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Post by trailboss on Nov 17, 2023 20:17:31 GMT -5
I always do ours Southwestern style in the smoker.
I prepare the turkey by softening butter, mixing herbs and starting at the bottom working under the skin, liberally putting the mixture around the breast, working it well around the thighs. Smoked over oak and pecan.
The stuffing has chayote squash, Jalapeños, garlic, onion, butter, cilantro, salt, thyme, sage, corn bread, pecans.
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Post by username on Nov 17, 2023 20:23:58 GMT -5
I'm not the one cooking it but i believe its being a brined bird this year. I'm in charge of the Pumpkin pie as per my usual holiday dutys.
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Post by Silver on Nov 17, 2023 20:27:56 GMT -5
Brined overnight. Cavity stuffed with aromatics, herbs and butter under the skin. Roasted in oven.
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Post by coalsmoke on Nov 17, 2023 20:40:09 GMT -5
No idea what our daughter is going to do.
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Post by trailboss on Nov 17, 2023 20:41:07 GMT -5
Some years back, Costco had fresh turkeys with no salt added, and I brined it… came out very good.
I have read that on frozen turkeys if you see injected with sodium as an ingredient, pass on the brining, or you will end up with a salty bird regardless of you rinsing it off.
Fact or fiction?
The downside of smoking a turkey on the grill, is until you bring it off the smoker, the house is devoid of the heavenly smell.
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Post by lizardonarock on Nov 17, 2023 21:21:22 GMT -5
Have smoked many a bird and they always come out perfect. Oven I like the bags. Being empty nestors with the kids on the far left coast I imagine no turkey day this year but with our Harry and David membership one heck of a good fruit salad.
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Post by oldcajun123 on Nov 17, 2023 22:38:54 GMT -5
 Kids don't each much Turkey, so it's 2 pork roasts. Fried shrimp, seafood Cassarole, Cooks ham baked and sliced by the wife, sweet potato Cassarole, various vegetables, son in law brings wine, I don't drink anymore, Meds stop that, all in all we eat good and they take most of it back to their house!
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Post by just ol ed on Nov 17, 2023 23:03:09 GMT -5
Will be at the ol'gals house. Just turkey & ham slices. sweet potatoes & veggies. They will bake a pecan pie
Ed-we'll keep it relatively simple
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Post by trailboss on Nov 17, 2023 23:33:15 GMT -5
“ Have smoked many a bird and they always come out perfect. ”
The preferred method for my tribe.
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Post by Ronv69 on Nov 18, 2023 0:17:07 GMT -5
We don't like turkey but we've been eating it every year because it "tradition". Not this year. All the good stuff and fried chicken.
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Post by urbino on Nov 18, 2023 0:27:47 GMT -5
We don't like turkey but we've been eating it every year because it "tradition". Not this year. All the good stuff and fried chicken. I used to like turkey, but the older I've gotten, the less that's been true. I'll eat a little turkey for the tradition, but my main meat will be ham. |
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Post by trailboss on Nov 18, 2023 0:40:11 GMT -5
One Turkey per year- Thanksgiving
One Prime Rib per year- Christmas
Been our tradition for awhile.
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Post by Silver on Nov 18, 2023 0:54:50 GMT -5
Turkey a couple times during the holidays is plenty for me. Smoked turkey would be an exception. I can eat that more often.
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Post by Gypo on Nov 18, 2023 13:15:04 GMT -5
I think the ladies are doing a ham this year for Thanksgiving.
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Post by trailboss on Nov 18, 2023 14:00:38 GMT -5
So far no one doing the deep fried Turkey….I have heard good things about that method, I just never wanted to invest in a unit, and deal with all that hot oil, and waste oil.
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Post by Plainsman on Nov 18, 2023 14:04:57 GMT -5
No turkey for us. We’ll be eating deer backstraps, spuds, etc.
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Post by trailboss on Nov 18, 2023 14:30:58 GMT -5
No turkey for us. We’ll be eating deer backstraps, spuds, etc. If I recall, you have wild turkeys roaming about. What is your opinion on Wild vs farm raised? |
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Post by Plainsman on Nov 18, 2023 14:50:00 GMT -5
Charlie, I don’t hunt turkeys, altho I am almost overwhelmed with them here. But I have received lots of meat from allowed hunters. IMO wild turkey meat is considerably more dense and substantial than store-bought birds. No white meat, but a very satisfying, flavorful meat that rivals the best “white meat”.
