Our hostess isn’t as fond of smoked poultry as I am. So naturally, with her being absent for a while, I figured I’d treat myself.
The following is my smoked turkey procedure.
tldr;
Yum.
The rest is below the fold.
Turkey Smoke
Fully thawed turkey in the fridge. 15 lbs. frozen weight,
I brined the turkey in 8 litres of water with 2 cups of coarse salt for about 12 hours in the fridge.
Rinse well with cold water inside and out. Let air dry for about 15 minutes. Pat dry with a cloth towel.
Carefully separate the skin from the meat. Start from the cavity and work a couple of fingers in, once it starts separating it becomes easier.
Make a standard rub:
I used 1 part onion powder, 1 part garlic powder, 1 part paprika, 0.5 part salt, 0.5 pepper, 0.25 part sage, 0.25 part savoury.
Sprinkle a few teaspoons of rub in the cavity, add oil to the remaining rub to a not too thin, spreadable, consistency. Work the rub on the meat under the skin, again being careful not to break the skin too badly. Spread on the breast, legs and back of the turkey.
Pull the skin up over any exposed meat and secure with picks. Tie up the legs, tuck in the wings.
Heat up the smoker to 225F, toss in some apple wood for the smoke and put the turkey in on the rack, I didn’t bother with an extra tray to catch drips, so I’m a little worried that I may get a tonne of grease all over, but we’ll see if that’s good or bad.
Propane Masterbuild Pro, two probe thermometers on the left (on the BBQ rack) 1 for air temp and 1 for the meat.
I put my air temp thermometer above the turkey about an inch and the meat thermometer in the breast. This means that the temperature at the bottom of the turkey is going to be warmer than the thermometer location, that’s okay. Lots of people recommend smoking turkey much higher, up to 325F. At that temperature it cooks faster, keeps some of the moisture and you get really crispy skin. I’m a ‘low and slow’ guy though so I’m not going to change that as long as I get out of 40-140F in less than four hours. (The danger zone for bacteria.)
I figure about 6-8 hours, started @ 11:00 and aim to pull it around 19:00 if not before. I’ll let it rest a good hour after it gets to 175F in the breast. I don’t really care about the wing-tips, so I’m not going to foil them.
I’m going to apply smoke three times, once every hour for the first three hours. I’ll be using dry apple wood chips.
Turkey at half-hour mark. 80F internal.
At the two hour mark the grease splattering started getting more and more frequent. I didn’t want a flare up, so I foil-lined a pyrex baking pan with plenty of overhang. I worked it into the smoker below the turkey and lifted the edges up to channel the drippings into the pan.
Two Hour Mark, Internal Temp 118F
Four Hour mark, internal temp. 153F
The 150-160F range is well known in smoking circles for ‘The Stall’. This is when moisture in the meat starts evaporating. The process of evaporation cools the meat and causes the internal temperature to remain static, drop, or raise very slowly over a panic inducing time. The turkey hit the stall right after the fourth hour and only went up to 157F at hour 5. As an aside, I did 2-11lb pork butts for a family gathering and the stall lasted about two hours.
Hour 6 – 162F internal temperature.
Pulled it at hour 8 at 175F, wrapped in aluminum foil and let it rest for an hour.
Going into the rest
Plate O’ Turkey, Smoked Stuffed Potatoes
As you can see from the picture of the breast meat, there is a nice 1/4″ smoke ring on the outside (red colour) of the meat. It was quite smokey, a little more than I wanted. The skin was rubbery so I just peeled that off. It was very moist in the dark meat. The breast while more moist than a roasted turkey was still dry to me. The gravy I made from the collected juices was excellent.
I think in the future I’ll do whole turkeys traditionally. While smoking was good, it just wasn’t as satisfying.
I can’t wait to see what soup will taste like.
Lance,
Check out Meathead’s recipe at amazingribs.com.
If you don’t own a smoker, you can always try “trash can” turkey — almost as fast as deep frying it. http://thetrashcanturkey.com/ uses a wood post but I saw a guy use “re-bar” and wire
I smoke food all the time using a $40 Canadian Tire bbq. Use good charcoal and wait until it’s almost white. Then add a couple of large pieces of cherry or apple wood. Don’t bother with chips. Choke off most of the air to the fire. Cook the food for a couple hours it will be delicious.
