Thanksgiving turkey - where did i go wrong?

[Antonovich]

I had a 15lb turkey and brined it for 7 hours. was fully thawed. I saw the instructions from charbroil said to put the thermometer in the breast and wait till 165 (i have one of those thermometers with the cable)

so it got to 165 and it lifted it and checked the thigh. The thigh said 120. So i thought "I can't pull this, I gotta get that temp up" so i left it in the thigh and waited. the skin browned nicely but the turkey came out a little dry. wasn't as bad as i expected though. should i have pulled it when only the breast was at 165? I don't understand...

[Hub]

In my opinion Charbroil's instructions are suspect.  Turkeys are big, massive birds and their various parts will cook differently (vary in how long it takes to get the appropriate temperature rise).  It is always best to check both the breast (deep) and the thigh (deep) and err on the side of caution.  Better to have some dry turkey than a bunch of people sick from eating it.

For what it's worth I use my remote Maverick thermometer (only one probe) as my general indicator, but then before I pull the bird out of the cooker I poke around with my Thermapen (instant reading digital thermometer) to make sure all is done.  You can pull at 160, tent or FTC the bird and still get a five degree (at least) rise.

It is likely that one of our Charbroil veterans will chime in with some hints about how to get a more even cook from your machine.

Hub

[Tailgating is my game]

In my opinion Charbroil's instructions are suspect.  Turkeys are big, massive birds and their various parts will cook differently (vary in how long it takes to get the appropriate temperature rise).  It is always best to check both the breast (deep) and the thigh (deep) and err on the side of caution.  Better to have some dry turkey than a bunch of people sick from eating it.

For what it's worth I use my remote Maverick thermometer (only one probe) as my general indicator, but then before I pull the bird out of the cooker I poke around with my Thermapen (instant reading digital thermometer) to make sure all is done.  You can pull at 160, tent or FTC the bird and still get a five degree (at least) rise.

It is likely that one of our Charbroil veterans will chime in with some hints about how to get a more even cook from your machine.

Hub

I have just done chicken if we are talking the big easy. But I do it the way Hub does it & it has been coming out good. Again, better to be safe then sorry.

Hub I will say one thing that you said that I must make a statement on "Better to have some dry turkey than a bunch of people sick from eating it".      You don't know my in-laws

No really you need to be safe at all costs.......Extra Gravy will do it

[TMB]

Here is my take on turkeys and believe me I have done them every way possible.

Cook the bird using the half racks and set it at least 1/4 the way up the basket.  Next I found birds larger than 12 lbs need to be cooked with the thighs up near the top or breast side down this gets the dark meat into the hottest part of the chamber.

 Remember the "Tommy Ring"?    Reason for this was to lift the basket up out of what I called the "Dead Zone" .  The "Dead Zone" is cooler and anything cooked there takes much longer.  I know the burner ring sits on the lower part of the chamber but the first few inches are not very good for cooking

CharBroil didn't like what I said but they had to agree the upper part of the chamber cooks better than the lowest part (Really heat rises?) Who would have thunk?     Reason CharBroil redesigned the basket with taller legs

Anyway, use your half rack to raise the bird, get those thighs in the upper potion and I bet it will work better  for you.  If you have questions just ask there are a bunch of great ideas here

Tommy

[Pam Gould]

What Tommy said..I have cooked tons of turkey in the big easy, SRG and BEESR,,always with a tommy ring and raised in the basket, legs up and they come out beautiful. Just think, you got it down for Thanksgiving now. I brine for 24 hours and inject with butter and gahhlick.    .☆´¯`•.¸¸. ི♥ྀ.

[muebe]

Your temp probe may have been touching bone or a fat pocket and getting a false reading.

"Trust but verify" as a wise man once said.

As others stated use a good quality instant read thermometer to take several other readings in the bird.

And I like to pull at 160F because there is a carryover temp that will cause the bird to cook more after removing the bird due to all that internal energy that is stored leaving the bird.

You have been given great advice by Hub, TMB and others.

I bet your next bird will be even better

[tlg4942]

 The Tommy ring is the way to go. Lift the bird up. I use a Bayou classic poultry fryer hanger and sit it on the Tommy Ring. SO much easier to clean than those  baskets.
  You can even use a rod through the top to lift it off the bottom if you can't find your TR. Or if you need to stabilize the meat a bit. 

[TentHunteR]

Lots of good advice already given so I'll just add this:

I don't have a SRG style cooker, but I have found in every other cooker where I've cooked turkey, than birds bigger than about 12 lbs seem to start running the risk of the breast starting to dry out by time everything else is done.

Just my 2¢, and I don't even want change back!

[Pappymn]

Lots of good advice already given so I'll just add this:

I don't have a SRG style cooker, but I have found in every other cooker where I've cooked turkey, than birds bigger than about 12 lbs seem to start running the risk of the breast starting to dry out by time everything else is done.

Just my 2¢, and I don't even want change back!

I agree. I only cook smaller birds now. If I need more turkey I will cook two

[RAD]

when doing a turkey i don't use the basket. I use a turkey fryer holder and suspend it using a rod.