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Reply to "Turkey Reports - 2010"

1. Which Smoker - FEC100
2. Turkey Size - 16.75 lbs.
3. Prep - Turkey was parted out into breast, legs, thighs, gizzard, heart and wing drumstick; all pieces were brushed with butter and then salt and pepper were applied to all sides. Rest of wings were used for stock. Turkey was not brined and was a fresh turkey.
4. Smoker Temp - 275
5. Total Time - four hours
6. Comments - I used hickory pellets in the smoker mixed with some pecan pellets also. This is the first year I have cooked an entire turkey parted out. I watched them cook a parted out turkey on America's Test Kitchen and decided to do it that way this way. To say that I was pleased with the results is an understatement. I had a remote Polder therm in the breast and in a thigh. I set the alarm on the breast at 160 and the thigh at 172. About three hours into the cook, it was taking a little longer than I expected and I bumped the smoker temp up to 300. I kid you not when I say that the temp alarm for both the breast and the thigh went off within a minute of each other. The breast was perfectly cooked, moist and had a nice subtle smoke flavor to it. And since we do not eat the skin on the turkey anyway, I did not put the turkey into a 500* oven after sitting for 20-30 minutes as ATK prescibed. I think if I had, it would have overcooked the turkey. But the turkey came out nicely browned so it was very pretty. BTW, I started the breast meat-side down and then turned it one hour into the cook. At two hours into the cook, I turned all of the other pieces over to evenly brown them. Also, I had all the pieces on a half sheet pan with chopped up carrots, onions, and celery in the pan with a grate between the turkey and the veggies. I also put a cup of chicken stock in the bottom of the sheet pan.

Overall, it was very much a success!
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