Turkey Report - 2011

1) Smoker SM020
2) 12.31lb Sams Club 8% enhanced
3) Brined in Smokin's Holiday brine with a couple changes. Decided to clean out the fridge, so I threw in the little bit of Apple Cider & Chicken stock that I had left, also added a slice of crystallized ginger. 47 hrs brining and 12 hrs drying in the fridge. Compound butter under the skin, 1/4 cup Dr. BBQ's rub & 1/4 cup butter. Stuffed cavity with aromatics, apple, onion, celery, carrot, garlic.
4) Temp 250, cranked up to 300 the last 45 minutes to crisp the skin. 3oz of Cherry and 1oz of Pecan.
5) Time 3:45 minutes
6) Never did get up to 300 so the skin was still a little rubbery. But moist & juicy.

Just before I put the cheesecloth on.



Finished product, just the right color.

Wow! this bird cooked much faster than I was thinking! It's already ready to be finished off on the grill to crisp up the skin. I've double-checked with an insta-read probe as I was doubting the CS probe. It's not going to be served until 4, I'm wondering if I should turn down the CS to 150 and hold it there for a couple hours before putting it on the grill? Or should I put it on the grill now, finish it, and then FTC it?

Oh, here's my report which I'll edit later:

1: SM025
2. 13.85 #
3. Brine in Okie's Holiday brine for 24 hrs, injected with butter, wine, honey and cinnamon mix, rubbed with basic poultry rub (garlic, sage, thyme, salt, white pepper, onion powder), into the smoker at 9:30 AM expecting about a 5-6 hour smoke. 3 pz. of apple chips.
4. 260
5. 3.5 hrs and counting - temps up to 150 already so it's ready to go on the grill to be finished.
6. 260 was a little high, I guess. I decided to finish it immediately and then foil it. Here are the pics.
This was probably the best turkey I've ever cooked and the raves from my family and friends confirmed it. I think it was the injection that pushed it over the top.

Second pic - I didn't realize only one attachment per post was allowed

1:FEC100

2:13lb 8% enhanced Walley World turkey

3: Smokin's Holiday Brine for 50hrs, air dried at 32* overnight...Also on the brine, I used 2/3 cup non-iodized table salt.

McCormick Chicken Rub with some sugar in the raw, Paprika, and white pepper made into a paste with soft butter. The paste was put under the skin and tooth picked back down.

Cheese cloth soaked with 1 1/2 sticks of butter, put on at the start and taken off with 1 hr left at which time I sprayed with olive oil(not the usual butter Pam)

4:225*,275*,and 325* to finish

5: 3hrs and 20 minutes to 160* in breast, double checked with therma pen.

6: Some STUPID cook knocked the power cord out of the extension cord,OOPS, and the power was off for 15 minutes...oh well!

Got great reviews from the guests and was very moist!!!

1: Which smoker: FEC 100 with BBQ delight apple pellets
2. Turkey Size: 11.8 LB Honey Suckle White Young turkey
3. Preps: Non brine (no time). Rubbed the thawed bird with 1/4 c of mayo mixed with 5TBS of Fast Eddy's All Purpose Seasoning inside and outside. Put a sliced orange in the cavity.
4. Smoker temp: 180 for an hour. 250 for two hours. Breast was 155 (and thigh only 125). Put a ziplock bag full of ice on the breast until breast temp dropped to 105. Put bird on bottom rack, put thermoter in thigh and cranked heat to 300. Pulled turkey when thigh was 164.
5. Total Time: 4.5 hours
6. Comments: Very juicy and very flavorful. Drumbsticks had a smoke ring all the way thru: they looked like ham! picture is attached. a lovely golden brown, but pic is a little blury.

