Have a situation where my wife and I will be driving 3 hours to her elderly aunt's place for Thanksgiving. About 16-18 people expected, several pretty good eaters. We have been tasked to make a LOT of the meal. We will have two ovens available there to heat/reheat things. Almost impossible to roast the turkey(s) completely at her place due to timing.

Wife will handle the veggies, other side items. Me, thinking of two medium turkeys, 14-15 lbs? One smoked, one roasted. Has anyone made turkey the day before, then reheated? Or should I smoke/roast the turkeys the day of, then wrap, and transport? If wrapping, what timing/internal temp should I shoot for?

I've smoked turkeys before, but could always use some extra tips from anyone on smoking (temperature mostly, I think I do too low of a temp?), or the above travel and timing situation. Thank you in advance.

Never done the day smoking the day before.

Love this recipe but we skip the glaze. https://www.meatchurch.com/blogs/recipes/spatchcock-turkey?srsltid=AfmBOooOTgk1Oc6xrVt48_AfvAkb0rnXVdjcHzNo5EOOR9MGQWt36EeE

Here's my $.02. Some of it will suck for you, depending on when you are planning on leaving for the 3 hour drive, but it's what I think I would do given the circumstances. I would smoke the turkey before you leave, assuming you have a couple decent coolers to transport them in. When I smoke mine, I take if off my Egg and put it in an aluminum pan and cover with foil, then wrap it with a towel and put it in my cooler to rest for at least an hour. With a good cooler, it will stay plenty warm. Then I would transport, assuming you are eating somewhat close to the time you are arriving. Skin wouldn't be crispy, if that's a deal breaker for you, but heat and flavor should be on point and won't be dry.

For smoking, I brine 24 hours in advance. I warm up 1 gallon of water and mix with 2 cups of coarse kosher salt, 1/4 cup of brown sugar, about 6-8 cloves of garlic, 2 oranges halved and squeezed into the mixture, a couple tablespoons of peppercorns, and then a bag of ice to cool down the mixture and reduce the brine saltiness. General rule of thumb is 1 gallon of water to 1 cup of salt. When I take it out of the brine, I rinse it off to remove the excess saltiness. Then I pat it dry best I can and spatchcock the turkey. I make a compound butter of 1 stick of unsalted butter, softened, that I mix with finely chopped rosemary, sage, and thyme. Slather that mixture both on the skin and under it. Then I do a LIGHT sprinkle of salt, and heavy coarse black pepper. On my Egg, I generally shoot for 275-325 temp and will rotate as needed to get more heat on the drumsticks/thighs area. I try and pull when the breast reads about 150-155 and thighs/drums are 175-ish. Usually around 3 hours or so. Put in aluminum pan, cover in foil, wrap in a toil, and put it in my cooler. Have had great results with this for both turkey and whole chickens.

Again, might suck if you are leaving at 8:00 AM, so totally get not wanting to go through that effort. Other option, if you have the equipment, would be to quarter the bird and sous vide it the day before and then sear it in a cast iron or over hot charcoal upon arrival.

This guy is my favorite resource: https://www.smoking-meat.com/
Had to deal with a similar travel situation. Arrived day before with two turkeys already brining to get up early and smoke/roast. Prepped all sides we could incl measuring out ingredients and packing in what they will be cooked in along with kitchen tools needed. Kept the size down on the roasted one to get it done faster and get use of both ovens. Don't overdo number of sides, keep it simple (our mistake). Also inform all others coming the kitchen may not be available. Made me realize I could never do catering. Hope it goes well for you.

As posted above. Make sure you bring the turkey for at least 1 day. Then pat dry and let it rest in a pan on a grate in fridge to dry out the skin (helps is get crispy instead of chewy). Usually for a half day.

You can smoke it a day or two in advance, let it rest for a couple hours then slice and debone meat. Cool to internal temp of 185 dark and 165' breast.

To reheat, anything that doesn't have skin on it, I usually warm in the oven with a small pan of bowl of chicken stock, covered with foil.

Legs/thighs thst still have bone and skin, just put in a small pan, and warm up covered in the oven. 20-30 mins at 350 works fine. When you reheat just reheat to hot is my go to.

zooguy96 said:

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It's an infrared propane oil-less fryer.

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I'm intrigued

oh no said:

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zooguy96 said:

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It's an infrared propane oil-less fryer.

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I'm intrigued

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It's the best. I got one for $99 a couple christmases ago based on Texags discussion. Best purchase ever.

zooguy96 said:

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oh no said:

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zooguy96 said:

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It's an infrared propane oil-less fryer.

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I'm intrigued

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It's the best. I got one for $99 a couple christmases ago based on Texags discussion. Best purchase ever.

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I'm looking now- they have them in stock at academy for $99.99.

oh no said:

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zooguy96 said:

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oh no said:

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zooguy96 said:

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It's an infrared propane oil-less fryer.

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I'm intrigued

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It's the best. I got one for $99 a couple christmases ago based on Texags discussion. Best purchase ever.

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I'm looking now- they have them in stock at academy for $99.99.

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That's where I got mine. Just look at YouTube for how to run it. It's pretty easy.

Yep. Easy to do Thursday morning if you prep the night before.

Also this is my other BGE Thanksgiving favorite to cook after the turkey.

https://biggreenegg.com/blogs/recipes/chocolate-bourbon-pecan-pie

Thanks for all the responses! The spatchcock is a strong possibility. In the past, it has been three hours before we actually sit for main dinner after arrival.