Smoked turkey

[Abyr]

Thanks for the positive comments guys.

[wild]

+1 on brining the bird. Just make sure the bird wasn't already "enhanced". This will make the bird too salty.
I smoked 2 last Saturday for our family Thanksgiving feast. (Moved ahead cuz the eldest shipped out to the NAVY Monday am.)
I'll smoke one more for this coming Saturday for all those that didn't make the first one.
I use a Creole rub and a butter & jalapeno injection.
Don't forget, the smoked drippings make a great gravy.

[mrtr33]

So, I think I'm going to smoke a turkey this year. I've done some independent reading on this, and re-read this thread, but am confused on something: the reading I've done says that a 8 - 12 lbs. turkey needs to smoke for 10 hours. Reading Abyr's post, though, this can't be right.

We're having Thanksgiving at my parents house - who are not adventurous eaters at all. We're smoking the bird on Friday sometime. I'll try to take pictures and post them up here.

I understand that I should brine the bird - any other tips?

[wild]

I smoked a bird up last Saturday while brewing a Chipotley Smoked Porter and smoking an MX2 Beli.
Like stated before, brine the bird if it's not enhanced. My electric water smoker will bring a 13# bird to 165°F in 4 hours.

[buzz]

I thought this sounded good - Here is a turkey recipe that also includes the use of popcorn as a stuffing ingredient - imagine that. When I found this recipe, I thought it was perfect for people like me, who just are not sure how to tell when turkey is thoroughly cooked, but not dried out. Give this a try:

8 - 15 lb. turkey

1 cup melted butter

1 cup stuffing (Pepperidge Farm is Good)

1 cup un-popped popcorn (ORVILLE REDENBACHER'S LOW FAT IS BEST)

Salt/pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brush turkey well with melted butter, salt, and pepper. Fill cavity with stuffing and popcorn. Place in baking pan making sure the neck end is toward the front of the oven, not the back. After about 4 hours listen for the popping sounds. When the turkey's ass blows the oven door open and the bird flies across the room, it's done.

-Buzz

[mrtr33]

So, I smoked a 9 lbs. turkey on Friday on one of those Brinkmann vertical charcoal grill/smokers.

The brine:
2 gallons of water
2 cups of canning salt
1/3 cup of brown sugar
1/4 cup of Worcestershire Sauce
1 tbsp ground black pepper
3 tbsp minced garlic

Sat in the brine for 24 hours.

The rub:
1 cup brown sugar
zest of 2 oranges
1/2 cup of olive oil

Rubbed thoroughly inside and out of the turkey.

I put the bird on about 9:15 AM Friday morning. Had the coals going well, and used hickory smoking chips. I used normal Kingsford briquettes (not instant-light). Kept an eye on it at first every 30 minutes or so, then pushed it back to 45 minutes to an hour. I added smoking chips every hour or so. One bad thing was that I needed to keep stirring up the coals every hour or so, to keep up temperature and make sure the burn was going smoothly. I was originally operating under the impression that at a 230-240 temperature, I should count on about 30 minutes per pound.

At 1:15, I lifted the lid to see how the water pan was doing. I had put in about 1/2 lbs. of black eyed peas in the water pan based on a co-workers suggestion. At this 4 hour mark, there was still plenty of water left in the pan.

At 3:15, I used the meat thermometer in the thickest part of the bird. Not quite done. The original coals were about done, so I added some more coals, smoking chips, and put the lid on while taking my daughter to go see Santa.

We got back at 5:15. I figured come hell or high water, it was going to get dark, and I was going to take the bird off. The water pan had dried up, burning some beans on the bottom, but there were still some salvageable.

The turkey was delicious. Great hickory flavor, though next time I'm thinking I'll use some kind of fruit wood as well (apple, cherry). My guess is that I probably cooked it an hour too long. I might do another one for Christmas, I don't know yet.

Thanks for reading.

[mrtr33]

We were out of town this past Thanksgiving. Part of the fun of Thanksgiving (in my opinion) is the leftovers. So, to re-create this as much as possible, we're doing Thanksgiving over this Saturday, and I'll be smoking a bird.

I still just have an upright Brinkman charcoal grill/smoker combo. I've smoked a few other things since my last post in this thread, but still am a newb. This year brings new challenges as I'm in a much cooler, dryer climate than I was last year. I'm planning on starting earlier (between 6-7 AM), and with fewer charcoals for a slower smoking experience. Besides, it will give me more time to sit around and smoke cigars this way. I'm also using apple wood chips, not brining, and using a dry rub mixture of minced garlic, minced apples, seasoned salt and minced sage.

My father-in-law turned me on to slow smoking. When I think of 'slow smoking', I think of 16-20 hours. This method makes it more like 8 - 10 hours. It takes more work, more attention, but it will be fun to try.

If I think about it, I'll take and post some pics next week.