1: Which smoker: Amerique
2. Turkey Size: 13.68 lbs. Organic, free-range from Sunflower Market. Vegan daughter still did not try a bite.
3. Preps: Brined for 24 hours using Smokin's Turkey 101 recipe. Prepared rub using Smokin's Turkey 101 recipe. Used 1 stick of butter and mixed rub into butter, then rubbed it in under the skin. Added more rub on top of the skin. Stuffed cavity with a slices of apples and oranges. Covered with cheesecloth soaked in 2 sticks of butter after 2 hours.
4. Smoker temp: 250 degrees. Experienced the mysterious "Big Bang" at 1 hour mark. Thankfully, the turkey did not blow up. Pulled when the breast hit 160 degrees.
5. Total Time: 5 hours
6. Comments: Turned out delicious and moist. Hard to mess up if you follow Smokin's Turkey 101 and use 3 sticks of butter.

Everyone, please post your reports here. The idea is that they'll always be in one place.

If you post them individually, after a period of time they just move farther down the page.

I just won't want to loose the good info

Looks like the pic I posted was way too big, let's try this again!.

quote:

Originally posted by VA Slim:
1) SM040
2) 12.5 8% enhanced from Kroger
3) 30 hrs in the brine recipe that Stuart from Cookshack posted on Facebook: Kosher salt, brown sugar, pepper, garlic, molasses, honey, apple juice and water. I added some onion, orange and rosemary sprigs. Drained and set to dry for a day in the fridge. Rubbed compound butter under the skin all over the breast and as far down to the thighs as possible. Rubbed the outside with olive oil and Blacks BBQ rub and coverd with a butter soaked cheesecloth.
4)Smoked with 3 oz applewood @ 275. Pulled the cheesecloth @ 2.5 hours
5)Total cooktime was 3 hours 40 min. Pulled and FTC'd when the breast was 162 and the thighs were 184. FTC'd for just under an hour while everything else finished.
6) Very juicy and tender, subtle smoke. The skin was rubbery but I expected this.
I should have pinned the skin, it pulled back and exposed the breast meat a bit to much.

1. Cookshack Elite. 025
2. 8.1 lb breast, 20.2 lb whole turkey
3. Breast brined 24 hrs in Smokin's Holiday Brine. Whole bird brined 42 hrs. Drained, dried, and air dried for 5 hrs.
4. Into preheated smoker set at 250*. Kicked up to 300* when breast went into smoker. Small chunk Pecan. Cheesecloth until last hr. Whole turkey done in oven.
5. Smoker time 3 hrs.
6. Both birds absolutely perfect. Tasty and moist. Love that brine. My best slicing job yet. Got rave reviews on both birds. Smoke bird won hands down.

Sorry no pictures.

Day after Thanksgiving. We had the best smoked turkey sandwiches I've ever eaten. And I've eaten a few.

1. Amerique 066
2. 12 lb whole turkey
3. Brined 48 hrs Holiday Turkey Brine, drained, rinsed, set 6 hrs in frig. No rub.
4. Into cold smoker set at 275, 3 oz oak
5. Smoker time 4 hrs, Opened door every hour
6. Breast very moist and dark meat tasted like ham

Now that's a beautiful looking bird!

quote:

Originally posted by AndyJ:
1) Smoker SM020
2) 12.31lb Sams Club 8% enhanced
3) Brined in Smokin's Holiday brine with a couple changes. Decided to clean out the fridge, so I threw in the little bit of Apple Cider & Chicken stock that I had left, also added a slice of crystallized ginger. 47 hrs brining and 12 hrs drying in the fridge. Compound butter under the skin, 1/4 cup Dr. BBQ's rub & 1/4 cup butter. Stuffed cavity with aromatics, apple, onion, celery, carrot, garlic.
4) Temp 250, cranked up to 300 the last 45 minutes to crisp the skin. 3oz of Cherry and 1oz of Pecan.
5) Time 3:45 minutes
6) Never did get up to 300 so the skin was still a little rubbery. But moist & juicy.

Just before I put the cheesecloth on.



Finished product, just the right color.

