The best laid plans

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With the effects of the tryptophan wearing off I thought I’d take stock of what transpired yesterday as I attempted to prepare our Thanksgiving holiday feast. As if it weren’t apparently obvious I was very excited about the plan I had for the day.

The mission

We were having a small Thanksgiving day gathering with only the three of us and my mom in attendance. Still, I had high hopes for the menu I had designed.

Our turkey had been dry brining in the refrigerator since I picked it up on Sunday. Before going to bed late Wednesday evening I removed the turkey from the plastic bag it had been occupying, patted it dry and placed it on a platter in the refrigerator to enable it to air dry overnight per the instructions in the LA Times article.

Early the next morning I got up, set up the electric smoker to preheat it, and took the bird out of the refrigerator to give it some time to rest at room temperature as I chopped the aromatics and got my mise en place in place.

Everything was going swimmingly.

The hitch

In my research for smoking the turkey I happened upon some advice that recommended applying a thin coat of mayonnaise to the bird to help with crisping up the crust and to ensure the dry rub adheres to the surface. After going all ‘Paula Deen‘ on the turkey and applying a generous coat of the dry rub, I went outside to check on my preheating smoker.

It had been about forty five minutes at this point and I was expecting a temperature of about 100 degrees. When I checked the digital thermometer I was dismayed to learn the smoker had only reached 52 degrees. Figuring that it was a little cold outside and just needed more time, I went about my business and figured I’d check back in another thirty minutes or so.

Upon my return I was thrown for a loop. The smoker’s temperature was now reading only 48 degrees. Since I was just trying to preheat it I brought it inside to see if the exterior temperature was messing with me. I gave it another thirty minutes, but it was still stone cold!

I could not believe this was happening. I had just used the smoker a few weeks before to make my cold smoked barbecue sausage. Now, on Thanksgiving of all days, I had become the victim of equipment failure.

The solution

In my preparations for hari-kari my wife reminded me about a Food Network special we had watched recently where Chef Tyler Florence smoked his turkey on a cook top before roasting it in the oven. Since I did not have all the necessary supplies, or the patience at this point, to smoke the turkey using an indirect method on my grill I figured that this was the next best thing.

Obviously, I was skeptical that the 10 to 15 minutes that the directions called for would impart any discernable smoke flavor, but considering my options were less than ideal I gave it a shot. I lined my roasting pan with aluminum foil, spread out the wood chips, cranked the heat and encapsulated the turkey in foil as it sat in the pan. After giving it 20 minutes I removed the chips, added some aromatics to the pan and deposited the turkey into a 350 degree oven.

The verdict

Despite the lingering disappointment that I would not be able to put the intended apple and pecan smoked turkey on my Thanksgiving table the bird turned out excellent. It was easily the best roasted turkey I have ever prepared.

With the exception of the two years I did my turkey osso bucco style I have always employed a liquid brine to ensure juiciness. Not one of those wet brined turkeys could have compared to the one I served yesterday. My concern that the salt would be retained increasing the meat’s salinity was completely put to rest.

As far as the rest of the preparation is concerned, I was very pleased with the dry rub I put together. We were a little indifferent to the mayonnaise coat as a crisping method and I’m pretty sure I could have achieved the same result with either olive oil or butter. Finally, the attempt of imparting some smokiness on the cook top was a complete failure that, unfortunately, was expected.

So, despite the hitches that arose I was able to overcome them to produce a good meal and for that I am thankful.  I hope that you all had a very Happy Thanksgiving and got in some quality time with family in between the food and football.

For those of you scoring at home, here is my self graded evaluation of the performance:

• Dry brine method – A+
• Dry rub flavor – A-
• Mayonnaise crisping method – C
• Cooktop smoking – F
• Sides & sauces – A
• Overall – B

If you are interested in any of the recipes from my Thanksgiving menu, then please check the peaches en risotto blog beginning next week.

Tagged as: Food Network, Los Angeles Times, Paula Deen, Smoking, Thanksgiving