Help me out here

[quadrafire]

Bought a 15 lb turkey at Thanksgiving time (cheap). It has been in the freezer. Looking for some different ways to cook. I could.
1. Smoke it
2. Grill it
3. Split it and do one of each
4. Try something different.

What are your thoughts on Thawing, brining, seasoning, cooking etc.

ps. My wife really doesn't like things smoked that much. Not like me. I could bathe in apple wood smoke ( and sometimes do when I am hanging out by the smoker).

do you really think bacteria would be a problem thawing at room temp?

[ICEMAN]

Do the table top roaster trick. Wash and then wipe the bird down with olive oil, maybe stuff it if you like with stuffing mix or better yet, toss a buttload of cut potatoes, carrots, onions, celery, mushrooms, spices and a bit of wine around the bird and let er' bake at 325 for a couple of hours. Here is a pic with two stewing hens....

This is the full meal deal. Wash and prep time probably 20 minutes, turn it on and walk away. The whole house will smell great. Inexpensive and hearty.

[ICEMAN]

Thaw it overnight in the sink, still in its bag. Bacteria? Who cares, you are about to bake the crap out of it... It has never killed us...done it a hundred times...

[BLKBEARKLR]

Damn Ice, now you made me hungry....  Looks good, let me know the next time you are having it..   

[coriantonk]

Deep fry that bird in penut oil.    I do a couple each year and they only take about 30-45 minutes to cook. 
My mouth is watering just thinking about it.

[robb92]

I smoked a 20 pound turkey two weeks ago, I used the marinade injector and put 2 cups of apple juice throughout the breast and legs and then put alder smoke on it for 8 hours and let it finish off in the smoker for a total cook time of 18 hours. Turned out great and the meat wasn't dry.

[quadrafire]

I don't have a fryer but would like to try it sometime (indoors of course ) My wife would like the roasted one best, I may start with that and let you know. I still may split in 1/2 and do the other on the smoker. I have never injected one before. That is a good idea.

thanks for the input

[jackelope]

I'm dying to deep fry one in peanut oil but I definitely won't be doing it inside the house.  If I kill a wild bird this spring that's what I'm gonna do with it for sure.

[whacker1]

every year we do the same except that we buy 3-5 turkeys at thanksgiving time.

My favorite is to smoke them.

thaw them in the sink or a cooler.

put them in a clean 5 gallon bucket - fill with apple cider vinegar or just apple cider if you prefer.

partially peel 3 -5 granny smith apples and core them.  stuff them in body cavity and smoke them at 200 if possible until done.  We usually do this on a pellet smoker, but we did one at thanksgiving over a fire in a smokehouse.  on that one we put it in an aluminum pan to keep from burning the bottom.

Charcoal weber barbecue's also work well.

[Mossy]

I definately pick smoked. 

[quadrafire]

Okay
I brined the whole bird. Cut off the breasts. Smoked one breast and the rest of the carcass (apple wood about 7 hrs). Grilled one breast. I would have to say they all turned out great (the grilled version, just slightly more dry). Will be having smoked turkey sandwiches all week.

I still want to fry one. Will have to work on that.

[NGOWENS]

Smoked Turkey is the greatest way to make a turkey outside of the standard Thanksgiving dinner one being Roasted!  My dad smokes probably 3 turkeys a year!  He has a turkey smoker that you can stand it upright in and he stuffs a tall boy of good beer up it with spices like Cheyenne pepper and bay leaves in it.  And does a rub on the outside.  Some of the juiciest smooth flavored turkeys I have ever eaten!  Not sure how you could adapt that to work in a Smoker at low temp.  This one is propane and gets hot like 250 degrees or something.  I think he uses some Jack Daniels wood chips for it too!

Makes me hungry thinking about it!

[Huntbear]

Not sure which is better, smoked or fryed.  Both are awesome. 

Man, gonna have to get the wife to cooking, making me hungry.

[fisheral87]

Deep fry.

[Austrian Hunter]

Deep fry.

 

[wabow]

Trash can turkey is great! Beer butt turkey and chickern is a staple at our house but you need a tall grill or smoker. We have a Big green egg and can easilly fit a 20+ pounder.

Don

[bigdave]

We tried a totally different method of cooking our easter turkey this year. Here is what I did....I saw them do this on a cooking show and it looked yummy.  It only took about 5 minutes to get ready and about $10 extra other than the turkey.

1. Put your bird in a roasting pan on the rack, breast side up.
2. Prick the skin and deep into the meat with a fork on the breast and on the thighs.
3. Cover the top of the bird with SALT PORK.......the cooking show said they tried bacon but they didn't like the smoky taste with bacon.
4. Cover the turkey with cheese cloth that has been soaked in water. (fold it into squares then soak it)
5. After the cheese cloth, then cover the turkey with Aluminum foil.
6. Roast in the oven at 325 until the breat is 140 deg.
7. Remove the turkey from the oven, remove all the pork, cloth, and aluminum foil. At this point the skin will look aweful and pasty white....don't worry
8. Put the turkey back in at 425 until the breast is up to 165 deg.

At this point, the skin will be golden brown and the turkey will taste moist and delicious. It does not taste like pork at all, it just gets salt from the pork fat.

Much less messy than brining.
 

[littlemac]

We're pretty stuck on the peanut oil fryer.

Mostly when there's a crowd around.  We are up to three birds now though since the last couple a years the first one never gets to the dinner table 

Too damn many rednecks pickin' at it as soon as it comes outta the fryer.

We mostly do a cajun injected one and a teriyaki injected bird too.  All of it is good, if not great.  Makes one heck of a soup later when you boil the carcass.