1: Which smoker - Smokette 008
2: Turkey Size - Instead of a whole bird I did parts from Whole Foods. Two boneless breast halves totaling 7.3 lbs. Four
bone in thighs totaling 4.1 lbs. Combined weight 11.4 lbs.
3: Preps - Salt cured (dry brined)3 days and air dried 1 day. Ground sage, bay, onion powder, garlic powder, smoked paprika,
and cumin added to the salt.
4: Smoker temp - Pre heated smoker at 200F with 4 oz. apple. Smoked for 1 hour to lay on some smoke then transferred to a
300F oven to braise on a bed of root vegetables and a little turkey stock. Pulled and FTC'd breasts at 155F. Ditto with
thighs at 165F.
5: Total Time - Cook time was a little over 3 hours. FTC time was around 2 hours.
6: Comments - Perfect results. Taste, texture, and correct finish temps of white a and dark meet were on the money. I've
been doing turkeys with this procedure (parts + salt cure + smoker/oven combo) for the past few years and it never fails.

As an aside, my humble 008 got a nice workout this Thanksgiving. Smoked butternut squash and poblanos that were the base for a soup. Also smoked garlic that was used in a side dish of roasted fingerling potatoes with figs and thyme, and double smoked bacon that was used in an Italian sausage and cornbread dressing. The little guy is going on 9 years old and just keeps chugging along.

1. Which Smoker - FEC100
2. Turkey Size - 3 12.5-14lb turkeys
3. Preps - Brined in Smokin's Holiday Brine for 48 hours. Rinsed and dried. Onion and apple cut and placed in bird. External bird prepped with butter. One was rubbed with ButcherBBQ Honey Rub and the other two with Cookshack Spicy Chicken Rub. About 2 hours into the cook turkeys were wrapped in butter soaked (drenched) cheesecloth.
4. Smoker temp - Cooked at 250 for 1 hour and then at 300 until done. (Breast at 165, thigh around 180)
5. Total cook time - 4 hours.
6. Comments - Best turkey I’ve cooked. The one with the ButchersBBQ Honey Rub had less “pop” but was quite good. The ones with the CS Chicken Rub were a little better in my opinion.

quote:

Originally posted by VA Slim:
Now that's a beautiful looking bird!

Thanks! And thanks to cookshack, I was drinking wine rather than tending a fire.

1: Which smoker. Smokin-it 2
2. Turkey Size. 12.98 fresh turkey
3. Preps. Brined in smokies holiday brine for 20 hours. Compound butter made with butterball savory seasoning cajun spice rubbed between the skin and turkey. Injected with butterball cajun spice injector mix. Stuffed with celery, onion & carrots.
4. Smoker temp. 225, last hour 250. 3oz apple wood
5. Total Time. 8 hours
6. Comments. Basted turkey every two hours with the drippings (hence the longer cook time). Wrapped the turkey with butter soaked cheese cloth for the last three hours. After cooking we wrapped it and traveled about 1 hour before carving. Juiciest bird we have ever tasted! Doing this one again.

This was my first attempt at smokin a turkey and did not know how the family would react so I also roasted a fresh turkey that was brined and injected with smokies' butter, wine & honey recipe. The roasted turkey was also great, but the smoked turkey was the star of the show.

Thanks for all of the advice, tips and suggestions from the people on here.

Amerique 066

12.96 fresh turkey no enhancement

48 hrs S.O. Holiday Brine. Stuffed with quartered apples and oranges. Cracked pepper, Kosher salt, Butcher Honey Rub, butter soaked cheesecloth.

preheated 300 1.5oz oak + 1.5 oz oak after 2 hrs

3 hrs 45 minutes (164 breast)

Flavor was superb. Very moist and tender. Skin was tender with good bite thru. I wouldn't change a thing next year.S.O's Holiday Brine is a winner.

Food Network should take a picture of that bird MaxQue and use it in advertisements.

Thanks Pags. The cheesecloth did a great job of maintaining even color. Think using oak, in 2 separate stages kept the skin from darkening. I've never used oak on turkey but was reminded of Tom saying that poultry tends to take on a lot of smoke, so I shied away from hickory. The smoke profile was very subtle but enough so you could taste it.

