Turkey 101 ready for review

I've been waiting for this one and on a first read it covers all the questions I can think of up ahead, and has what look to be some valuable hints I would never have thought to ask, esp. loosening the skin, coloration and the weight limit for smoking.

I think a 101 should be an introduction which delivers the basic solid technique and provides some hints as to the ways it can be enhanced or varied. This 101 appears to do just that and is exactly what I wanted. Thanks again, SmokinOkie!

As it happens my Mom is leaving for South Africa on the 25th so I will be cooking my bird for an early Thanksgiving on the 24th. I'll be sure to report how it goes as I will be following the 101. I expect to brine and rub and use the cheesecloth suggestion.

I Don't think I'll be injecting - I'd like a simpler take on the first go-round so I can get a sort of baseline for gobblers before I get fancy.

Good Job Smokin'!! Congrat's & thanks. You obviously put a lot of time, thought, and hard work into this 101 and I'm sure everyone appreciates it. You "nailed" it.
Bill

You might want to add something in there about preparing Wild Turkey. I like mine with a little ice.

Wild birds differ somewhat from there domestic counterparts, so different cooking methods are required. Wild birds, for one thing, have much less fat. You can smoke a whole wild turkey much as you would a domestic one, but you must baste it more often to keep the meat moist. And wild birds have more flavor; the best recipes are those that do not cover up the taste. Pluck your birds DON'T SKIN!!! This will help keep the moisture in. Use a mild brine, aromatics in the cavity and apple wood.

We take several a year and cook using these guidelines and are always pleased. Your mileage may vary, thus the joy of smoking. It's an art requiring a willingness to experiment.

I had a large Tom try to commit suicide this a.m. in front of my truck but at the last minute jumped back, I'll get him next time!

Very nice! I will be doing a 10 pound turkey, skinned, injected, rubbed, and with fatty bacon draped all over the breast. Apple and cherry wood only and just a little. Smokette set on 250 with probe in thigh. Thanks SmokinOkie!

Great job Smokin',as always.

I especially like the way you kept it simple and straight forward.

Holiday birds probably should be approached that way.

Especially, since most of us don't practice them a lot.

I can't find good times on whole turkeys,since I used to do much larger ones and I now section large birds.

One easy note on injecting is they can take 8-10 ounces of Smokin's Honey Brine,cut the salt in half,go very low salt rub and let set overnight.

This is for the 12-14 lb birds I like to do.

For those folks that didn't have the time for up to 48 hrs in the refigerator.

Here's some notes on low temp breast cooking,which I think does low temp better than whole birds.

I always brine at least 6-8 hrs.

Using 7-8 lb breasts.

Full breast,brined 250�-3hrs.
unbrined-closer to four.

Halves-225�-2.5 hrs
250�-2.0+ hrs.

Dry cured/brined whole breast-225�-comparable to the wet brine.

I didn't open doors,baste,etc. and cook to 160�+/-.

Sorry this won't make much of a chart,but hey-they're turkeys.

Smokin'
One suggestion, you might consider converting the tenderquick measurement from oz. to table/tea spoons in your brine recipe. Maybe I'm the only one, but I find dealing with oz. measurements in a recipe a pain in the turkey.
Richard

RPM
With curing agents measuring by the oz is much more accurate than by tea or tablespoon. Too little won't get the job done and too much is almost as bad.
Jim

Good job, Smokin'! You have done a great job of distilling lots of information into a reader-friendly format. There will be lots of people with big turkey-stuffed smiles on their faces this year because of you!

Thanks much - a welcome addition just in time.

I'll bet you'd be pretty close with 2Tbsp tenderquick.

In "Injection #2", I think there's a word missing after "white" - maybe vinegar?

Thanks a lot Smokin. That is a great resource. If I wasn't planning on deep frying my turkey, I would be following your recipe. Maybe I will give it a try for Christmas or something.

