Big Green Egg Turkey

OK so I realize this has nothing to do with beer, although I do plan on drinking beer with the turkey.

I have a big green egg (ceramic cooker) and have made a variety of different recipes but never a turkey. I've volunteered to make the bird this year and am looking for any suggestions especially related to temperature, amount of wood to use, spices for a rub, and any other suggestions based on experience. I'm leaning toward a 325 cooking temp and a mixed variety of pecan, apple, and hickory chips. The bird in question is around 13 pounds and is sitting in a sugar and salt brine until tomorrow.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

Man I wish I had a BGE. Good luck.

Thanks - Its always a bit of an adventure when its a new attempt. We also have a pretty good storm brewing so all in all should be a fun day.

www.bbq-brethren.com

More info than you could ever need.

Wow, thanks for the link. Looks like I have some reading to do.

I used this method twice last year:

http://www.nakedwhiz.com/madmaxturkey.htm

It's good, but it's a bit heavy on the herbs for my taste.

This year I'm changing it up a little. I'm going to skip the herbs on the skin and use only butter, salt, and pepper. I'll do a simple mirepoix in the cavity. The cooking method will remain the same - very light on the smoke.

I don't like his recipe for gravy. It makes almost a gallon of extremely herb-y gravy (almost bitter). I'm going to do a simpler pan-style-ish gravy instead (whipped up on the fly after the bird is cooked).

Since you've already brined the bird and seem to be leaning toward a heavier smoke flavor, here's what I'd do:

A light rub with a little salt, plenty of fresh pepper, some paprika, a bit of turbinado sugar, and chili powder/cayenne to taste. Use one small-ish hunk of apple or pecan. It's easy to over-smoke a bird. 325 sounds like a good temp.

Yuri_Rage

I've seen a variety of time to cook estimates for my 325 temperature anywhere from 2.5 to 4 hours for a 13 pound turkey. Don't suppose you remember how long per pound you ended up at? I also just want a hint of smoke but the poultry I've done is maybe a four pound chicken so I'm not sure how much to use.

I'm not a big fan of hickory smoke on birds but good luck. I'll be doing a Turducken in my Big Steel Keg with apple wood smoke.

Keith_Mahoney said:

I'll be doing a Turducken in my Big Steel Keg with apple wood smoke.

Click to expand...

I've seen those. They look very cool. Have you had it long and do you like it?

I've had it since around April. I use it 2x everyday I am off work. I am a firefighter and work 24hr shifts so that averages out to once a day since April. I love it for everything from slow and low brisket to 800* sear on 1.75" Porterhouses.

The BGE is very nice, but being in the military and moving so often it would get broke sooner or later. The BSK is, as the name implies, made of steel and is very durable. I can even hook it up to my trailer hitch to take to the beach.
As soon as I settle down in one spot or somewhere at least with more camping prospects than this island, I am going to buy one of those tiny green eggs.

I love the egg, but if it ever breaks on me I am going to check out the keg. It looks heavy duty and that gasket on there is great. I've gone through a number of gaskets over the past few years. Over time the BGE gaskets burn up. I've joked with my wife that we really need two eggs. One for high temperature cooking and the other for low and slow. So far she is not buying it.

I use about 20 mins per pound. I'm cooking a small 8 lb bird this year, so that's a 2 hour and 40 minute cook. I'm going to put the turkey on the BGE about 3.5 hours prior to our planned dinner time. If it's done early, we'll just eat a little early. I don't have to meet a strict timeline since we have few guests, and they're already here.

When smoking poultry, a little smoke goes a long way. Add a hardwood chunk about half the size of your fist when you first put the bird in the egg. Don't add more, no matter how tempting it is.

Thanks all for the help. It turned out great.

OMG that looks cold there!

It was around 7 degrees most of the day. I didn't need to tend to it too much so so it wasn't bad.

not having to tend it often is one of the beauties of the egg!

I LOVE my BGE (large). I also did my turkey in it this year and it turned out awesome. I used a small handfull of applewood chips and it turned out slightly smokey, but super juicy and tender. I cooked it at 230 for about 6.5 hours, final temp was 185. Basically the same as a chicken. I also injected mine with lots of butter and other goodies! Yesterday I cooked 8 racks of baby back ribs. Tight fit but they were a hit at the party! Everyone should have an egg!