Perfect Holiday Turkey

1. Completely Thaw the Turkey.
2. Remove the giblets.
3. Trim the fat and remove tail.
4. Injecting the bird and allowing it to sit in the refrigerator over night spreads injection better through out the meat than injecting immediately before cooking.
5. Using a cup and a half of cooking oil (I used Canola) in the bottom of the Ultimate roaster helps with clean up and self basting of the bird.
6. Wiping the inside of the roaster down with oil or spraying non-stick oil aid clean in up.
7. Red based seasoning (paprika base) of some type, helps to color the bird while cooking (you won’t get a tight dry skin because of the nature of cooking in cast iron).
8. Cooking with the Camp Chef low pressure all purpose burner on low to medium heat if the outdoor temperature is over 55 degrees with no wind should be sufficient to run apx 8 minutes a pound. Colder temp and wind may mean you have to allow for longer cooking time and cooking on medium.
9. Use a meat thermometer and check breast and thigh temperatures. Done at 170 degrees.
10. Let bird stand 15 minutes before carving.
11. Pre-heating your lid speeds cooking time.
12. Cooking on medium for the first twenty – thirty minutes and then reducing the heat also speeds cooking times.
13. Cooking slow and not burning your drippings creates a great gravy base.

Keg Roaster

1. Prepare the Turkey the same as you would for the Ultimate Roaster
2. Pour out 1/3 of your beverage and let it come to room temperature to speed cooking time. Injecting what you poured out makes it more juicy and flavorful.
3. A red based seasoning rubbed on the bird will help dry and create flavored skin.
4. Make sure your diverter plate bases that the bird stand hooks to are clean before using, build up repels the heat movement.
5. Keeping the keg thermometer at 250 degrees is cooking at approximately 8 minutes per pound.
6. Open the vent in the dome half way in order to draw heat to the top of the roaster.
7. Use a meat thermometer to check doneness, breast should read 170.

*Tune the shutter valve on your burner to get as blue of flame as you can before setting roasters on cookers.

*Using wood chips that have soaked for twenty minutes in water adds a smokey flavor.

- In Ultimate use two cups of medium chips in the bottom of the roaster. Do not use oil if using wood chips.
- In The Keg use two cups spread out between base and diverter plates.

Turkey Cannon

Use a long handled bottle brush to clean out the cannon before and after use. Before loading the TC spray the inside and outside with a light coat of spray cooking oil to aid with clean up.

Tips for in the oven:

Make sure bird is completely thawed. Marinade injected birds work best if Marinaded the night before and set in the fridge overnight to allow the Marinade to move through the bird. Place tin foil on a cookie sheet having raised one inch walls (roaster pan's with taller walls may slow the heat flow to the leg and thigh region) will aid in clean up. Set the TC on the cookie sheet before you "load" the cannon with fluid and turkey. Make sure Turkey is well down on the cannon and not tippy before putting it in the oven. Start Turkey in a pre- heated oven at 400 degrees for thirty minutes and then reduce heat to 325. This helps prime the TC. *note: convection ovens tend to cook quicker than electric. With a 14 lb bird check the breast and thigh temperature at 1.5 hours and every half hour after that until thigh is 170 degrees (good meat thermometer is the key). Allow bird to rest 15 minutes after removing from the oven. Have assistance when removing the bird from the TC before carving.

Tips for on the BBQ:

Follow the above directions but keep an eye on the temperature of the BBQ depending on the outdoor elements. Wind will cause fluxuation in the heat of the BBQ. You may have to pilot it more so than in the oven. If you do not want to catch drippings from your BBQ's Turkey the cannon can be set without a tray on the BBQ grate. This speeds up cooking times. You may want to make double layered tin foil booties for the knuckles of the leg to prevent burning if the legs rest on the cooking grate.