Hacker News Reader

Comment by rnvannatta | Hacker News Reader

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.

View on HN

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.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com