Found my Thanksgiving dinner!

I demand full cooperation from the rotund avian. Thyme, marjoram, lovage, sage, pepper, salt, lemon juice. Mhmm! Off with the ugly head, I say!

I have a ton of turkeys on my game camera. If I get lucky I'm going to smoke a wild turkey this year.

I wanted to smoke one this year, but I don't have enough time (or money) to buy the Akorn I want and still get a trial run in. Next year will be a different story.

I thought I saw six Wild Turkeys (or some kind of heritage breed) standing by the side of the street as I drove by, like they were waiting for the schoolbus.
Turns out that it's far more likely they were Turkey Vultures.
I didn't even know we had those around here.

John Rose said:

I thought I saw six Wild Turkeys (or some kind of heritage breed) standing by the side of the street as I drove by, like they were waiting for the schoolbus.

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They were waiting to cross the road. And don't ask why- I don't want to live in a world where a turkeys intentions are questioned

I just got a bag lovage. I'm ready to mix my turkey herb rub! As for the bird, he remains elusive. I will hopefully get to make a deer roast this Thanksgiving. My friend, who goes deer hunting, has promised me venison. In exchange I will introduce him to the culinary delight of lingonberries accompanying game meat, of which he is is unaware.

oc_in_fw said:

I wanted to smoke one this year, but I don't have enough time (or money) to buy the Akorn I want and still get a trial run in. Next year will be a different story.

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You can get a pretty good "grill-smoked" turkey on a regular grill. I did one last year and it came out fantastic. Basically setting up your grill to act as an oven and adding wood chips to create smokiness. It's not truly a smoked Turkey, but it came out fantastic. I will be doing it again this year as long as it's not 10° out...

I used Meathead's process as the basis: http://amazingribs.com/recipes/chicken_turkey_duck/ultimate_smoked_turkey.html

I was able to fit a 16 pound turkey in the grill (Weber Genesis) with the gravy tray and have the bird elevated above the tray enough to alleviate the cooling effect from the gravy. I did have to jury-rig up a rack setup...

Another great thing about his process is he puts a big pan of the gravy fixins under the turkey as it cooks so it not only gets the turkey drippings, but also picks up the smoke... It made a really tasty gravy.

hotwheels said:

I just got a bag lovage. I'm ready to mix my turkey herb rub! As for the bird, he remains elusive. I will hopefully get to make a deer roast this Thanksgiving. My friend, who goes deer hunting, has promised me venison. In exchange I will introduce him to the culinary delight of lingonberries accompanying game meat, of which he is is unaware.

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Would you share the rub recipe.

langod said:

You can get a pretty good "grill-smoked" turkey on a regular grill. I did one last year and it came out fantastic. Basically setting up your grill to act as an oven and adding wood chips to create smokiness. It's not truly a smoked Turkey, but it came out fantastic. I will be doing it again this year as long as it's not 10° out...

I used Meathead's process as the basis: http://amazingribs.com/recipes/chicken_turkey_duck/ultimate_smoked_turkey.html

I was able to fit a 16 pound turkey in the grill (Weber Genesis) with the gravy tray and have the bird elevated above the tray enough to alleviate the cooling effect from the gravy. I did have to jury-rig up a rack setup...

Another great thing about his process is he puts a big pan of the gravy fixins under the turkey as it cooks so it not only gets the turkey drippings, but also picks up the smoke... It made a really tasty gravy.

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I will try it at the beginning of the year, when I can afford to screw it up.

oc_in_fw said:

Would you share the rub recipe.

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Just an ingredients list, I do wing the amounts based on the size of the bird:


I rub the bird inside and outside with garlic and lemon juice, then I crush with mortar and pestle, or in a blender I pulverize

peppercorns
sea salt
mustard seed
allspice
thyme
marjoram
sage
lovage
mugwort
juniper berries
laurel leaves
clove

and sprinkle over the whole bird and rub also the body cavity with those spices. I eat my roasted turkey, besides with sides of vegetables, with Felix wild lingonberry jam. I make a wild mushroom (porcini and other boletes, chanterelle) cream sauce that goes well with turkey and game meat.

We've had Thanksgiving but I'm willing to cook again with you guys as a warm up for Christmas.

My dog stopped. Trust me, it is a bit difficult to move a stopped 130 lb dog. So I was looking around to see what he was concerned with. Look up . . . . way up.

Mr. Turkey was on the top of a light pole waiting for us to go by before having a taste of road kill.

Very nice to see them back in South Central Ontario. My wife's family live on a farm North of Kingston Ontario and they have been visited by flocks of wild turkeys for the past ten years.

Maybe add some taters and greens to your thanksgiving day auk1124. Cutting to the chase is cheating.

Alacrity59 said:

Maybe add some taters and greens to your thanksgiving day auk1124. Cutting to the chase is cheating.

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Vodka and Absinthe?

oc_in_fw said:

Vodka and Absinthe?

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Not exactly where I was going. I think we do have a forum to discuss various spirits.

The discussion about absinthe would be in the Evil Spirits forum?

auk1124 said:

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As the 1980's t shirt they sold said "you never been flogged till you been flogged by the Turkey."

Good for you, but bad for Tom Turkey.

BSAGuy said:

Good for you, but bad for Tom Turkey.

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Well, at least he gets to eat as much as he wants during the race for the finish!