Smoked Turkey

I asked SWMBO if she was going to bake a turkey for Thanksgiving a few weeks ago and she said “Hell no. Too much work!” (to be fair, we have 3 little kids so free time is in short supply). After hearing from a few of her family members, she asked if I would be willing to smoke one instead (somehow this is less work?? for her I guess it is) and I of course jumped at the opportunity to fire up the Bradley.

However, I have never smoked one and with this being for Thanksgiving, I’m hoping to not screw it up too bad. Any words of wisdom or advice from our meat smoking contingent?

Super easy- I much prefer to cut big birds in half though. Much easier to handle and less extremes on smaller vs bigger parts on when they are done. I use a 5 gallon bucket liner and pour in the same brine I use for any fish/fowl. Helps it stay MOIST. The only problem is that when people have it vs regular turkey you won’t get away without making one like that year after year. It’s usually stripped clean and the non smoked one will be left overs all week.

I am by no means an expert but brining for at least 24 hrs should keep the bird juicey, other than hit the appropriate internal temp and don’t go over. I would assume it would be a lot like doing a chicken or pheasant.

Good long brine. Smoke with apple wood chips low and slow until the little plastic thermometer popped up. Actually one of the easier meats I have smoked.

-J.

I agree with Alagnak, opening that bird up is the way to go. I spatchcock all of my poultry, run the cooker at 350 degrees and it sure makes things much simpler.

Alagnak Pete wrote:

Super easy- I much prefer to cut big birds in half though. Much easier to handle and less extremes on smaller vs bigger parts on when they are done. I use a 5 gallon bucket liner and pour in the same brine I use for any fish/fowl. Helps it stay MOIST. The only problem is that when people have it vs regular turkey you won’t get away without making one like that year after year. It’s usually stripped clean and the non smoked one will be left overs all week.

Ryan Speers wrote:

I agree with Alagnak, opening that bird up is the way to go. I spatchcock all of my poultry, run the cooker at 350 degrees and it sure makes things much simpler.

x2 on these – brine for 24 hours, spatchcock and smoke hot at 300+ degrees with milder wood like maple, alder, ash, or any fruit. Best part about doing this is you can take the backbone plus the neck and giblets and make a stock out of them for gravy.

Jon Jordan wrote:

Good long brine. Smoke with apple wood chips low and slow until the little plastic thermometer popped up. Actually one of the easier meats I have smoked.

-J.

I’ve done a number of them, they always turn out great, and basically follow this process. I didn’t brine mine, but would inject them with a butter/apple cider concoction before going on, you can also use this to baste it throughout but not necessary imo. Use applewood. If you get one without the imbedded thermometer, make sure it gets to 160-165 internal temp at the coldest point (breast or hip/thigh area) before pulling it, and let it rest covered in tinfoil for a good 20-30 minutes. I did a bunch of research, but want to say I smoked it for 30/minutes a pound at 225-250. So 7-8 hours for a 14-15 pound turkey.

I do one every few years, we have a large group so i usually smoke one and fry one, smoked is always gone first. I did a 14lb last year and it was around 30/min per lb. Smoked whole.

I brine mine using the Slaughterhouse Poultry Brine recipe, (do a google search, from another forum). I haven’t tried injecting yet.

Another thing I like do do is toss it under the broiler in the oven to crisp up the skin for a bit before resting.

Got curious and learned I’m probably not right about the smoker temps, looks like 250-275 is a better range. Here’s a great FAQ plus recipe if anyone is so inclined…

http://www.seriouseats.com/2015/11/the-food-lab-step-by-step-guide-smoking-turkey.html

Save the neck for me Clark!

Brine an hour per pound. Smoke at 250 with the understanding that the skin will be rubber. Very difficult to save poultry skin when smoking.

zooks wrote:

Got curious and learned I’m probably not right about the smoker temps, looks like 250-275 is a better range. Here’s a great FAQ plus recipe if anyone is so inclined…

http://www.seriouseats.com/2015/11/the-food-lab-step-by-step-guide-smoking-turkey.html

Thanks for the info Zooks and all the rest that contributed! I plan on using this method and seeing how it goes. Due to my smoker size, I’m going to spatchcock the birds, but then actually cut them down the middle into 2 halves. From the included article, this should help get them to a more uniform temperature which I need since I can only get my smoker to 225 on a cold day. It sounds like using baking soda in the dry rub helps to crisp the skin up. Hopefully I remember to take a few pics to post here!

How did the baking soda dry rub work out?