http://www.twincreekdesign.com/blog/mcallisterfamily/index.cfm Blog of the Cache Valley McAllisters en-us Wed, 08 Sep 2010 11:28:43 -0700 Sun, 23 Nov 2008 21:45:00 -0700 BlogCFC http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss stmcallister@gmail.com stmcallister@gmail.com http://www.twincreekdesign.com/blog/mcallisterfamily/index.cfm/2008/11/23/PreHoliday-Flop After so many wonderful grilling experiences this summer, you'd figure that some bad outings were inevitable. This weekend was one of the biggest busts I've ever had with fire and meat. In my confidence of such a successful grilling summer, I decided that I was ready to graduate from grilling parts of animals and move on to whole beasts. This time of year suggests an ideal creature: a turkey. I read through a few recipes and felt that I could handle the challenge. Just before 3pm Saturday afternoon I lit the fire, separating the coals for indirect grilling, placed our bird on the grill, and shut the lid. Now, I'll admit that I didn't follow all my instructions exactly, but my sources also conflicted on how I should go about accomplishing the task. After six hours of flip-flopping techniques, the meat thermometer read 180, and felt good about bringing the bird inside. All accounts say that you are supposed to let your bird rest for several minutes before carving, this was no problem as it gave me time to prepare a quite yummy gravy. The gravy was the best creation on the night. The meat was another story. Excited by the taste of the gravy I began slicing the turkey, eagerly awaiting what I would find inside. To my dismay, it was exactly the opposite of what I expected. The meat was stringy and dry, in the places that it was cooked, and it was even pink in some spots. The pinkness was nothing a little time in the oven couldn't fix; and the dryness was cured by the gravy. There are a lot of things I need to think about before trying to grill a turkey again, possibly Thursday? (hi Bagbys). But, at least I got the gravy right. grilling Sun, 23 Nov 2008 21:45:00 -0700 http://www.twincreekdesign.com/blog/mcallisterfamily/index.cfm/2008/11/23/PreHoliday-Flop