Turkey Smoking?

[GSPHUNTER]

I did not read all the comments, but I always brine mine for a full 24 hours in Veg. broth withs kosher salt and various spices and herbs. all mixed together and bought to a boil to dissolve the salt. then after it cools to room temp I put turkey in crock and make sure it is totally submerged. When take it out of brine I rinse it good to remove excess salt from both inside and out side. I give it a good coat of veg oil and season with salt, pepper and a few other herbs of my choice. I do mine indirect on the weber grill with hickory chunks added to the coals. I add coals as needed and cook to an internal temp.of thigh to 165. I let it rest for about 20-30 mins before carving. Always moist as can be we fantastic flavor.

 

[kwackkillncrew]

i will be spatchcocking on the traeger. probably smoke at 190 for a couple hours then put it up to 250 to finish it. did it before with some birds we raised a few years ago and it was great.

 

[mxgsfmdpx]

We did an oven roasted last year and a spatchcocked smoked.



Skipping oven roasted this year and smoking two turkeys, plus a 23 lb brisket, and baking a ham. We have 40+ folks coming over.

I’ve done both Aaron Franklins and Meat Churches smoking techniques the last couple years with some slight modifications. Both turned out fantastic. Check out YouTube videos on those. The brine is key.

Here’s my reply on this topic from last year…


“Yep I did a 24 hour brine and have done so for the last 5 years. I think I’ve “perfected” my brine mix which always smells so damn good cooking up to a boil.

This year was my first year spatchcocking the bird. I took it a step further and pulled out the entire breast bone as well for very clean presentation and super easy carving.

It helps the bird cook/smoke super evenly and gets it done quicker as well. I kept the smoker rolling at about 275-290 and it turned out perfect.

I injected the bird as well with creole butter for the first time this year. After injecting I did a heavy coat of meat church holy voodoo rub and then let it roll into the smoker.

Best bird yet! Company couldn’t get over how juicy and flavorful the turkey was.”

 

[mxgsfmdpx]

Here’s the brine instructions.

To make it easy, grab yourself a bag of Meatchurch Baptism Brine mix (I make a near copy of this and it’s honestly easier to just use their mix rather than mixing your own).

Throw that in a big pot with a gallon to a gallon and a half of purified water (enough to fully cover your bird). Add in 3 full orange peels, 4 whole garlic heads cloved out (break the cloves in half to help release flavor), big handfull of fresh bay leaves (not dried leaves), a handfull of fresh rosemary, full peppercorns (I use about an 1/8th of the bottle from my local market), 1 cup kosher salt, a big dash of jalapeño powder, and a big splash of apple cider.

Bring all of that to a boil stirring often. Let it fully cool to room temp before throwing the bird and the mix into whatever you use for a brine container. Into the fridge for minimum 24 hours. I usually try for 48 hours.

 

[Dos XX]

Get a spray can of avocado oil at Wal Mart. Spray the skin on the turkey every 30 minute or every hour while it cooks. It will help the skin achieve a good texture. Works on chickens and other things, too.

 

[CorbLand]

I got this…

@tony tell her that she doesn’t have a say in this decision and go make some stuffing. Then grind it and make thanksgiving turkey burgers. It’ll be better than some dried out Clark griswald turkey that you smoke.

I tried to convince my wife to do a prime rib this year but something about turkeys being a tradition got in the way.

 

[taskswap]

I smoke things regularly and swear by temp probes. All the pro's smoke "to a temperature" not "for an amount of time". Multiple probes are ideal and personally I don't stuff my birds.

It can be done faster but I do 225, Medium (5/10) Smoke, about 10 hours depending on the bird. I shoot for 145, wrap in foil, then bring it to 160. It will carry over the last 5 on its own, but with smoking, you can overshoot a bit and it's pretty forgiving. It'll be juicy anyway.

If you want the drippings for gravy/stuffing just do it in a pyrex dish. It won't hurt anything.

 

[jermck]

Check out www.virtualweberbullet.com and search apple brined turkey. Step by step instructions through the whole process. Best turkey you will ever eat.

 

[Ucsdryder]

I tried to convince my wife to do a prime rib this year but something about turkeys being a tradition got in the way.

The exact same thing happened to my house! I tried to do away with Turkey, but apparently traditions need to continue, even if they’re stupid

 

[Northwest_stillwater]

I got this…

@tony tell her that she doesn’t have a say in this decision and go make some stuffing. Then grind it and make thanksgiving turkey burgers. It’ll be better than some dried out Clark griswald turkey that you smoke.

i cant breathe from laughing this is money.

 

[92xj]

Brine, spatchcock, mix butter and dry rub and spread under skin, cook at 300 and be done in roughly 3.5-4 hours, let rest.
Poultry does not benefit from low and slow like pork and red meat.

 

[RS_Non-Res]

The white meat and dark meat react to heat differently, thus different methods of cooking and different final temperatures described above.
There is only one reason to cook a bird whole: That is to carve the bird at the table in front of everyone.

 

[Watrdawg]

So here is how I do mine. I spatchcock my turkey and then brine it the day before and let it sit in my brine for about 24 hours. Then I pat it dry and rub the skin with olive oil and sprinkle Cajun seasoning all over the skin. I use a pellet grill to smoke it. I set the temp at 225 and smoke the bird until the breast temp hits 110 degrees. I then turn the temp up to 350 and smoke until internal temp hits 165. The reason for turning up the temp is so the skin comes out crispy. I usually do a 20lb bird and cook time is 4 to 5 hours at most. If you don’t feel like brining you can also inject it with some type of injection liquid. I’ve used a Cajun butter injection and it’s really good that way also.

 

[tony]

Have a thermometer and a prob
Will look for an injector

Spatchcock- any learning curve with this? When done do you just put the bird directly on the smoker grill? I see most procedures are laying them on a pan and then in the oven.

Thanks all

 

[SodakJay]

This is what I’ve done the last few years. Tastes great.
https://howtobbqright.com/2020/11/14/classic-thanksgiving-turkey-recipe/