Turkey Talk

[DanC78]

thinkjng of smoking mine this year. I have never smoked one, always fried.

Should I inject juices first, what say ye?

 

[Imtotallynottribe]

thinkjng of smoking mine this year. I have never smoked one, always fried.

Should I inject juices first, what say ye?

I'm a huge fan of smoked turkey, it's really the only way to add good flavor to a boring, bland bird. But....if you haven't done it before don't try to do it on Thanksgiving. You should try it out at least a time or two before trying it on a stress filled holiday where expectations center on your cooking.

If I were you, I'd try it out over the course of a year smoking easier to cook and much better tasting birds like pheasant, duck and goose. All three of those have more fat (which makes your temperature and time ranges bigger between undercooked and overcooked) and have great flavor on their own. In fact, I'm a big fan of pheasant as "practice" birds as they're the perfect size for one whole bird for a small family as the main (farmed they're usually 2.5-3 lbs) and their flavor is so good that even screwups are perfectly edible and probably delicious. You'll probably need to buy the pheasants online.

Stick to what you know this year. And if you haven't done any techniques, I have a simple but delicious oven recipe I can share with you. Btw, if you haven't started thawing the turkey yet, take it out of the freezer NOW and leave that out. They take far longer to properly thaw than you think.

 

[seminole97]

 

[BOwens21]

I've smoked mine a couple times. I injected only the first time. Second time I brined and then injected. It came out great. This year my MIL wants me to fry one for her.

 

[DFSNOLE]

Brining is your friend. If you go this route, put in the brine water whatever spices to plan to use on the bird when smoking it. Also, you don't need to go the low and slow method when smoking poultry. Basically, you are roasting it inside the smoker instead of the oven.
If you're a dark meat fan, remember that the leg quarters will come to temp faster than the breast meat. Put a digital thermometer in thigh and breast. When the thigh gets up to about 155, put foil on the whole leg quarter to slow down the cooking. Pull the bird when everything is 165 degrees.

 

[SeaPA]

I've never smoked a whole turkey, but have done breasts quite often; really need to either brine or inject, because white meat turkey is too dry otherwise.
Done properly, the smoked breasts are one of my favorite things to come out of the smoker; they take on flavor very well.

 

[BelemNole]

spatchcock it

 

[JustSayNole]

Here, watch this. Brine and inject.



Then focus on the conversation.

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/a...-family-and-saving-black-friday-deals/575791/

 

[DFSNOLE]

spatchcock it

This is quality advice if the turkey will fit on your smoker this way. It's how I do all of my whole chickens.

Still brine/inject.

 

[FreeFlyNole]

I wet brine mine, spatchcock it and cook breast side down, not much for dinner table presentation, but it's the juiciest turkey you can cook.

 

[NoleLizards]

**WARNING: R-rated language**

 

[BelemNole]

I wet brine mine, spatchcock it and cook breast side down, not much for dinner table presentation, but it's the juiciest turkey you can cook.

Where do you all find turkeys that aren't already "enhanced" or do you brine and inject your butterballs, etc?

 

[SoddyNole]

Made a frozen herb butter log and cut into coin shapes and inserted the butter between the skin and meat. Injected the bird with homemade sauce and put in smoker at 205 for 45 minutes followed by increasing the heat to 300 to finish.

I like DFS foil the leg comment above and will most likely incorporate that step too when I get to that point..

 

[ericram]

Spatchcock it.
Brined it for 2 days.
Dried in fridge for 1 day with dry rub.

Then on the cooker.

 

[TexSkills]

I smoked 2 for our office Thanksgiving party. I've been smoking turkeys for several years and almost always brine them.

Technically you don't need to brine a frozen turkey since it's already got a saline type solution in it but you can get some added flavor in the bird with herbs added to your brine.

 

[DanC78]

Turkey update.

Brined turkey 12 hours, then injected it, and then smoked.

It was the best turkey we’ve ever had, I nailed it!

Thanks LR peeps, you made me look good!

 

[ericram]

Sorry I did not take a picture of the finished product turkey. It was as everyone stated, the best turkey they ever had. Used apple wood to smoke and added apple juice to the drip pan.