Smoking a Turkey

[tjfslaughter]

Long story but one of my cousins passed away a couple months ago and one of the things he did at Thanksgiving was smoke a Turkey.  His young daughters (10 and 14) asked me to make them a smoked Turkey this Saturday.  I have smoked a lot of different meats and can run a smoker.  I am sure it won't be as good as their fathers but I got to take a shot at it.  Any pointers here on specific brine's, recipes, wood choice, etc?  I have done chickens just not sure if it the same.  In addition I will be selling his smoker in the spring, it is a auto feed trager with lots of accessories.  

[Buck154]

I would do it the same as you have done chickens if they came out good. 

[Hitemnasty]

https://amazingribs.com/tested-recipes/turkey-recipes/bbq-and-grilled-turkey-recipe-ultimate-turkey-easily-adapted-cooking

The info and recipes on this site never let me down! Never done whole turkey but most of what I’ve learned was learned here and has treated my guests and I well. 250 reviews and 5 stars from BBQists is a good start I’d say. 

[SPEARFISH]

Never smoked a whole one, but I've done breasts.  I brined mine gallon water, 1/2 cup kosher salt, garlic cloves and pepper.  Smoked at 225-250 until 165.  I used hickory, as I do for everything.  Anything smoked is good.

[DV1]

Lots of ways to go with this, some good ideas already here.

I don't do whole turkeys any longer, usually breast them out and truss them, and I no longer brine turkeys, I inject them now. Tony C's Cajun butter injected into the breasts always seemed to make a better bird than brining for me. You can get a bottle of that, with an injector taped to the side, in most grocery stores. If you want, you can also make your own. Just melt some butter, add cajun seasonings, maybe some apple cider vinegar and/or hot sauce, I use Franks Red Hot or Texas Pete.

For a rub, you can get fancy, or keep it simple. I use equal parts salt and pepper, then add some cayenne for a little heat, and after the first hour, paint the breast with honey or maple syrup. Paint it again about the last 30 minutes of the cook. 225 to 230 for a few hours usually does it. Just make sure you get to an IT of 165. 

 Also, the quality of the bird can make a huge difference. I don't know what Butter Ball does to their birds, but they are much better than any other turkey I've tried, when roasting. If you are injecting, might not matter as much so you can buy a cheaper one.

Hickory is a good wood choice for just about everything but sometimes imparts a strong smoke flavor. I use cherry or apple with poultry a lot and it comes out great, they are a lighter smoke.

Lots of ways to go with it, have fun.

Edited January 4, 2019 by DV1

[gobblergetter]

I always did wild turkey on a charcoal smoker with Apple wood, and marinated overnight in ginger ale .

I would rub salt and pepper before smoking.

Lately I've been cutting it into nuggets and soaking over night in Stubbs citrus chicken marinade and then wrapping in 1/3 strip of bacon, pinned with a tooth pick and smoked till bacon is cooked on a traeger with Apple pellets...Yum

For Thanksgiving I injected Tony's Creole butter mix into the whole bird and cooked on the traeger till the button popped.

I recommend Apple pellets for smokeing turkey on a traeger.

Good luck

[KBfishing]

That would need one massive rolling paper and a blow torch to keep it going!

[gobblergetter]

Use a bong

[DDS]

I use Amzingribs.com as my starting point. Iv smoked 2 turkeys and 5 chickens this way and every-one loves them.

The very first thing I do to cook a turkey or chicken, in oven, smoker, or grill is I splatchcock it, or cut in half if it wont fit in your smoker. It helps cook the birds evenly and keeps the from drying out as fast. 

First I have become a true believer in dry brining all meats. Amazing ribs has a great article about bringing and this way is faster, less salt and in my opinion holds the smoke better then wet brines. So I start my turkey by dry brining. At the same time of applying salt for the dry brine I add my rub if im using one. Personally I like it both ways, with and without rub. The rub that I like if I do one is the Simon and Garfunkel spice rub. 

Set up your smoker as you normally would, and preheat to the highest temperature. Low and slow for poultry doesn't work it dries them out. My smoker can only reach 250 degrees so thats what I smoke at for poultry. 

I add 6 oz of apple wood and one small chunk of hickory. 

In the water dish I use apple cider vinegar (pre heated, boiled, inside then added to the smoker).

For a 18 lb bird expect it to take about 4-5 hours @ 250 degrees (or 16 min per pound) to get the thickest breast meat to 160 degrees. 

Below is my Thanksgiving day turkey smoking I did this past year with two turkeys at 18 lbs each. I keep notes on all my smoking and times. 

7:10 am: turkeys taken out of fridge to come to room temp.

7:30 am: smoker started, preheating. 

8:00am: smoker temp 250 degrees

8:05 am: both turkeys added to smoker 

1:00 pm Both turkeys finished and removed from smoker (acutely finished at 12pm but we where not eating dinner until 3pm and I was trying to drag it out. I removed the birds at 1pm and covered tightly with foil and put into the oven on warm to keep them from drying out) 

Edited January 4, 2019 by DDS

[tjfslaughter]

Ended up doing a brine and rub. Been in smoker 1 hr so far. Right at 230f


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[Hunter115522]

Looks great so far!

[Kayak Ken]

Looks better then mine from last Thanksgiving.

[Hunter115522]

1 hour ago, kenny10177 said:

Looks better then mine from last Thanksgiving.

 

Did you end up making a quick trip to Boston Market Ken?? LOL

[tjfslaughter]

Still have a couple more hours. Lowering the temp and will baste more.


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[TouchofGrey]

Looks great! Check the temp.... 165 at the thigh.  Your cousin would be PROUD.... Kudos to you.