Kamado Joe: The perfect way to roast your Christmas Turkey

What is the perfect way to cook a turkey? No doubt you are thinking of evenly roasted, tender meat enveloped in a crispy brown skin. That means all of the skin, with no limp parts under the wings or thighs, or beneath the bird.

We can thank Henry VIII for the tradition of roasting a turkey for Christmas since the 16th century, but we can thank Kamado Joe for using advanced 21st century technology to do it perfectly. Cooking in a Kamado Joe is all about retaining the juices and roasting the meat at an even temperature on all sides of the turkey, without the need to turn it over. The cooking process in a Kamado Joe is very different to a conventional oven. The dome shape distributes the heat evenly, with no cold spots and the high-performance ceramics from which it is made act as a “super insulant” to lock in the heat, smoke and moisture inside the well-sealed lid for a rich, juicy and smoky flavour. Because the dark turkey meat requires a higher temperature than white meat, distributed evenly on all sides, without drying out the meat, the Kamado Joe is far superior to any conventional oven.

By adding the half-moon heat deflector stones, you instantly convert your Kamado Joe to a convection oven with the perfect combination of heat from below and above, circulating all around the turkey, the built-in thermometer ensures you are cooking the turkey at exactly the right temperature, with no guessing involved.

With Kamado Joe, you are certain that the turkey will not only taste better than any you’ve had before, it will also look great because it is browned equally on all sides and because there is no fussing and breaking parts off by turning it over. Roasting your turkey in a Kamado Joe converts the collagen in the skin to gelatin that drains away together with the fat, leaving you with a deliciously browned and crispy skin and juicy meat underneath.

The exterior of your Kamado does not get hot, because it is treated with a baked glaze and super-insulated, protecting you from injury and of course no heat escapes through the body of the oven. By placing the charcoal in a basket at the bottom, the firebox is isolated from the rest of the kamado griller, giving you the maximum cooking space for that large turkey and making it easier and safer to work while cooking.

Do you prefer cutting the turkey into its primal cuts and cooking wings, breasts, legs and thighs separately from each other? The tiered racks will let you do that and in fact, you will have extra space to cook more than one turkey for the whole family and friends, still leaving enough space to simmer the carcass for gravy. For a smaller family, you can add your roast veggies and sauces for the complete Christmas meal.  Of course, if you prefer, you can smoke or bake the turkey equally successfully in your Kamado Joe, or if your preference is for spit roasting, just stick it onto the Joetisserie.

A fail-safe Christmas turkey recipe: barbecue your bird

Check out this TASTY recipe by Neil Rankin on The Guardian website:

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/dec/21/christmas-turkey-recipe-fail-safe-barbecue-bird