Another "Treager" Thanksgiving

     For the past several years the Thanksgiving turkey is done to a turn on our Treager wood pellet grill. I ordered a fresh, twelve pound turkey from Publix. I cleaned and vacuumed the Treager and filled the hopper with a new charge of apple pellets. On Tuesday I picked up the turkey and prepared to brine it overnight. This year I had a super-sized ziplock bag in which to brine it. I brewed up the brine and put the turkey a-soak. You'll note that the brine did not initially cover the turkey.

     By putting the bag in a large stockpot and wedging the bag together with a container of oatmeal and a similarly sized container of grits, the brine was squeezed together enough to completely cover the bird.

     You'll note that the pot occupied most of the top shelf of the refrigerator. You'll also note that the six pack of Shiner Bock and a can of Guinness were not displaced. Actually, there were two cans of Guinness in the brine. 
     On Thanksgiving morning I removed the turkey and dumped out the brine. I rinsed and dried the bird, rubbed it with oil and then rubbed in a dry rub on the surface and interior of the turkey. 

     Then I went out to start the Treager. It is powered by a thermostatically controlled auger which adds pellets as needed. There is a fan blowing air over the pellets to improve combustion and an electric probe to ignite them. Guess what? I had a temperature readout. I had a fan and the auger was working, but there was no electric igniter. Oh, well;there's no harm in using the inside, 120VAC oven with no smoke. 
     For sides we had butternut squash (outstanding), boiled onions, green bean casserole (thanks Cindy), stuffing, and gravy. This was our first Thanksgiving without a bowl of mashed potatoes. For dessert Cindy made a buttermilk pie!
     I did not take a picture of the finished turkey, but I would be remiss if I did not include an overhead shot of great-granddaughter, Brielle's, turkey. Back up in NH she made a veggie platter of a turkey that I think is extraordinary.

     What do you think?