CeramicChef Posted November 8, 2014 Report Share Posted November 8, 2014 Good Saturday Morning, KKers! Yesterday I did a turkey for a little get together here at Chez Chef. This was my first time using the CyberQ WiFi controller. I brined the turkey overnight and cooked it to an internal of about 155F. I injected a mixture of butter, garlic, thyme, rosemary, and a tad bit of maple syrup. Here's the guest of honor for the dinner party, Tom. Tom, meet the Gurus! Here are the contents of Tom's giblet pack and various other pieces/parts. From left to right we have the heart (i'm always amazed at how small the heart in any animal is relative to the body!), neck, (now from top to bottom), the plastic thing that keep the legs trussed up, trimmed fat & Pope's nose, and the single most useless invention of the late 20th century, the pop-up thermometer, continuing left to right we have the liver and finally the gizzard. All gone. I HATE giblet gravy and I HATE giblet dressing. Here's Tom joining the Polar Bear Club by taking a swim in some brine I made up especially for him ... salt, sugar, peppercorns, crushed cranberries, citrus peel, thyme, and rosemary. Tom all dried off after his overnight swim and about to be injected with the butter injection mentioned above. Two views of Tom all greased up, trussed up, and ready for his cook. Here's a pic of Tom with his new best plate friends ... roasted rosemary potatoes and roasted brussels sprouts that will be soon swimming in a nice mustard sauce. Here's the money shot! "Pete the Pink Pig" will ALWAYS have a place of honor at my table. Not shown is the Apple Cider based Cole Slaw that people rave about. I'll post that recipe in the recipe section. Finally, a shot of the surviving nit of desert ... a Blackberry Wine Cake. All in all a nice cook and a nice send off for Tom. Not one single tidbit left over for sammies during today's football action. Y'all have a great weekend! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wilburpan Posted November 8, 2014 Report Share Posted November 8, 2014 Wow, that looks terrific! What temperature did you cook at, and about how long did it take? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nolan8v Posted November 8, 2014 Report Share Posted November 8, 2014 That certainly made me hungry! Did you use any particular wood chunks? Any additional details are greatly appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CeramicChef Posted November 8, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 8, 2014 Wow, that looks terrific! What temperature did you cook at, and about how long did it take? Wilbur - how ya doing Pahdner? I cooked Tom at 350F for about 3 hours. He took to it like a duck to water! This is one of the easiest cooks I've done. This was the first cook using my new CyberQ WiFi. Look, temp control in the KK BB 32 is about as easy as it will ever be in a kamado. Thank Dennis for that. The KKs are easier than any other line of kamados to control and I firmly believe that the BB 32 is the easiest of all. The air control manifold on the BB 32 is a stroke of shear genius. But I have a boat load of turkeys to roast for my church this coming Thanksgiving, so I went and got a CyberQ WiFi and easy became even easier! I used the CyberQ to run this cook and it was the easiest cook on a kamado I've ever had. I had read everything here in this Forum about the CyberQ and how to use it. thanks to all you trailblazers for making life so easy for those who follow. I appreciate it greatly! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tony b Posted November 8, 2014 Report Share Posted November 8, 2014 First, great pics of the bird cook! Looks seriously yummy. Making me wish that Thanksgiving would get here sooner! But, dude, gotta testify against that statement about "I HATE giblet gravy..." - blasphemy/heresy/sacrilege/by all that is holy!!!! My Mom's giblet gravy was to die for - seriously! It wouldn't have been Thanksgiving in my parents' house without it (or her fabulous sage dressing). All of us kids (and the grandkids now) have struggled our entire lives trying to replicate my Mom's Thanksgiving dinner. I've come close, but .... Miss those dinners!