Christian Fitzgerald didn’t set out to take the stress out of cooking the bird on Thanksgiving when he invented the Orion Cooker fourteen years ago, but he did. He wanted tender, moist meats cooked to perfection in the great outdoors. He didn’t want to babysit a smoker. The simple stainless steel outdoor convection cooker he designed gave him just what he wanted.
Local backyard grilling maven and super-cook Don Holth still slow smokes and fries turkeys for friends on request, but his weapon of choice for the big bird is the Orion. “The man who invented this cooker is a genius,” Holth says. “It’s no-fail. The turkey meat’s moist, browned all over and it’s the best I’ve eaten. All you do is put it in the cooker, shut it down and let it go for two-plus hours while you have a few beers with your buddies.”
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We watched Holth take an 18.7-pound fresh turkey from pallid and cold to brown and smokin’ hot in two hours and twenty minutes. Two and forty with prep time. Holth learned by trial and error how to cook the birds. We got the skinny on how to make a plumply perfect bird in a phone interview with Christian Fitzgerald himself.
“The turkey should be fresh and not frozen,” he says. “A good size for the cooker is 16 to 18 pounds. You can, but you don’t have to brine the turkey. Pat the bird dry with paper towels. Put it on a cookie sheet and leave it in the refrigerator, uncovered, to dry out the skin further.
“Give it a light coat olive oil inside and out. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. If you want to use a spice rub, choose one with a paprika base for color and flavor and put the bird on the poultry stand.”
Fitzgerald cautions not to add any moisture to the drip pan. He designed a channel in the pan to hold wood chips, not too many and just in the channel. “Apple or cherry chips give a nice flavor that’s not in-your-face,” he says. “You’ll need about 12 ½ pounds of charcoal. Fill the bottom pan with briquettes even with the top. Put the bird in the cooker, drop on the top and fill the cup with charcoal. Light both and wait two hours plus. Don’t lift the lid to check it until the time is up. You can figure seven minutes per pound for cook time and that’s it.”
Holth learned early to let the bird rest on the stand for ten to fifteen minutes after it comes out of the cooker. “The bird’s pretty fragile when it comes out and it can just fall apart on you. It firms up as it rests.”
Friends caught the word Holth would be cooking an Orion turkey on Saturday. They showed up all afternoon to talk and visit, anticipating the turkey sandwiches to come. Holth, who is known for his pork steaks, pork tenderloin, chicken wings, pork roasts and more enjoys sharing food with friends. He often cooks for friends on the patio of The Little Bar at Holly Hills and Alabama in Carondelet.
“These are my friends. Everybody’s pretty much from the neighborhood. It’s like family here. I’ll cook twelve turkeys on Thanksgiving this year. It’s what I enjoy doing. I’m usually out at the deer camp this weekend,” he said. “I don’t hunt. I’m the camp cook. I take the Orion with me. It’s just like the inventor says, you get the turkey in the cooker and your job’s over until it’s done.”
Fitzgerald noted that cooking the bird outside brings other benefits as well. “When you use the Orion to cook the turkey three things happen,” he says. “The cook can relax and spend time with the guests. The Orion cooker frees up oven space. Unlike fried turkey, it’s safe [to operate] and healthier for you.”
Orion isn’t foiled by cold or snow, though Fitzgerald recommends clearing the snow first. Wind, however, can wreak havoc with the coals. Holth set up a plywood windbreak several feet away from the cooker the snowy day he cooked the bird.
“It’s foolproof,” Holth says. “The only part that’s hard is the clean up. I do it the easy way. I put the Orion in my truck and take it to the carwash. Pressure, degreaser, soap and rinse water—it’s all there and you’re done. Every time I use the cooker somebody tells me they’re going to try it.”
If you want to try the Orion, named after the mythic hunter, you’ll find the stainless steel cookers at Ace Hardware, Bass Pro Shops, Cabela’s and True Value Hardware stores. You can also order them online.
Be sure to order your fresh turkey now. Here’s a list of local grocers and butcher shops still taking orders for fresh, never frozen, birds:
Baumann’s Fine Meats, 8829 Manchester, 314-968-3060.
Fields Foods, 1500 Lafayette, 314–241-3276. (Note: Fields has birds 14 pounds and under, hens only. They’ve sold out of toms and larger turkeys.)
Kenrick’s Meats and Catering, 4324 Weber, 314-631-2440.
LeGrand’s Market and Catering, 4414 Donovan, 314-353-6128.
Mateker’s Meat and Catering, 11642 Concord Village, 314-842-4100.
Whole Foods (both locations) Brentwood Store, 314-968-7744; Chesterfield Store, 636-527-1160.
Note: Bolyard’s Meat & Provisions and Wenneman’s Meat Market have already sold out of fresh turkeys. The 16 to 20 pound birds are in short supply now, so order now for best choices.
