Shelter in place turkey
 

 



 


 

 

If you haven't tried dry brined spatchcocked turkey before you're missing out... created a quick how to for those unfamiliar with any of the techniques.
 
Still working out how to make videos so appreciate your candid feedback.... but not too candid lol jk 
 
 
 

1 hour in to my first turkey on the Akorn.  I let it smoke @ 250 then upped the temperature to 325 to cook and crisp. More updates to come.

That damn artic vortex is lounging over Alberta, Canada like a drunk who won’t leave his chair at his favourite dive bar.  It’s the 13th day of -27 F - -32 F windchill cold.  I had to use my torch to thaw the upper and lower vents to open them.  It’s one of the worst February’s we’ve had in 21 years.  Normallly it’s 10 F to 40 F most recent years with the expcetion of the odd cold day.  We are getting use to warmer winters.
 
it was too cold to use the Joetisserie last night so I opted for roasting instead. 
 
I decided to make a trurkey breast and roast vegetables in a foil pan using the same method used to cook a spatchcock Turkey.  I just had lump banked to the front and rotated the cook halfway through.  
 
This ended-up backfiring on me:  I started to run low on lump with the Turkey still at 155 F; I used the oven to finish the final 5 F for a 160 F finished temp.  The Joe dropped to 225 F from the original 325 F cooking temp.  
 
I could’ve added more lump to recover the temp back to 325 F to finish the cook on the Big Joe; it wasn’t worth it for 5 degrees.  The oven finished the turkey in 10 minutes.  
 
It was a mistake to run a half load of Maple lump and one halfmoon defector in the insanely bitter cold temps.  I would’ve been better off if I had used a 80% full Kick ash basket of lump with both deflectors in both sides versus trying to use a half load method in the bitter cold. 
 
It worked out the the result was great as you can see from the picks below.  For a laugh, I had to use my torch to close the lower vent because it froze open and I couldn’t close it without taking a torch to it for 20 seconds to thaw it. 
 
This is Alberta cold; not that Texas cold some American think is actually cold.  Thank god it wasn’t Winnipeg/Minneapolis cold.  Everyone has their limits.   

For those in the Southern Hemisphere, Christmas is a time of scorching temperatures. However we are still exposed to the familiar tunes and culinary desires of a Northern, cold Christmas.
 
With temperatures at 40 degrees C (104 Fahrenheit) turning on the oven was not a favourable choice and so placing big bird in the Kamado was the sound choice.
 
Only had a KJ for a couple of month now, and the first time I had ever cooked a turkey (regardless of cooking appliance). It was a success!! Some say I’ve now graduated to an adult now that the bird has been conquered, albeit 15 years later than planned.
 
With my wife being pregnant I took the road less travelled for my family by not stuffing the bird with the risk of listeria etc and instead I lightly filled the cavity with the aromatics (onion, garlic, lemon, sage, oregano, rosemary) from the brine mixture.
 
The quality of the KJ resulting in a more consitent temperature throughout the cook and the fact the bird wasn’t stuffed resulted in a much quicker cook than expected. Meater sounded the alarm to this news which allowed me to save Christmas.
 
Meater has caused controversy in this forum, but so far I can’t fault it.
 
Happy Cooking!