Roasted Turkey for St. Paddy's Day - Why not!

Last week I was at the Hearth Patio & Barbeque Association annual trade show in Orlando, Florida.  No time to walk around lah-dee-dah like because I – along with the other members of the Char-Broil Culinary Team – were busy grilling food at the Char-Broil outdoor display to feed tasty grilled food samples to thousands of hungry HPBA members! We had 3 Quantum grills, 2 Big Easy infrared oil-less turkey fryers and one Big Easy Smoker Roaster Grill going 8 hours a day for 3 days straight. I grilled so many juicy pork chops and boneless skinless chicken breasts that they were doing the 2-step in my dreams. And I must confess I prepared some bee-you-tee-full looking ‘fried’ turkeys in the Big Easy and Big Easy Smoker, Roaster, Grill.  I can only verify how tasty they looked – all mahogany colored and juicy as I carved each into bite-size pieces – because I didn’t really get a good taste! They were roasted, rested, carved and served before I could get a decent sandwich made!

Those turkeys were still on my mind – fragrant and perfectly browned – when I popped into my favorite grocery store on the way home from the airport Sunday afternoon. Thinking I’d pick up a steak to grill for dinner – I saw a fresh 11 lb turkey in the meat dept. and placed it in the basket right next to the big ol’thick rib eye.  I finally got to cook it, or should I say ‘Smoke-Roast’ it on Wednesday.  Here’s a picture…what do you think?

The skin was all mahogany colored and crispy - starting to break away because most of the fat cooks into the meat.

If you love the taste of fried turkey and have thought about how much work and worry it is to prepare one – then think, please, about taking a look at the  oil-less infrared way to fry turkey in The Big Easy or Big Easy Smoker Roaster Grill.  This turkey was perfect. Brown and crispy skin. Moist and juicy meat. I’ll be honest with you – I didn’t brine it. Didn’t season or even rub oil on it. Just rinsed it with cool water and patted it dry with paper towels. Into the cooking basket and into the cooker that I turned on, no pre-heating.  I also added some wood chips to the smoker box and clipped that inside the cooking chamber.  About 90 minutes or so later the bird was ready to pull (160F degrees internal temp in the thigh) and rest on the counter until the internal temp rose above 165F degrees.

Here’s a pix of it resting in the basket after cooking.

The Big Easy Smoker, Roaster, Grill has the capacity to cook up to a 24lb bird - so this 11 lb turkey hen was in there looking kinda small!

If you live in a condo or apartment where space is limited, regularly cook for only a 2-4 person group, need a cooker, a roaster, a “fryer” and a grill – something to have at the cabin, in the vacation trailer, at your hunting camp or just to tuck into the corner of your garage when not in use — please put this  versatile cooker on your consideration list.  By the way, here’s a post by SavannahSmoker on the Users Forums about his method for searing beef tenderloin on the grill of the Big Easy Smoker Roaster Grill.

Thanks and…

Happy Grilling!