Results of First Turkey

With the max temp limitation of 250, about the only other thing you can do to try for crisp skin is to air dry it. After brining, place bird uncovered in fridge for several hours or overnight.

Other ideas are to finish in oven or grill, as you mentioned. Or finish in turkey fryer.

Removing the skin will dry it out. You can run it at the hottest temp, and put oil of some sort (butter, EVOO, etc) on the skin to try to crispen it up.

Also, you can add more wood if you need to.

You may think me crazy, but if you want your turkey to take smoke deep into the meat, have crisp skin, AND use an electric Cookshack try this:

Smoke the devil out of that brined bird at a LOW temp between 100 and 140 degrees. Put a good 4oz of wood in the box. You aren't cooking it. You're just laying smoke to a raw bird. Then, after you're satisfied with however many hours of "colder" smoke (like 5hrs), put it back in the fridge overnight. Because you didn't smoke it at a higher temp, all the added moisture from your brining will still be in the bird, and that smoke is going to draw down into the meat while it is sitting in the fridge. Then take the bird out in the fridge and cook at 325 uncovered to a 160-163 breast temp in a conventional oven. The added moisture from the brine will keep it moist while it is cooking uncovered, and you should have excellent smoke penetration from the "cold" smoking that you did on the previous day. The skin will be crisp too.

Don't worry.....the smoker police won't be coming for you just because you finished it in the oven. Afterall, the whole point is getting the best result for you and your guests, right? You're just using the combination of the best tools for the job. Cookshack electrics are excellent for keeping a moist product, but you need higher temps and "drier heat" than what they provide to get crispy skin on birds. Have fun!

Paul

I agree with Paul. I have done this with whole 4-6 lb. chickens to get skin crispy and have smoke flavor.I also have done the chickens in smoker alone and then finished on the grill, but if time is an issue the combo of smoker and convential oven will do the trick!

I'll ditto Paul & dlucks. I sometimes do poultry with a "Cold Smoke" at a low temp with a pan of ice on the baffle. Then finish conventionallly. If you have one available, my preference is to finish on a rotisserie on the gas grill. Great results. The best of both worlds.

quote:

Originally posted by SmokinOkie:
Removing the skin will dry it out. You can run it at the hottest temp, and put oil of some sort (butter, EVOO, etc) on the skin to try to crispen it up.

Wow! I think this is my first time to disagree (may be too strong a word) with Smokin (I am trembling )

I smoked a skinless, non brined turkey breast this weekend for a church potluck and it turned out fantastic - Thanks Zeb! (about 6 posts down)

It was a big 9# breast. Did absolutely nothhing special - pulled off the skin, brushed liberally with olive oil and used simple coarse salt and fresh ground pepper.

Used just an oz of pecan and two lumps of Kingsford. Cooked breast side up at 250˚ until internal temp of 159˚. Pulled, foiled and let rest in a cooler for 1 hour, breast side down.

This was one of the best smoked birds I've ever eaten. Got rave reviews at the potluck too. Gonna be hard to convenience the Mrs to do it any ther way now... She loved it!

Kelly

My guess is that the cloth you used was too thick and prevented smoke penetration. Next time try cheese cloth soaked with evoo or better use butter. The reason for the cloth is to keep the skin from getting too dark in color.

If you follow Paul's suggestion, do not cover it at all.

Just curious about brining...
are you all brining an already brined/solution injected (butterball, etc.) or do you use fresh turkeys to do the brining. I have never brined an already brined or solution injected turkey such as Butterball, seems to me it just adds more salt to the mix. I have never had a problem with dryness, even when I don't brine, but see my past posts on what I do that works for me.
Just curious,
Rob

Thank you everyone for your suggestions. Since I don't have a rotisserie I will more than likely just finish off in the oven to get those crispies that everyone likes.

Magic Dragon, I know from reading Turkey 101 and other posts from this forum that you should not brine a turkey that has already been brined/injected since as you already surmised it will be too salty.

Kelly

Magic Dragon, I know this is a little off topic but I just had to share this. About six months ago I saw the following bumper sticker that appealed to my sense of humor: "Do Not Meddle in the Affairs of a Dragon for You are Crunchy and Good with Ketchup!"

Happy Smokin'....

Kelly

quote:

Originally posted by Wheelz:

quote:

Originally posted by SmokinOkie:
Removing the skin will dry it out. You can run it at the hottest temp, and put oil of some sort (butter, EVOO, etc) on the skin to try to crispen it up.

Wow! I think this is my first time to disagree (may be too strong a word) with Smokin (I am trembling )

I smoked a skinless, non brined turkey brest this weekend for a church potluck and it turned out fantastic - Thanks Zeb! (about 6 posts down)

It was a big 9# breast. Did absolutely nothhing special - pulled off the skin, brushed liberally with olive oil and used simple coarse salt and fresh ground pepper.

Used just an oz of pecan and two lumps of Kingsford. Cooked breast side up at 250˚ until internal temp of 159˚. Pulled, foiled and let rest in a cooler for 1 hour, breast side down.

This was one of the best smoked birds I've ever eaten. Got rave reviews at the potluck too. Gonna be hard to convenience the Mrs to do it any ther way now... She loved it!

Just curious...I am assuming it was not a boneless breast, but how long did it take to get to a temp of 159?

You are correct Smokin. This was not a boneless breast. Took approximately 7 hours to smoke. And much to my surprise it was not the least bit dry. Oops! One thing I failed to mention in my original post is that the breast was 7% enhanced.

Seen a dude on local channel mention somking the bird to 160˚, foiling and holding for an hour breast-side up. Worked out very well

quote:

Originally posted by Wheelz:

Wow! I think this is my first time to disagree (may be too strong a word) with Smokin (I am trembling )

hahaha, too funny. I don't know THAT much about BBQ. Hey no problem disagreeing with me. That's what the forum is all about. Different ways to do different things.

That being said. I'm glad you had success. In MOST cases, a skinless bird will dry out unless you take precautions. You just have to be very careful of what/how you do it.

If it works, that's perfect.
If it doesn't work for anyone...go see Wheelz.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by soccerchick:
Magic Dragon, ...saw the following bumper sticker that appealed to my sense of humor: "Do Not Meddle in the Affairs of a Dragon for You are Crunchy and Good with Ketchup!"

Thanks Kelly, I love it. I hope to use it...just too funny.


BTW, I have smoked bone in whole breasts as well as the boneless breasts (not the loaf/rolls) usually Butterball brand, pre-brined. With both I have had great results leaving the skin on. The boneless breast I did recently was the first one of those I had done, having usually done the bone in whole breasts in the past. Anyway, this little boneless thing kept falling out of the freezer and got my toe once...that was all it took...it was smoke. Suprisingly, it was as good if not better than the whole bone in ones I had previously done in the past for sandwiches. Try it you might like it.

Rob

quote:

Originally posted by SmokinOkie:

quote:

Originally posted by Wheelz:

Wow! I think this is my first time to disagree (may be too strong a word) with Smokin (I am trembling )

hahaha, too funny. I don't know THAT much about BBQ. Hey no problem disagreeing with me.

If it works, that's perfect.
If it doesn't work for anyone...go see Wheelz.

Well, I think you've probably forgotten more than I'll ever know about BBQ & besides, I was just a funnin' with ya

You da man Smokin!!!

PS If it don't work, go see Tom!