Second cook on the kamado. Still learning temperature fluctuations and control. Midway through the turkey cook a digital thermometer showed up. I then stuck a probe in the breast and thigh immediately.
Couple questions:
The thigh was reading about +30* higher than breast at any time. Is this normal?
I got grill temp to about 290, putting in turkey dropped it to 250. Do I just be patient and trust it will go back up to 290 and stabilize? Or should I overshoot temperature? Or should I open up vents more to bring temp back up since there's food inside it now?
Thanks.
by fordgoldfish
5 Comments
Don’t think any of this has to do with a dry brine
Your thigh is thinner and will be closer to the heat source but shouldn’t be that far ahead
Adding the turkey shouldn’t have dropped it 40° permanently. Basically watch if it starts to go back up and if it doesn’t, adjust
Normally when you cook poultry, you will want to cook thighs to 180F or higher (I like mine at 190F) and breasts will be pulled around 160F, to rise to 165F in the rest. So you’re pretty much spot on. The benefit of the spatchcock is it all cooks evenly and finishes at the same time. So next time, just measure in the breast and cover up the legs with foil is they start to darken too much. Normally I don’t even have to do that.
Your concerns aren’t related to brining or seasoning. You did a good job and your numbers are within the range of error. You didn’t see blood or red meat, you might want to try out less done, but you did fine.
One of the best things you did was leave the lid alone until the thermometer showed up. It is hard to let it just cook. I finally succeeded in letting Cranberry sauce just cook.
All perfectly normal. Typically thigh comes off around 180-185 versus breast at 160-165. You also could have not had both thermometers exactly correct explaining some of the difference. And yes temp always dropped when you stick 15 lbs of 30 something degree mass in it. It will come back up within 10 minutes or so.
My advice on the temperature part is to get the grill goikg early… get a nice fire. Then play with the chute and bottom vent until you get a stable temperature going (your desired temp) and maintain it for a few minutes. Let the grill get used to that temperature. Then quickly put the food on and close it. Dont plan on looking at it. Just watch the temperature and let it cook.