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yomly

Some of my own personal observations:

- a turkey is a HUGE bird

- people only cook turkey once a year

- most guidelines for cooking turkey overcook the turkey

- most people are terrified of undercooking poultry

Trying something once a year isn't usually great for learning. It's a long feedback cycle and cooking for a special occasion disincentivises risk taking/experimentation. Same goes for risk of inflicting food poisoning for a large group. Cooking something so large is sufficiently different from roasting a chicken (for example) that people lack confidence/get it wrong.

This leads to the quaint cultural tradition of millions of people overcooking their turkey on thanksgiving in the US and on Christmas in the UK.

That said I always thought the US generally ate turkey more so their turkey game was better.

Fwiw my turkey has never been dry but I come from a family of cooks.

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Would agree. I smoke about 5-6 turkeys a year. I’ve got it down pretty well.

However I rarely do it for thanksgiving if extended family are coming (at least the wrong ones).

I’ve had them freak out a out the juice, about the little “done timer” not going off, about internal color etc.

In one case I had an aunt demand it go into an oven and sure enough overcooked it (which is why I now often don’t make one for extended family).

People do similar with pork and ribs and such. I’ve never had an issue and still cook my meat to certain temps etc. but it’s one of those things everyone’s an expert on.

I will say that those that have eaten my smoked turkey, ribs, Boston butt etc tend to like it, if not prefer it, but that’s never been enough to deter some naysayers.

That said, it’s also why I like dark meat. Can’t stand dry meat that’s not jerky.

The best thing I did for not having dry turkeys or other meat, is a meat thermometer. I, like your aunt, just didn't pay attention to anything before.

Yeah I use a Weber iGrill to monitor. Though I have a spreadsheet going back to the 90s of things I’ve smoked. Size, temps, re-coals etc. I don’t really need a monitor for smoking but I still use it out of habit and allows me to check the temp without pull long the blanket or top off the cooker.

But a thermometer has been great for steaks and others. But even they kinda lead you to overcook. Like the Weber iGrill will want you to run the temp up to 165 on poultry. But on a smoker it’s an extended period of time over heat, not a grill with a quick jump to a temp.

The meat at 150 for 1-2 hours+ it’s fine. I usually do about 1 hr per pound on the smoker and the breast at/above 150 for an hour or more.

I have some relatives who will add an extra 10 degrees, "just to be safe."

That's really frustrating. A lot of people don't realize food can be safely cooked to a lower temperature than the generic guideline as long as it's held at that temp for a period of time.

165 is the generic guideline given for cooking chicken, however 160 for 15 seconds is just as effective at getting the desired kill on salmonella, or 155 for 48 seconds.

https://www.seriouseats.com/the-food-lab-complete-guide-to-s...

Yeah. And smokers slowly bring the temperature up. So it’s seems more uniform. I run my turkeys to about 150-155 on the breast meat. That’s after about 1 hr/lb on the smoker.

Almost any other part of the turkey is gonna be 160+, especially near any bones.

Sometimes the juice isn’t always clear. But I’ve never had an issue.

Happily, my in-laws don’t complain when the turkey is juicy. I also smoke mine, spatchcocked on the grill each year and it’s always come out great. Hard to screw up with a good thermometer and two-zone setup. (The Amazing Ribs technique has been pretty fool-proof if tough to navigate on the website)

I’ve found carving it out of sight also means folks don’t see the juice / pinker sections until they hit the table. Maybe an option to avoid the whining and overkill cooking? :) Good luck.

Yeah. I wish my kitchen setup was conducive to me being able to carve and rest it out of sight. But my house setup is basically all around the kitchen. Oh well, their loss.

Those popup done-indicators are pretty unreliable; I'm not sure why turkeys ship with them, I imagine they've ruined a great many birds.

I cooked the turkey last year. My thermometer said it was good, but that popup hadn't popped.

I knew those popup indicators were unreliable, but the fear of feeding people raw poultry compelled me to put it in the oven for another long while. It came out dry and stringy and the damn timer still didn't pop.

It’s a quality sacrifice, but the prevent quite a lot of food poisoning. As far as the industry is concerned overcooked turkey isn’t going to end a holiday tradition, however a trip to the hospital could.

I’ve almost never had them go off. And the one time it did it was because the coals were running way too hot.

I never use them for anything.

What’s funny is I have a little Bluetooth thermometer. I can literally graph and monitor the meat temp without pulling the blanket or lid off the smoker.

Blanket on a smoker? Can you tell me about that? Never thought to use one but have heard of people making insulating jackets

I don’t have a super fancy smoker. Just one of those barrel Smokers.

I take an old comforter and wrap the smoker in it once the meat is on. Just serves to somewhat insulate but mostly hold a lot of the smoke. With nothing on it, things on the lower rack would hardly get a good “Smokey” flavor. The blanket makes a surprisingly good addition.

> I had an aunt demand it go into an oven and sure enough overcooked it

Basically I point those folks to the microwave.

The key is to do a dry brine with just salt at least over night. Rinse and dry afterwards. Keep foil over the breasts except for a short period of time to brown the skin. People also tend to cook it until it is dead. Use a thermometer but remember that the temperature will carry. Then let the turkey sit for at least an hour under foil and a towel. Perfect every time.

>That said I always thought the US generally ate turkey more so their turkey game was better.

the turkey we eat a lot of generally isn't a whole bird, its mostly lunch meat

that said my bird was moist.

> quaint cultural tradition of [turkey for] Christmas in the UK

Imported from America in C19, for what it's worth. I realise that's arguably long enough ago to be both tradition and quaint, but my point really is it's not the only way/a must/centuries old (well ok, one or two). Poultry more so/further back, really it's just a feast day though, have whatever.

Heh on the continent they eat goose sometimes so I guess that might be the longer standing tradition? With no actual knowledge of these matters, game feels in season for late autumn / early winter...?

I think the US missed a huge opportunity to pick the turkey as the national bird (I'm not saying anything about Franklin) and to consume turkey more than chicken. Turkey is royalty among poultry.

if turkey was the national bird, we'd all be overcooking our bald eagles instead

They’d probably be more interesting to eat.

or to pardon on the white house lawn.

Had a turkey at a friend's place the other day, it was moist and delicious. They did a 20 hour brine.

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