Smoked Turkey

[DoctorShavegood]

Thanksgiving time means turkey. I never really cared for baked or fried turkey. But smoked turkey, for me, has always been a winner. For those of you who smoke a turkey for Thanksgiving....give up your recipes, seasonings, etc. I want to know what you do to make it really good.


....plus turkey gravy needs to be explained.

 

[garyg]

I'm joining up as I love smoked whole turkey - used to be a guy would bring one every year up to my old deer camp, never had to go into the fridge, but by bedtime night before before the opener all that was left were bones ... Not sure how you get gravy with a smoked one, but we shall see I guess.

 

[Not Sure]

Low fire for gentle heat. You want to allow time for smoke to penetrate. My choice is hickory, but I may try pecan as I have lots of that available from my two trees.

For gravy, use a small sauce pan just big enough for the neck. Place it and the heart, gizzard, and liver in enough water to cover the meats. Simmer for hours. Some time while others are busy working their casseroles, sit and pick the cooked meat off the neck, slice the heart and gizzard thin. Return meat to the sauce pan with the broth. Set the liver aside, I'll tell you why soon. With all the meat , but liver in the broth, find the corn starch. In a separate container, coffee mug sized, add two table spoons starch. Slowly add cold water until starch is dissolved. Now slowly drizzle liquefied starch into broth / meat while stirring frantically to avoid lumps. I forgot to boil a couple eggs, but they are good sliced and floating on top of finished gravy.

The liver? In a cereal bowl, mash with a fork until crumbled. Add mayo, salt, & pepper. Foie gras spread that's superb on crackers.

 

[Commander Quan]

I use THIS brine, usually doubled and have been happy with it. The last turkey I did, the skin was brushed with bacon fat and then just salt and pepper and cooked at 325-350. It was the best we've ever had.

 

[martym]

In my pit using only mesquite for the smoke. 2, 3, or 4 sticks of butter under the skin on top of the breast and 2 in the cavity. No basting. Just smoke til done.

 

[DoctorShavegood]

Low fire for gentle heat. You want to allow time for smoke to penetrate. My choice is hickory, but I may try pecan as I have lots of that available from my two trees.

For gravy, use a small sauce pan just big enough for the neck. Place it and the heart, gizzard, and liver in enough water to cover the meats. Simmer for hours. Some time while others are busy working their casseroles, sit and pick the cooked meat off the neck, slice the heart and gizzard thin. Return meat to the sauce pan with the broth. Set the liver aside, I'll tell you why soon. With all the meat , but liver in the broth, find the corn starch. In a separate container, coffee mug sized, add two table spoons starch. Slowly add cold water until starch is dissolved. Now slowly drizzle liquefied starch into broth / meat while stirring frantically to avoid lumps. I forgot to boil a couple eggs, but they are good sliced and floating on top of finished gravy.

The liver? In a cereal bowl, mash with a fork until crumbled. Add mayo, salt, & pepper. Foie gras spread that's superb on crackers.

This sounds like a proven gravy recipe. The eggs floating on the top is topping on the cake....thank you.

I use THIS brine, usually doubled and have been happy with it. The last turkey I did, the skin was brushed with bacon fat and then just salt and pepper and cooked at 325-350. It was the best we've ever had.

If I brought a turkey like that to Thanksgiving my Mother-in-law would forgive me for marrying her favorite daughter.

 

[DoctorShavegood]

Marty I was hoping you would show up cause I remembered you smoked a really nice turkey last month with 14 pounds of butter.

 

[martym]

Yessir!
I have smoke 4 so far!
I am lucky because I can smoke 3 at a time in my pit!!

 

[AZBronco]

I brine my turkey in apple juice, combined with half a juiced orange, peppercorns, sea salt, brown sugar, and a sliced, fresh jalapeño (if I'm in the mood for a little spice). After it brines overnight, I put some butter under the skin, and apply a rub (I cheat and use Rudy's BBQ turkey rub rather than making my own). Hickory wood is good, and gives a flavor somewhat reminiscent of bacon, but my favorite wood is pecan or apple. Set the smoker at 225 and plan on 8-12 hours in my Weber Bullet.

I've done turkey without the brine, but the brine keeps the turkey moist and I always get awesome results when I brine.

