Home cooks or anyone else who doesn’t want to fool around with using twine and other techniques to tie to together big chickens or turkeys before roasting or smoking them now have a simple tool – the Turbo Trusser. It helps prepare that bird in seconds. And when the cooking is over, the device removes just as quickly and goes into the dishwasher.
I remember first seeing this product pitched by Kirk Hyuston on the popular show “Shark Tank.” Kevin O’Leary, the “shark” investor who variously bills himself as “Mr. Wonderful” or, when cooking is involved, “Chef Wonderful,” bought into the product, seeing its obvious utility, inexpensive production costs and the potential to have one of these in the cooking drawer of anyone who’s a fan of moist, flavorful chicken and turkey.
I was happy when the company working public relations for the Turbo Trusser contacted www.outdoorsrambler.com to see if we wanted to evaluate a unit. It took a couple of months to finally get a big roaster chicken and set up the Camp Chef Woodwind Pellet Grill and Smoker, but a chicken - a 7.5-pound Perdue roaster - was finally on the docket. I picked a few fresh herbs from our garden and stuffed them into the bird’s body cavity.
I overestimated how long it would take to cook the chicken, thinking I would use a low heat smoke for a couple of hours at first. You simply lock the bird’s legs into the slots on a stainless-steel front plate. Connected thin stainless-steel rods with hooks secure the wings, either by wrapping around them or, as I did, piercing the skin for a secure hold. The chicken was ready in about three hours and, man, it was so juicy and tasty, with just the right amount of apple-wood smoke infused into the skin and meat. The marketing literature says Turbo Trusser “makes your chicken or turkey tasty and juicy, about 20% juicier. I don’t know about that - given that we're not doing any scientific moisture assessment, but I will assert that the chicken was completely moist – with ample clear juices running at the end of cooking. The breast meat, which can easily dry out, stayed abundantly juicy.
I wish I had invented it. It works. The price is $19.99, or you can get one each for turkey and chicken for $34.99. To some, that may seem high compared to buying twine. But amortized against the many chickens you’ll probably roast before the Turbo Trusser ever fails you (if ever), it’ll come to a few cents per bird over time and you will save time compared to tying knots with twine. It takes just a few seconds to rig the chicken.
Check out the short video showing the process. This is an excellent product for the oven or the smoker and it gets a solid thumbs up with Outdoors Rambler.