Use some dry rub to take it to the next level if you want.
I just indirect grill mine. A 12-14 lb. bird takes about 2 to 2.5 hours. And with butter basting a couple of times, the skin is fairly crisp. The whole thing is moist and tasty.
Anything like this realy gets those PETA idiots bothred like recently when a judge in California overturned the states stupid ban on foie gras as usial PETA idiots acted like idiots
Well Lance, that looks really good. I bet it tasted great. Most likely took all day to do and watch this?
Looks fabulous Lance. Thanks for posting.
My fave non smoke cooker is this:
http://www.charbroil.com/the-big-easy-oil-less-turkey-fryer
Not sure why they call it a fryer. Just a uniquely designed IR BBQ. Turkey is good, but our faves have been big beef and pork roasts.
Best part of these cookers is that they are “no watch” … you do not have to sit them. Its design prevents flareups…put on a roast and go fishing for 3 hours. Yummy stuff.
Thanks again! Yum!
CAS
Rotisserie turkey is the way to go…
Inside the big Weber Kettle, on a spit, with two banks of charcoal, and running with the vents wide open. Your 15-lb bird will be done in a little over two hours, and be crispy on the outside with moist, tender meat throughout. And no basting required.
And don’t take it up to 175F… that is super-drying overkill. The meat is quite safe to eat once the internal temperature reaches 140F (just make sure you measure in the right places). The 175F guidelines comes from the uber-safe USDA, who want to save us from undercooked stuffing.
Lance, bird looks amazing! Try this recipe some time. It gives the moistest, best looking and most flavourful turkey in a minimal amount of time.
Rub the turkey with salt and pepper and leave uncovered in the fridge overnight. The turkey will look a little red and unsightly in the morning, but it’s part of the process. In a shallow roasting pan, place chopped celery, onion, and carrot with rosemary, thyme, and sage along with a couple of cups of chicken stock. Brush the entire bird with melted butter and lay it breast side down in the roasting pan.
Set up your grill for indirect cooking at between 375 and 400. Place moist wood chips (I like mesquite or hickory) in the smoker box. After an hour of cooking, turn the bird onto its back and replenish the smoker box with more wood chips and continue cooking until the thigh meat hits 170. This will take another hour-and-a-half. Remove the turkey and let it rest. Use the remaining liquid to make gravy. This turkey will look like it came right out of a an add for Thanksgiving and taste amazing.
re: wood chips…
Having an apple or crabapple tree is sure helpful. I can’t help people that buy “chips” from stores, unless they actually live in a city condo.
Oh yes…
and your bird, looks very very good.
*on my way! (joking)
Looks delish-ious! I don’t own a smoker, but you’ve convinced me I should get one.
Never thought of cooking in them, just as a smoker for game sausages.
Ya learn something new every day, at SDA.
You forgot to add: Garnish with Lipidor and Nitro! But what a glorious way to go!
Lance: Does the 12 hour soak allow the brine to penetrate all the way through? I usually do 24 hours.
I bought a smoker at Cabela’s last year and love it. My favorite so far is smoked chicken with a Cajun rub.
Hey cjunk.
The turkey was plenty moist enough for me outside of the breast meat. I’ll try a longer soak next time, and also a rest period after in the fridge.
Totally agree w/ you about chicken. Pieces in particular are really good in the smoker.
I brine a turkey for about 24 hours with equal parts coarse salt and coarse sugar, plus seasonings and an appropriate libation. Then it gets deep-fried in canola oil.
I’ve done excellent goose an duck on a larg BBQ, without spit. It took much attention to manually turn it, but with the proper prep and attention, all the fat went and it just melted deliciously in the mouth. I do recommend a rotisserie, though.
I tried to read the rest below the fold but my laptop broke!
Birds aren’t built for smoking … and if it’s only taking the same time as in the oven … you’re not smoking it … just cooking with smoke … with rubber skin.
Beef, pork, and especially fish, are the best.
Try smoking bologna … it will be better than than the turkey.