the smoker. I had the butcher spatchcock the bird and then used Matt Pitmans method: Bird Baptism Poultry Brine for 24 hours, dusted with Honey Hog and cooked at 275 for just under 3 hours. After the first 90 mins or so, I started basting it with a butter & Honey Hog concoction (I eye-balled the measurements). When it came out, I rested it for 30-45 mins. Also, I used this cook to see what all the hype is about on the Smokin' Pecan Pecan Shell Pellets. AMAZING BIRD. I really think the Smokin' Pecan pellets imparted a good smoke on the bird. Too bad they cost so much for every day cooks. Pics Below.
-PH

 

[DennisC]

Just remember that the higher the cook temperature, the less smoke flavor you will get in the final product. I like to start off at 225F actual and then finish off at 400F for the last 30 midnutes or so to brown the skin.

I almost always use a smokestick for anything in the traeger except doing bacon. I chose not to use the smoke stick with the Thanksgiving cook just because I didn't want the turkey to have any oversmoked flavor. Anyway, it came out awesome!