First and foremost: spatchcock and dry brine is the way (insert angels singing).
22.8 fresh bird, spatchcocked and dry brined on Tuesday night, sat in fridge til Thurs AM. I dried it with paper towels, made a compound butter with sage, thyme, and rosemary and massaged it all over the bird, and under the skin. Had a Bob’s burgers moment.
Smoked with BGE charcoal and a handful of apple wood chips. Temp set to 325. It took 4 hours. I made one rookie mistake. When I first loaded the egg I dumped the last 1/8th of an old bag of charcoal then topped off with the new. So we started strong, but the last hour the temperature would not go over 290-295. The left over charcoal was in smaller chunks so it burned faster and lighter. I figured if I needed, I would finish in the oven but when the probe hit 170 in the thigh I thanked the gods of BBQ and pulled jt off the egg to rest. 😮💨
Outstanding flavor, juicy meat, crispy skin… And lots of leftovers!!! No after photos, we were hungry and excited. 10/10.
by kahntz
4 Comments
Looking good. I spatchcocked a 17lb bird for yesterday lunch. 375-425 for about 3 hours. Heard someone knock the skin but was later silenced on first bite.
I pretty much did the exact same with a 20lb bird on my Large Egg but had a problem with the portions of my bird around the edges being directly over the coals in the gaps of the deflector. Realized too late and used some foil, but got some crispy edges. And uneven cooking. Still tasted great!l and an opportunity for improvement next time!
Did a spatchcocked 27lber on my XL almost exactly the same way you did. It’s great way to go and leaves the ovens free for all the sides.
I never had turkey, is it literally just a big chicken?