Smoking a Turkey

Has anyone noticed not as many turkeys in the store this year. Normally we are seeing them everywhere by now but it has been limited sightings so far.

 

Not a fan of smoked turkey.

I might use the weber kettle that I have not used since I got the bge a few years back to roast a bird this year tho.

 

Butter with I think it was garlic rosemary thyme can’t remember the last one but did the butter under the skin .

I flipped mine upside down halfway thru the cook to get the juices to run back down.

Didn’t dry out my kids tore it up. I’ve smoked many of things of the last 10 years turkey was easy just use the probes.

 

Just ordered a fresh turkey from our local butcher, pretty stoked. We've been smoking/bbq birds for well over 30 years.

 

Try replacing half the water in your brine with butter milk. The salt in the brine will carry the fat from the butter milk into the bird

 

Usually we get ours a week before Turkeyday but I heard a lot of people were going after the smaller birds so we picked up our Butterball 12lbs yesterday.

 

Noce! Can't wait to try this..does anyone use a Bluetooth thermometer? If so what do yall recommend?

 

NIce! Picked up our BB yesterday, I think Ill just put some butter under the skin and maybe some apple slices that others are talking about and toss it in the smoker.

 

Not cheap but a couple guys on Tacoma World like this one.

https://www.thermoworks.com/Signals

EDIT: This one was also mentioned:

https://store-us.meater.com/

 

When I bbq birds, I use a mayo base for my skin rub. My wife read in her fancy America's Test Kitchen books about it heard later and started doing it too.

It's the only time I use mayo, otherwise I hate it

 

Nice. Do you spatchcock before or after brining?

 

Chili powder+lime zest+Mayo+boneless chicken thighs, grill= delicious.

 

I use a thermoworks thermopen quick read thermometer for spot checking - it reads pretty much instantly. My grill also has a temp probe so I can plug into that and see the food temp without opening the lid. With WiFi controller, I can also see food temp on my phone at any time.

 

I typically smoke a fresh, 23-24lb bird. Soak in a brine for 24-36hrs, sometimes rub with spices and stuff the cavity with herbs. Use fruitwood pellets and the smoker set to 250 at the grill. About 20min/lb and pull the bird when the breast hits 155-157. Let rest for 30-45m to finish cooking and enjoy.

I cook the bird in a roast rack sitting in an aluminum pan to catch the drippings. That way air/heat/smoke can still circulate around the bird.

I’ve heard the birds will be smaller this year. Farmers are slaughtering them earlier since people won’t be having large gatherings. I hope to find two 23lb+ birds as we are delivering smoked turkey to all our regular guests and some other friends.

 

Just follow Malcolm Reed (how to bbq right) on youtube and you can't go wrong!

 

This. One thing malcolm will tell you that hasn't been brought up yet is the temp. You can smoke a Turkey at 275-300 degrees. It takes less time and wont dry out the bird as much as a lower temp like 225. I've done it the last 2 years. Never had to foil.

 

I've smoked probably 6 or more turkeys over the last few years. (It doesn't have to be Thanksgiving for me to smoke a turkey) I follow his directions and their perfect every time! (Brine, inject, season, 275, spray with Pam, cover when I see the desired color, 175 in thigh, 165 breast)

 

One more thing I'd like to add. This spring I sold my stick burner and bought a pellet smoker. I missed the traditional smoke flavor but loved the ease of use. I experimented and found if I use charcoal flavored pellets and use an Amazn smoke tube filled with REAL WOOD CHIPS. ( I have 2 so I can change them out ) i got the traditional smoke flavor I was missing!

 

I do it after brining, but the whole bird should be under the brine mixture so it really makes no difference before or after really.

 

Alton brown. Turkey brine. Excellent.
https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/good-eats-roast-turkey-recipe-1950271

 

I own a cookshack m25 smoker. Next selfish purchase will be green mountain. Awesome. I believe. Superior to trager

 

I've had good luck with mine - owned it now for over 10 years. I upgraded the original controller to WiFi, and have replaced some of the internals (heat shield and primary tray) because the original ones were carbon steel and eventually started to wear. I am now having an issue where the internal support by the grease drain has started to rust/rot out though...but that's still about 6 more years of use than I got out of my three prior gas grills.

Their WiFi app is a bit lame, but it does work and gets me through.

My brother bought his a couple years after mine and he's not had quite as good of luck with the electronics in his. He doesn't have the WiFi controller, but has had to replace his controller twice, auger motor once, and I think the fire box fan once. As far as I know, they have been good about not charging him much for any of those replacements.

At the end of the day, pretty much all of them are made in China from lightweight steel and nothing like the original Traeger quality was when they were first invented and built down in Mt. Angel, OR. I keep kicking around moving up to a MAK Grill 2-star

 

MAKs are good stuff. Think I’m getting a Yoder when my GMG dies. That’s a double But I digress...

I can confirm the birds are smaller this year. Just ran my booger-hooks over nearly every bird at Costco. Got the only 21 pounder and one if a few 20.5lb birds. Most were 18, with quite a few closer to 13.

 

Never heard of the Yoder, I will have to investigate. I know MAK is a pretty short drive for me...had hoped some day to go down to their shop and maybe get a discount.

LOL - of course, our fab shop BUILT a fully 316L stainless steel pellet grill for our Senior VP when he retired after 55 years with the company. Fully polished, the hopper was made of pipe reducers, and the lid was a split from a piece of pipe. The front shelf was a beautifully finished live-edge slab of spalted maple. It was truly a work of art - they figured the total cost (including our shop labor and materials) was close to $15k.

 

Guys,
I followed everyone's advice and tweaked it a little to make it my own and my Thanksgiving turkey was a success! People couldn't get enough of it and there was barely any leftovers. I followed the butter and herb recipe that @RainMan_PNW shared and it was awesome. Extremely juicy, the legs and wings didn't really dry out and tons of flavor. I'm writing down my recipe that I personally did so I can use it years to come. Thank you everyone!

 

Glad it turned out!

 

Where's the pics?????

 

How could I forget! The pics don’t do it’s justice as I normally am good with the process. This time I just was slacking on the picture side of things. Oh and one of the tundra because, tundra lol

 

What flavor of wood/pellets are you all using? I was thinking about Hickory?

 

I'll mix hickory and cherry pellets a lot.