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Prep work for a tasty turkey on Thanksgiving

There are many different kinds of grill and smokers on the market these days and two of my favorites are Camp Chef with the Woodwind, Apex and SG models, and the Traeger of course with the Timberline, Ironwood and Pro series.  With Thanksgiving coming up right around the corner it is time to start planning!   I have not smoked many Turkeys but I did one last season and it was a hit so I am anxious to try again and perfect it.   I will be using a Traeger grill and trying out the turkey pellets in their line.   So many questions come to mind… How long do you smoke a turkey for?  How big a turkey is needed?  How to make a moist turkey?  Wet brine or Dry brine?  The list is endless.

First, I use this chart for figuring out how big a turkey I will need.

5-8 people = 8-12 lbs. turkey

8-11 people = 12-16 lbs. turkey

11-13 people = 16-20 lbs. turkey

13-16 people = 20-24 lbs. turkey

16-19 people = 24-28 lbs. turkey

Brining is a fancy word

Seasons of Utah

Winter lasts from December through February with long periods of snowfall, freezing temperatures and short daylight hours. December and January are the coldest months of the year. The shortest day is December 21, (winter solstice) with just nine hours of daylight. It is fairly common to have a white Christmas in Utah.  February sometimes brings a mix of winter and spring weather with sneak peeks of warmer temperatures and more sunshine.  Winter time activities in Utah include Skiing, Snowboarding, Hunting, Snow Shoeing, Sledding, Ice Skating Etc.…

March begins with cold weather at the start of the spring season in Utah. Early spring is prone to cold fronts, and the arid land has sizable daily temperature differences. A moderate amount of rain falls in March, and the rest takes the form of snow. In April, temperatures rise with the advance of the spring season in Utah. Measurable snowfall recedes and most ski resorts end operations mid-April. Spring blooms, rain showers

For a couple years now Basin Sports has been doing a month-long promotional deal with Vortex Optics. Vortex Days reminds me of the first time I heard of them. It was about thirteen or fourteen years ago. At that time, as I recall, there were only a few different pairs of binoculars, two lines of rifle scopes and a couple spotting scopes. 

We didn’t bring in too much starting out. There were a lot of other companies with larger catalogs of optics vying for shelf space. But Vortex brought something else with them. They had a warranty that didn’t require registering with them and covered things that had nothing to do with “parts and workmanship.” If you dropped your binos, they took care of you. A lot of folks see a company launch with that kind of service and expect it to change when they get their piece of the market carved out. Not Vortex. As they have grown from a few scopes and a few binos into one of the biggest names in sport optics, they have never backed away from their desire