Turkey on the Big Green Egg

I've been wanting to attempt to do a turkey on the egg for a while now.  Here was my method.

Brine for 12-24 hours:
Cleaned out my cooler and filled with brine.  You could use a giant bowl or a brine bag in a similar capacity.  My brine was about 1 cup of salt per gallon and half a cup of sugar.  I've heard of folks using all kinds of other herbs like thyme and rosemary and I've even heard of people using cranberry or orange juice as a brine.

Removed turkey from packaging, removed neck and giblets, and washed the bird.  Inserted bird into brine and  I added some ice to make sure it stayed chilled, but just a little ice in the Yeti goes a long way.  Let is sit over night.

Let the Turkey "Rest" Out of the Brine
Many people say this is a key step where you simply take the bird out of the brine and let it sit in the fridge for a few hours.  They say it lets the skin tighten back up.  I let it sit in the fridge for about 4 hours.

Prepare Big Green Egg and Stablize 350 F
Set up the Egg for indirect heat.  Used the place setter, legs up, grate on (and will cook turkey in a disposable foil pan).  Added apple and pecan wood blocks using the minion lighting method.

Inject, Add Rub and Sit at Room Temperature for an Hour:
I used a Tony Chachere butter injection and Tony Chachere Rub, but you can literally use anything you want.  Since this wasn't Thanksgiving, I was just wanting to try something a little different so a Cajun turkey sounded good.

I ordered what they a call a Turkey Cannon.  It's basically the same thing as the Beer Can Chicken stand, except it sits sideways.  It has two main purposes that I see.  1) It allows the bird to elevated throughout the cook, and 2) it steams the meat from inside the cavity.  I filled the cannon with beer and apple cider vinegar and a little of the rub.  It was a little tricky getting the bird on the cannon by myself without spilling the liquid inside, but I think there's a little learning curve involved here.

Once the bird is on the cannon, I put it in the foil pan and onto the Egg it goes...

Cook at 350-375 F
I had just cleaned my egg and the fire was rocking so I actually had a little trouble keeping it under 400 degrees.  (Note: cleaning out your BGE periodically keeps it running at tip-top capacity).  This bird reached an internal temperature of 165 degrees in about 1 hour and 45 minutes.  This was much faster than expected and it wasn't any where close to dinner time so I lowered the temp to 225 F and let it smoke for a few hours at this temp.  Not the ideal cook plan I had mapped out but the turkey turned out great.

Notes:  Many people like to smoke their turkeys for long periods of time as if they were cooking a pork shoulder.  I'm of the mind that it doesn't buy you anything to cook a turkey that long.  Lean meats like turkey and chicken don't have the collagen in the meat that breaks down like pork or beef over long periods of time.

How to Light a Big Green Egg Fire the Cheapest Possible Way

I'm all for saving money and I love this method.   First, obtain a tall metal can.  This is one from a big thing of pineapple juice.  I drilled some holes in the side for oxygen and used a can opener to cut out the bottom.  Stack your coals the way you want and put your metal can on top in the middle of the pile.  Insert an electric fire starter and fill with charcoal.

After a few minutes when you have some flames going, remove the electric starter and use a pair of tongs to lift the can straight up allowing the charcoal to fall out of the bottom.  Set safely aside to cool.  The result is a small amount of coals lit right in the middle of the fire.  This works well for long cooks where you want to start the fire in a small area right at the top middle of the coals.This will allow for the coal to burn out and down for prolonged heat.

This is also, as I understand it, similar to what is called the "Minion Method".  A variation can also be done without the can sticking the heating element directly in the coals

Alternative methods include:

• Fire Starter Squares - This will light 144 fires for $18.  You can find equivalent type fire starters at any store that sells BBQ stuff.
• Looflighter - This is probably the most expensive way to light your grill, but it's pretty awesome.  Some will say this product is just an expensive heat gun.
• In a pinch, a crumpled up paper towel and vegetable oil can be used to get a fire going.