 

[DoctorShavegood]

I brine my turkey in apple juice, combined with half a juiced orange, peppercorns, sea salt, brown sugar, and a sliced, fresh jalapeño (if I'm in the mood for a little spice). After it brines overnight, I put some butter under the skin, and apply a rub (I cheat and use Rudy's BBQ turkey rub rather than making my own). Hickory wood is good, and gives a flavor somewhat reminiscent of bacon, but my favorite wood is pecan or apple. Set the smoker at 225 and plan on 8-12 hours in my Weber Bullet.

I've done turkey without the brine, but the brine keeps the turkey moist and I always get awesome results when I brine.

I love brines. Does the brine hinder a browning on the skin?

 

[garyg]

I think that the drying period in the fridge is critical to getting a good brown crispy skin on poultry. Like brine 12 hours, rinse and dry with paper towels, then air dry in the fridge at least 12 hours. If I had to shorten one up it would be the brine, not the dry.

That gravy recipe sounds worth trying, I've not had much success with pan drippings on the egg,

 

[DoctorShavegood]

The drying time makes perfect sense for a nice brown skin.

 

[Mischief]

Best brine I've ever tried for turkey.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/bobby-flay/cajun-brined-turkey-two-ways-recipe.html

 

[BubblesTGB]

I don't do this for thanksgiving but I do it during the rest of the year. It's a modified America's Test Kitchen recipe.

I buy a whole breast. Then remove the skin from the breast, keeping it as intact as possible. Cut each side of the breast off of the bone. Put the breasts and the skin in a brine overnight.

The next morning, rub the breasts with butter and herbs (Allright!) and then put them together with the thick parts at opposite ends to form a uniform size. Take the skin and wrap it around the meat. Salt the skin. Tie it with some butchers twine and let it dry for several hours in the refrigerator.

Fire up your smoker and toss it on there for a few hours at 250 until up to temp. Flavorful, smoky meat and crispy skin. Hard to beat.

 

[Not Sure]

I don't recall the inspiration, but I've done this many times.
White mushrooms with stems removed, filled with garlic butter.
Lift skin at neck & other end. Slip shrooms butter side down anywhere they fit.
Any extras, plus stems go in the cavities.
As the butter melts, it bastes. The mushrooms turn black under the skin.
No photos, but If I do one this year...

 

[soccerguy83]

Mmm it's almost that time of year again! I love smoked turkey.

I use this brine recipe. I agree that you have to let it dry in the fridge at a minimum overnight! Then when smoking I will put it in my WSM with no water and let it cruise at 350F, burning Royal Oak lump and a fruit wood, cherry does very nicely. There is no point in doing a turkey or chicken low and slow. The only thing low heat does for you is break down the connective tissue and fat in the meat, there is none in poultry, you are just drying it out at that point. The turkey stays on the cooker until the thigh reads 165F IT, then it is pulled and rested in a foil tent.

This guy was last years.

 

[AZBronco]

I love brines. Does the brine hinder a browning on the skin?

In my experience it doesn't, but that could be because I put butter under the skin. I like a nice brown, crispy skin, too.

 

[Luc]

Ah! During the real thanksgiving (Canadian Thanksgiving ), I smoked a turkey... Well, half of one... My mother in law told me that my 10kg turkey was too much as she was cooking one. So I chopped it in half (it wasn't frozen, good thing).

I wanted to brine it but I ran out of time.

Spices were my usual Salt-pepper-paprika (1:1:1).

I dumped half the Turkey on the BBQ with a water pan under. I used maple coal lumps to cook with apple chunks to smoke. I also had a bit of hickory chips what I dumped left and right (I use chips usually do to a quick smoke).

Total cook time was from 7am until 1pm. Internal temperature was 180F-182F when I pulled it. I wrapped in paper butcher after 2 hours. The turkey was left to rest for a good hour before we started eating.

For the sauce, it wasn't gravy. I made some cranberry sauce. I bought some cranberries from Costco, used 1/3 of the bag with 1 apple, around 1 cup of maple syrup, Juice from 1 orange. I Vitamix-ed the whole thing for 2-3 minutes and voilà.

 

[Mischief]

One way to get crispy skin is to let the bird air dry in the refrigerator UNCOVERED. To draw moisture from the skin. Some times I do it over night. But, at least 6-8 hours.

 

[TimmyBoston]

I've smoked a turkey for the last 5 years or so. Looking forward to smoking one this year.