What's For Dinner - Thanksgiving

[3Ts]

We had ham and I smoked a turkey breast, deviled eggs, broccoli, mashed potatoes, sweet potato something, rolls, a few other sides and lots of deserts including 2 kinds of pumpkin pie. And afterward, a fire in the firepit. Stayed up late and used up a lot of firewood.

 

[gsganzer]

My bourbon/maple brined and spatchcocked turkey was incredible. It was the tastiest and juiciest turkey any of us have ever had. It only required 1.75 hours on my ceramic grill. I used a thermopen to check my progress and I flipped it to breast side down for the last 1/2 hour to get the breast fully cooked and wrapped the drumsticks in foil to shield them. We then let it rest for 20 minutes.

I'm eating leftover turkey for breakfast this morning.

 

[RobertN]

We did rib roast on the rotisserie. Braised Brussel sprouts. Scratch made pumpkin pie(I DO NOT like the flavor of canned pie filling!) and Apple Hill Dutch apple pie. And Calaveras County wine from Twisted Oak.

 

[gsganzer]

My bourbon/maple brined and spatchcocked turkey was incredible. It was the tastiest and juiciest turkey any of us have ever had. It only required 1.75 hours on my ceramic grill. I used a thermopen to check my progress and I flipped it to breast side down for the last 1/2 hour to get the breast fully cooked and wrapped the drumsticks in foil to shield them. We then let it rest for 20 minutes.

I'm eating leftover turkey for breakfast this morning.

Little bit late, but just found a picture of my spatchcocked turkey when I put it on the ceramic grill. Sorry, no pictures from when I took it off the grill. I think we were all salivating by then and couldn't wait around long enough.

 

[Ford850]

Little bit late, but just found a picture of my spatchcocked turkey when I put it on the ceramic grill. Sorry, no pictures from when I took it off the grill. I think we were all salivating by then and couldn't wait around long enough.
View attachment 679267

How much did that weigh and what temperature did you cook it at? It looks good even before cooking!

 

[Molalla1]

How much did that weigh and what temperature did you cook it at? It looks good even before cooking!

Agree . . .

 

[gsganzer]

How much did that weigh and what temperature did you cook it at? It looks good even before cooking!

It was 17- 18 lbs. I cooked it at 350 for 1 hour and 45 minutes, flipping it the last 30 and wrapping the legs, so the breast would catch up. I checked the breast and thick part of the legs often with a thermopen. Be sure to wrap it and let it rest after cooking.

You can do the same thing with whole chickens, brine and spatchcock. You just need some good poultry shears to cut out the backbone.

Jokingly, I told my wife the picture of the turkey on the grill reminded me of her, with big breasts and thighs. Then suddenly I saw stars and everything went dark...:laughing:

 

[Ford850]

I've never cooked a spatchcocked bird, so I was wondering how much shorter the cook time would be. That's quiet a bit shorter, less than half the time compared to a full bird. My turkey was slightly over 16 pounds, soaked in brine for 24 hours and then trussed really well so it was a tight ball. Cooked on the Weber with charcoal in the 350* range for 4 hours. It turned out really well, fall off the bone tender and oozing with juices. The spatchcock method would be handy to save a lot of time though.