Finally, My Turkey Was a Success!

I must say, I actually cooked up a decent turkey last week.

I almost couldn’t believe it, but it wasn’t dry, it wasn’t severely underseasoned, and I didn’t burn glaze to the bottom of a pot.

I have only attempted to make turkey a few times and my family has been supportive of my battles. They have assured me that each time I have tried, they have enjoyed it, but I simply was not proud of my turkey.

This year was way different. For one, I didn’t put a lot of pressure on getting it done for Thanksgiving dinner. We ate turkey at the in-laws, which was great! It also gave me a chance to cook my turkey on a different day.

That day was Sunday. After watching my favorite football team (Chicago Bears) underperform again. My wife asked me if I had enough time to get the turkey done for dinner.

I was a turd about it. My football team was losing and the last thing on my mind was that 12-pound bird taking up a ton of space in our refrigerator.

Things went as planned thanks to Susan’s encouragement. I got the turkey on the smoker at the right time. I spatchcocked it, Susan helped season it, and I set it up for indirect cooking on my Weber grill.

Next was the waiting game, which wasn’t horrible because of a probe thermometer that let me know where the meat temperature was. After the meat temp reached 140 or so, I glazed it, an idea that I wasn’t to geeked about, but why not?

I then let the meat reach 165 and it was beautiful!

I definitely second guessed myself through the whole process, but after slicing through the meat, and seeing Susan’s reaction, I knew that it was a success!

It was smoky, sweet, and most importantly, not dry! It was definitely a different take on many turkeys that I have had during Thanksgiving, but it was amazing! The best thing was seeing the kids enjoy it, though I was also competing with pumpkin pie, which was their reward for eating all of their dinner.

I have to say that I am looking forward to leftovers, as I always do at Thanksgiving. I am not sure why, but I always think that the leftovers always taste better. Even as a kid, I could put a hurting on a plate of Thanksgiving and Christmas leftovers. I am bummed that I didn’t think to grab the leftover yams from my in-law’s house!

Lastly, my eyes are getting better although they still look really red and are irritated every once-in-a-while. I haven’t allowed myself to train heavy in the gym yet because I don’t need any setbacks!