The turkey gets cut up into quarters and seasoned 2-3 days before and on the morning of Thanksgiving we cook it in what's called a jerk pan. It's like a smoker but long and cylindrical
Preparing for Turkey day!
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The turkey gets cut up into quarters and seasoned 2-3 days before and on the morning of Thanksgiving we cook it in what's called a jerk pan. It's like a smoker but long and cylindrical
Boatboy24
No longer a newbie, but still clueless.
I like to use the "diaper method".
The issue is that the breast will always cook faster than the dark meat. Either the dark meat is under cooked, or the breast meat is dry as the Sahara desert.
The diaper method slows down the cooking of the breast so that the turkey ends up evenly cooked.
I take a large sheet of tin foil and fold it up much like you would fold up a flag, ending up with a large triangle of several foil layers. I then mold the triangle over just the breast, leaving the drumsticks exposed. This "diaper" slows down the cooking of the breast.
I then cook at 325 until done (internal temp of 160) and let rest (covered) for 20 minutes minimum. Juicy and delicious!
I just never tried it on a bird this big before!
I take a similar approach. I take the bird out of the fridge 30-60 minutes before it goes on the smoker. During that time, I have ice bags on the breast. By the time I start cooking, the white meat is 10-20 degrees colder than the dark meat, allowing them to come up to proper temp at about the same time. I cook at 300-350 until the white meat is at about 155, then let it rest for about 15 minutes before carving. During that time, the white meat coasts into a comfy 160 or so.
We are hosting this year and will have 15 people. I always 'grill-roast' a turkey on the smoker that is brined with apple juice, garlic, orange, along with the usual salt. Also do a bone-in turkey breast brined with Jack Daniels and maple syrup.
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Boatboy24
No longer a newbie, but still clueless.
Gonna pick up the Turkey and extra breast tomorrow. They'll both go into their respective brines on Tuesday evening.