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CeramicChef Posted November 8, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 8, 2014 That certainly made me hungry! Did you use any particular wood chunks? Any additional details are greatly appreciated. Nolan8 - I used coffee wood for the smoke component of this cook. Dennis threw in a couple of boxes when I bought The Beast, aka the KK BB 32. It has been a real surprise. It has a nice delicate touch on the cook. It's not like the hammer, i.e. mesquite, but rather it's like a nice mild fruit wood. I didn't use the CoCoNut extruded charcoal. I had a basket full of Fogo lump already in The Beast and just lit it up. There wasn't all that ash after the cook. I cooked this turkey at 350F under control of the CyberQ WiFi. I started the fire at 9:00 AM and The Beast hit 350 at 2:00 pm in the afternoon. The CyberQ was choked down to about 30% so it was a nice gradual ramp up to 350F. I just lit the fire, plugged in the BBQ CyberQ, and went into my home office and monitored everything from my desktop. Talk about easy peasy! The Beast was heat soaked at 350F and the turkey went on at 3:00 pm. Temp was rock solid, and I mean rock freaking solid. The cook took a total of 3 hours. My target temp was 155F. I used a drip pan on top of a heat deflector to avoid direct heat on the bird. The skin was nice and crispy. I used grapeseed oil to cover the skin of the turkey. It has a higher smoke point than does olive oil. For a more even finish on the skin I could have upped the pit temp to about 400F for the last 45-60 minutes of the cook. Nolan, as you know, the KK makes kamado cooking just about effortless. Cooking on The Beast was about as simple as can be. I've cooked on kamados for 20 years and this was the absolute easiest turkey cook I've ever had. I hope I've answered your questions. If not, let me know what you'd like to know and I'll get you the answer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CeramicChef Posted November 8, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 8, 2014 First, great pics of the bird cook! Looks seriously yummy. Making me wish that Thanksgiving would get here sooner! But, dude, gotta testify against that statement about "I HATE giblet gravy..." - blasphemy/heresy/sacrilege/by all that is holy!!!! My Mom's giblet gravy was to die for - seriously! It wouldn't have been Thanksgiving in my parents' house without it (or her fabulous sage dressing). All of us kids (and the grandkids now) have struggled our entire lives trying to replicate my Mom's Thanksgiving dinner. I've come close, but .... Miss those dinners!! Yeah, I understand what you mean tony. My Mom has been gone now for 4 years this coming Thanksgiving. Not a day goes by that I wouldn't give 5 years off the end of my,life for one more dinner at her table. That said, I guess I still have to say I HATE giblets. My Mom and Dad loved that stuff and I'd just pick the pieces out of the gravy, the dressing, and anything else! I always sat next to Dad and I'd just put those pieces on his plate. He'd look at mean, shake his head, and say "Boy, you don't know what you're missing!". I'd say that I hope I never have to find out! LOL! Tony, thanks for the kind words about the cook. I appreciate it and it means a lot coming from you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tony b Posted November 8, 2014 Report Share Posted November 8, 2014 Appreciate the kinds words! My Mom passed back in '96. A lot of Thanksgivings ago! Still, like you said, to have just one more Thanksgiving with all of us around the table would be "priceless!" 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoFrogs91 Posted November 8, 2014 Report Share Posted November 8, 2014 Nice work CC! I haven't done a turkey yet, but your cook makes me want to. That shot with the turkey, potatoes, and sprouts demonstrates how huge the Beast is. Amazing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CeramicChef Posted November 9, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 9, 2014 Nice work CC! I haven't done a turkey yet, but your cook makes me want to. That shot with the turkey, potatoes, and sprouts demonstrates how huge the Beast is. Amazing. Hi Frog! Thanks for the nice words. Yeah, The Beast is huge, but he's very agile. Hope your horned Frogs fare better against the Wildcats today than my Sooners did against the Bears! Talk about a SPANKING! OUCH!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dstr8 Posted November 9, 2014 Report Share Posted November 9, 2014 Nice...very nice! Was this a rehearsal for the big T-Day coming? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CeramicChef Posted November 9, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 9, 2014 Nice...very nice! Was this a rehearsal for the big T-Day coming? dstr8 - thanks for the compliment. This wasn't really much practice for T-Day. This was a friend who was given a bird and said if I'd smoke it that he'd donate the bird. So we had a few folks over and had a good time. Practice for T-Day comes about on Nov 21 or 22. I've got to roast a dozen birds for a gathering at my church. I got a CyberQ WiFi for that event and this was the shakedown cruise on that piece of equipment. It went off without a hitch. All in all it was a great experience and we all had a helluva lot of fun, conversation, and adult beverages! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