Floyd, Just a quick note for you on frying. If you are brining the bird first be wary of the amount of honey/sugars in your brine. I did one with the standard honey brine listed and the bird came out black as coal(skin). It was great but looked like hell. My thought was the sugars in the brine burnt because of the high temp of the fryer

I have had good luck with coating the bird with a good grade of honey, then putting on a good coating of whatever seasonings you prefer. I stuff the inside with a cut up apple and onion. Season internals liberally. I put the meat thermometer in the breast and cook to 170 degrees, no more, no less. The honey cooks to a golden brown and seals the turkey.The last one I cooked, the wing fell off and the turkey was easily deboned and I sliced it as normal. The 170 degrees is the magic number. I just bought an electronic thermometer and will run the probe into the vent hole and cook a big turkey for Thanksgiving.I have not injected yet as the group I usually cook for are real "traditional" when eating turkey. I will probably take the plunge this time with some type of garlic butter and see what happens.

Where's SmokinOkie?
Turkey 101 says the following:

quote:

Brine for 48 hours (keep it in the fridge to keep it cold).

But.....Brining 101 says to brine for 12 hours.

quote:

Refrigerate for 12 hours.

. This is from S.Okie's Holiday Brine.
The difference is a day and a half, so I thought I'd ask.
Hmmmmmmmmmm.

The newer version of 48 hours seems to work best for me. I'll update brining, but it SHOULD say "minimum" of 12 hours

Man, I can't get anything by you. SEE why it's so hard to publish these things

quote:

Man, I can't get anything by you.

Well, we're just your attentive students. Be gentle with us.

You're more than students Grasshopper! You're all part of this big production and certainly couldn't do it without everyone's feedback, including those via email

Thanks for all the details, new version coming out this weekend.

Smokin'

quote:

I did one with the standard honey brine listed and the bird came out black as coal(skin). It was great but looked like hell.

At least great minds think alike. I did my first fryed bird last year and I had the exact same results, but darn it was good. Thanks for the heads up though.

I am going for the smoked Turkey this Tday.

I am looking for appearance as well as taste. Will the Turkey brown nice golden with the cheese cloth, or should I take it out and brown in the oven?

With a big get together presentation is 9/10th's of the outcome. IE all the pictures and such.

The bacon Idea sounded good too. Just need input on getting a nice golden brown when its done smokin'

quote:

Originally posted by intowin:
[qb]I am looking for appearance as well as taste. Will the Turkey brown nice golden with the cheese cloth, or should I take it out and brown in the oven?

The bacon Idea sounded good too. Just need input on getting a nice golden brown when its done smokin'[/qb]

Okay you be the judge, is this what you want?




That's done with the cheese cloth method I've described.

The bacon works will IF the oven is hot, but what you'll see is a bunch of bacon on top of the bird, not the turkey.

If you're worried, I'd do the cheese cloth for the first two hours, then maybe a version of the honey method mentioned in a post above this. Think of something that will carmelize a little on the outside.

You can do the tried and true method of basting with butter and it will come out looking great.

more photos

Turkey 101 draft photos

Wow that looks great. I will take it.

It looks like that bird was never flipped over. If I chose to flip it do you think I will still get that golden brown? I noticed you mentioned it may be a good Idea to do breast down the last half of the cook.

I'm sure you will, but because I brined this, it was fine without flipping.

I've also updated the 101 with a few photos and fixed a couple of things...still working on this through the Holiday.

Smokin'

Just finished early Thanksgiving dinner. The bird was a 12 pound Shelton Farms fresh turkey, prepared using Turkey 101. I decided not to crisp the bird in the oven after all, since it smelled so good already I was sure I had a winner on my hands.

I rubbed the bird with a little olive oil and CS Chicken rub after brining for 48 hours. Put some onions, a little sage and rosemary, rub and apple chunks into the cavity and into the CS at 250 over 1 oz each apple and pecan.

It took 4 hours and twenty minutes to get to 175 in the thigh and I pulled it out to sit for 1/2 hour. It had a great red color from the rub - I opened it halfway to spritz on some Pam to help crispening and added some more rub at the same time.

The meat was juicy and delicious and an immediate hit. The skin was a bit rubbery but looked good, so that was all that mattered.

The only thing I would have changed would be to add a little more smoke - maybe an oz more of pecan.

I was very happy with not only my first smoked turkey but my first Turkey ever. There is certainly room for improvement (or just playing around for that matter) so I look forward to the next one.

Thanks, SmokinOkie!

Always like to hear a success story.

The whole idea of the 101's is to get you to an initial success. We all know how difficult it is to smoke something you haven't done before.

Your results will certainly encourage others.

Now that you've done that, you can experiment.

And let me know what you do, as I'm always going to be adding to Turkey 101.

Smokin'