I don’t cook for thanksgiving because I work retail, so I did my own turkey tonight. Everything was fine until it wasn’t.
I put in the brine Friday evening, took it out late morning/ early afternoon today to prep. I like John Henry’s turkey but my local spot was out so I tried Pawpaw Flavor Lemon and Garlic mixed with Tony C’s. I list the rubs because of maybe something to do with sugar content.
I put the bird on at about 3:15 with the grill temp at 310 degrees. I checked on it at 4:30 to hit the skin with some Pam. Checked again at 5:45, grill temp said 311 so I opened the lid to spray it again and this was what I found. I probed it to see where I was at, breasts were at 166 and dark meat was 179 so I pulled it off and went to pick up pizza.
Just for the hell of it I carved it up. I peeled the skin to get rid of the char and then carved off the breasts. They were perfectly fine. The legs and wing had no hope so I’ll cube it up and make soup.
I just don’t know what happened. Grill temp was fine, I recently cleaned the grill all the way down to the auger so that rules out old grease and fat. The grill has a cover over the fire box so fat was dripping directly onto it. I’m at a loss. We went from right on schedule to holy smokes in an hour. Any ideas?
by jrmorton12
6 Comments
I wonder if the Pam concentrated under the lid and ignited the turkey. Then the grease stayed burning on the skin. Just a theory.
Take off at 160… it continues to cook after
I would never spay with pam, ever.
Do not brine more that 24 hours or so.
The pam did that to the skin.
And you overcooked it.
Give er a go again! Ya got this
Not familiar with the rubs you used but if they have a decent sugar content that could be your culprit. Also, I’ve never once considered spraying my bird with Pam but I can easily see that contributing to your problem. 2.5 hours at 310 shouldn’t yield these results.
I usually smoke my turkey for a few hours on 225 then I’ll crank up my grill up to 350 and go until the breasts are around 160-165. At that point the dark meat is usually around 175-180 for me. But it’s still pretty tender since it’s brined and dark meat. For next time, don’t spritz the skin with Pam or anything really. I did my turkey without spritzing and with brine and that will keep it tender through the entire cook…
I rub my skin once with olive oil, and cook at about 275. Gets brown and crispy without getting burnt.
I’d check the sugar content of your rubs