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Post by lizardonarock on Nov 18, 2023 15:36:00 GMT -5
So far no one doing the deep fried Turkey….I have heard good things about that method, I just never wanted to invest in a unit, and deal with all that hot oil, and waste oil. If enough people are doing it and you can piggy back one in. But just to do one for yourself it is way overrated. YMMV |
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Post by Ronv69 on Nov 18, 2023 23:04:36 GMT -5
So far no one doing the deep fried Turkey….I have heard good things about that method, I just never wanted to invest in a unit, and deal with all that hot oil, and waste oil. They make an infrared turkey frier. No grease. I still don't like turkey except for the deli smoked turkey breast, sliced thin. |
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Post by toshtego on Nov 19, 2023 8:44:51 GMT -5
I prefer turkey legs and wings to the whole bird. Unfortunately, they are not available here. No plans in the alternative. The neighbors I used to enjoy Thanksgiving with have moved on.
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Post by Ronv69 on Nov 19, 2023 12:33:54 GMT -5
I prefer turkey legs and wings to the whole bird. Unfortunately, they are not available here. No plans in the alternative. The neighbors I used to enjoy Thanksgiving with have moved on. That's odd, not having turkeys available. The stores around here have whole turkeys and parts all year. The drumsticks are huge. Some are close to 3 pounds each. I figure there are turkey farms in the area and they regularly butcher the very old toms. |
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Post by toshtego on Nov 19, 2023 12:56:40 GMT -5
I prefer turkey legs and wings to the whole bird. Unfortunately, they are not available here. No plans in the alternative. The neighbors I used to enjoy Thanksgiving with have moved on. That's odd, not having turkeys available. The stores around here have whole turkeys and parts all year. The drumsticks are huge. Some are close to 3 pounds each. I figure there are turkey farms in the area and they regularly butcher the very old toms. Whole turkeys and breasts only. No legs nor wings to be found at any of our four stores. I wet cook them so size is not a problem with being tough old birds. |
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Post by trailboss on Nov 19, 2023 13:40:15 GMT -5
Years ago, I used to thaw the bird in the fridge and deal with the loss of a shelf and the mess.
Now it is off to the Coleman steel belted cooler box and Ice for a few days.
Sure simplifies it.
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Post by exbenedict on Nov 19, 2023 17:15:38 GMT -5
Smoking a goose. Brined overnight, then thrown on the smoker with a mix of cherry and hickory wood
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Post by Darin on Nov 20, 2023 11:16:15 GMT -5
We're making tamales 😛
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Post by instymp on Nov 20, 2023 18:26:02 GMT -5
Baked stuffed turkey with oyster stuffing
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Post by johnlawitzke on Nov 23, 2023 13:18:43 GMT -5
No turkey here. For just the two of us, it's easier to cook a chicken. Several years ago, my wife mastered cooking a whole chicken in the crockpot (I guess the kids call 'em slow cookers now 🤷♂️). Need to keep it to a 4.5 lb or less bird in order for it to fit. A neighbor once gave us a 6(!) lb chicken which wouldn’t fit in the cooker. When it's done, no carving is required as it’s cooked to perfection and falls apart with just a nudge. We also use high quality locally sourced chickens from our favorite meat vendor at the farm's market in Marshall, MI.
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Post by trailboss on Nov 23, 2023 15:17:32 GMT -5
No turkey here. For just the two of us, it's easier to cook a chicken. Several years ago, my wife mastered cooking a whole chicken in the crockpot (I guess the kids call 'em slow cookers now 🤷♂️). Need to keep it to a 4.5 lb or less bird in order for it to fit. A neighbor once gave us a 6(!) lb chicken which wouldn’t fit in the cooker. When it's done, no carving is required as it’s cooked to perfection and falls apart with just a nudge. We also use high quality locally sourced chickens from our favorite meat vendor at the farm's market in Marshall, MI. When I lived in California, a buddy that lived in the country gave me one of his raised turkeys. It was so huge that on the lowest rack, the breast was almost touching the top. I had a crappy cheap stove that was not accurate in cooking such a large bird, and the outside was cooked but the thighs were not. If I had known then what I know now, I would have smoked it…lesson learned.😕 |
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Post by trailboss on Nov 23, 2023 15:26:57 GMT -5
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Kids don't each much Turkey, so it's 2 pork roasts. Fried shrimp, seafood Cassarole, Cooks ham baked and sliced by the wife, sweet potato Cassarole, various vegetables, son in law brings wine, I don't drink anymore, Meds stop that, all in all we eat good and they take most of it back to their house! 
