Spatchcock Turkey at the Lancaster Comp

Big Poppa

Administrator
My favorite part of this competitive thing is the hang the night before....you've prepped your meat and now it's time for dinner...

I like to do different things at these comps and invite whoever is around....

Tonight I made a spatchcock turkey on the mak. Seasoned with annies garlic olive oil hasty bake greek seasoning and lemon pepper smoked for 3.5 hours until it hit 165 internal

I almost didnt post these pics as they did not do it justice...it really looked good and was out of this world juicy SO excuse the night Iphone camera shots and trust me...hahaha
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Bear

Moderator
Believe it or not, this is something that I had been thinking about trying. I'm glad you did it first, so I could learn from you.

It looks great!

How big was the turkey?
 

Big Poppa

Administrator
12 pounds I always go for the small turkeys....when you get the big monsters by the time the center is done the outside of the breast can get dried out....slow is best as far as temps and experiment with rubs but I avoid red rubs as they tend to over-carmelize
 

Bear

Moderator
12 pounds I always go for the small turkeys....when you get the big monsters by the time the center is done the outside of the breast can get dried out....slow is best as far as temps and experiment with rubs but I avoid red rubs as they tend to over-carmelize

I was thinking about 350*. That's where I do chicken. Do you think that will work?

I always use Hasty Bake Greek seasoning on my turkey. Good stuff...
 

Big Poppa

Administrator
I think if it's a small turkey slow is way better. This was really really good I should have taken a picmof the carcass. You couldn't make soup it was so picked tomdeath
 

Big Poppa

Administrator
Yeah 250 As we all know with pellet cooking there are really no wrong ways due to the forgiving nature of pellet cooking in general. Im sure 350 would work Bear, but I have found from my experiments with turkey that 250 works best fro me...

Also I am a person who doesnt brine. I know that many people think that Im a wierdo for admitting that but I find that if I cook it just right that I cannot tell the difference.....
 

CarterQ

Moderator
Damn, the wife was asking about this last night. So many turkey options for Thanksgiving this year, this will be a the first year with a pellet cooker and thanksgiving is at our house. I'm thinking a couple of spatchcocked birds might be perfect for the feast. Just curious is the Hasty Bake Greek seasoning similar to Cavender's Greek Seasoning in flavor?
 

TentHunter

Moderator
Perfect timing BP! I've spatchcocked chickens galore but had'nt done a turkey yet and was wondering how I should adjust the temp.

...Also I am a person who doesnt brine. I know that many people think that Im a wierdo for admitting that but I find that if I cook it just right that I cannot tell the difference.....

I don't plan on brining either (although DivaQ's brine is awfully tempting). The chickens I've spatchcocked have been so incredibly moist that I can't see a need for brining. The moist heat rising up through the underside of the chicken gets trapped by the skin so it seams to steam the meat to perfect doneness before it has a chance to dry out.

I can't wait to try it on the turkey this year!
 

TentHunter

Moderator
At 250F, does the skin crisp up at all?

Now Big Poppa can answer this best, but coating the skin with a little oil helps.

I love crispy skin, but don't discount non-crispy skin just yet. Based on my experience when I cook chickens at 250 - 275° the skin doesn't get crispy, per se, but still has a good 'bite through' and is really quite good. Before you do your turkey, try a chicken this way and see if you like it; you might be surprised.

When I want crispy skin, like Bear, I cook my chickens at 325 - 350°. At that temp the steam inside the bird actually makes the skin puff out like a balloon rendering the fat and crisping the skin. Oh yeah, I like to add a small pan of hot water to keep the moisture level inside the pit up.


So... my plan of attack for the Turkey? I plan to follow BP's advice (Big Poppa knows best) and smoke a 10 - 12 lb. bird at about 250° then, when the internal temp reaches about 160°, I'll raise the pit temp to about 350° for the last 20 - 30 minutes to crisp the skin a little.

oooooh, I cant wait! I am totally addicted to spatchcocking! I may actually need to go find a Spatchcockers Anonymous group.
 

Big Poppa

Administrator
Turkey I care less about the skin as I do with Chicken ON tuyrkey the breast is king...I find that I have a very good result and more importantly a margin of error when the bird is done and others arent ready...with a 325 turkey and you pull it and aunt judy hasnt finishet her patented marshmellow string beans the turkey wont get away from you
 
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