The household rule is never too experiment with a Thanksgiving turkey especially cooking it upside down, no matter how reasonable a suggestion may sound.
......
Now that is one way I have not tried turkey.still was turkey in the end
8893 said:
One word for you. Spatchcock.
If you are cooking to 165/180 you done over cooked it beyond saving... It's actually quite safe to pull it sooner and avoid over drying (I'll provide references if neededIt doesnt really matter. Contrary to what someone said in this thread about me being a lousy cook and thats why I dont like turkey, I am actually quite good.I will spare the hot air on how I got there because nobody will care anyway, but I know a little bit.
As a longtime cook, especially with meats, and more specifically with smokers I am of the school that temperature (both internal and external) is everything. Different meats respond to different cooking temps, and also reach their peak at different internal temps.
Every meat I do has a certain temp range it needs to be internally for it to be the best that it can be.
My pulled pork shoulder in a smoker comes out at 203 degrees, no more or not less
My homemade Pastrami comes out of the smoker at 155 degrees and then I steam up to 200
my steaks come off hot grills exactly 5 degrees below whatever someones eating preference is.
Point being Im anal about cooking stuff as good as it can be.
Turkey white meat is at its best at 165 degrees. You go even a little bit over that and youve lost it, it dries in a hurry.
Turkey dark meat is at its best at about 180 degree internal.
How do you cook a whole bird to temps 15 degrees apart?
You dont. One or the other suffers.
Which pisses me off. And part of the reason I hate it. I have split birds before cooking before to get each part right, and cooked them to perfection. Breast right to 165 and Thighs to 180..... still was turkey in the end
) Also, @CAHUSKY nailed it - spatchcocking the bird helps ensure it cooks more evenly. 
If you are cooking to 165/180 you done over cooked it beyond saving... It's actually quite safe to pull it sooner and avoid over drying (I'll provide references if needed
Not gonna say this way is better than that way or whatever, but this guy is pretty obsessive about actually testing various cooking methods scientifically... May be worth a quick read, if interested. http://www.seriouseats.com/2012/11/...-thanksgiving-fast-easy-way-spatchcocked.html
You'll still hate turkey but maybe think about cooking it differently.
You must eat dog food the rest of the year if you think the Thanksgiving meal is the best. Turkey, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, stuffing, Waldorf salad creamed onions, string beans etc. You have to add a ton of good foods like sausage, butter, bacon, anchovies just to make this cornucopia of suck somewhat edible. There is a reason nobody eats this cr*p the rest of the year. The only tasty Thanksgiving meal I've ever had was years ago with a bunch of my chef friends. The bird was confited in duck fat and then finished on the grill to crisp up the skin, the gravy had close to a pound of butter and was unlike any gravy I've had and the potatoes were cut, skinned and boiled to make them super soft. The cream was brought up to temp with butter (you want a 2/1 cream to butter ratio) along with peppercorns, coriander, thyme, fennel seed and rosemary before being strained and added to the potatoes with salt. Now it's time to mash the out of them, a food mill is preferable. Whatever you do, don't whisk them it will activate the gluten molecules and leave the potatoes gummy. Best way to eat turkey and potatoes, you're welcome.
superjohn said:
Dogbreath2U said:
It's outstanding.
Dude post this comment on the women's board and see if they agree with this. I can predict the responses you would get.
A big bag of ice cubes sitting on top of the turkey on the breast for an hour will chill the white meat and cause the white meat to get done at the same time as the dark, I know we've done it. No dry white meat. Case closed.It doesnt really matter. Contrary to what someone said in this thread about me being a lousy cook and thats why I dont like turkey, I am actually quite good.I will spare the hot air on how I got there because nobody will care anyway, but I know a little bit.
As a longtime cook, especially with meats, and more specifically with smokers I am of the school that temperature (both internal and external) is everything. Different meats respond to different cooking temps, and also reach their peak at different internal temps.
Every meat I do has a certain temp range it needs to be internally for it to be the best that it can be.
My pulled pork shoulder in a smoker comes out at 203 degrees, no more or not less
My homemade Pastrami comes out of the smoker at 155 degrees and then I steam up to 200
my steaks come off hot grills exactly 5 degrees below whatever someones eating preference is.
Point being Im anal about cooking stuff as good as it can be.
Turkey white meat is at its best at 165 degrees. You go even a little bit over that and youve lost it, it dries in a hurry.
Turkey dark meat is at its best at about 180 degree internal.
How do you cook a whole bird to temps 15 degrees apart?
You dont. One or the other suffers.
Which pisses me off. And part of the reason I hate it. I have split birds before cooking before to get each part right, and cooked them to perfection. Breast right to 165 and Thighs to 180..... still was turkey in the end