Also, doing a practice bird the day before helped me hone in. The 1st turkey came out a little weird.

Kramer bird.

I also used the cheesecloth up to the last hour. The whole breast turned out beautiful. Also, only used 1.5 oz pecan and a well seasoned smoker. Smoke profile was right on.

This is the best I could do for a picture. Smoked breast circled. Only half, saved half for sandwiches the next day.



That's Maureen and my aunt in the background. Great spread.

PS 2 of the 4 bottles are Sparkling Cider. We like our wines but we're not alcoholics.

Me thinks, by looking at MaxQ's tray(yellow), that maybe the bird has been enhanced more than once, ya know Pags, the way you do your Pics!

No tricks or photoshop. I took that with a 5 yr old Sony digital press n shoot using indoor setting and flash. I did sheen up the bird with a little turkey stock just before the shot.

My Thanksgiving turkey is a couple of days late.
Didn't want to be pressured for perfection on Thursday, and most of my family doesn't care for turkey that much.

Anyway, for all the details:
Smoker: SMO45
Turkey: 12 pound Butterball
Preps: S.O. Holiday brine for 48 hours
dired in referigerator overnight,
stuffed cavity with celery, carrots,
and onions.
Smoker Temp: 275 degrees (outside temp 32)
turkey 40 degrees.
Total time: 3 hours- I went to check to see if it was ready for the cheesecloth treatment and it was already done.
Comments: Happy with first turkey, may try another at slightly lower heat- 250? Got it FTC'ed right now- done a lot sooner than expected- dinner later this afternoon.

quote:

Originally posted by MaxQ:
Also, doing a practice bird the day before helped me hone in. The 1st turkey came out a little weird.

Lesson for all you first timers out there. Make sure you clean out BOTH cavities thoroughly. This is what can happen if you leave even a bit of Kramer behind.

Max has a beautiful turkey, but I'm actually pretty impressed with all the birds posted by our members.

Now you guys have got me looking forward to Christmas and the Prime Rib or Standing Rib Roast or ham or whatever.

1: Which smoker - elite 025
2. Turkey Size - 12.58 lbs
3. Preps - brined 40 hours in SO Holiday brine; pulled back skin w/compound butter spread
4. Smoker temp - set at 300*
5. Total Time - 3 hours
6. Comments - I mixed SO poultry rub and country crock (now I know butter would have been better b/c the margarine was too soft and didn't want to spread well). I placed the turkey in a hot smoker that already had a small chunk of apple wood. It cooked quicker than i thought it would. I did use cheesecloth soaked in the remainder of melted compound butter. Over cooked both breast and thigh to about 170 and 180 respectively. It was fine though. The turkey was delicious and was devoured. Everyone commented on how flavorful and moist it was. I will definitely do another one soon. I took pics but will have to add them later.

1: Which smoker - I used my Smokin' Tex 1400
2. Turkey Size - 10lb. breast with bone in
3. Preps - Injected with a honey, hickory, and bacon marinade and then seasoned under skin with OBQ's Sweet Heat rub
4. Smoker temp - 225'over apple chunks
5. Total Time - 5 hours
6. Comments - It was incredible. It actually did not make it to the dinner table as it was gone an hour before dinner. I guess it more like an hors d'oeuvre for all. It was smoked just right and oh so moist !!!

Thanks to all for Turkey 101, Brine 101 because I made a killer bird today.
025 smoker.
Two oz hickory one oz apple.
300 degrees on a 13.5 lb turkey and it cooked fast. Just under three hours. I had to adjust down so it came reasonably close to wifes stuffing.
Covered with cheese cloth soaked 50/50 in butter and citrus flavored olive oil.
Stuffed bird with apple, orange, onion, celery.
Had twelve people and they loved the turkey. WHEW!
I stayed close the brine and rub recipes. put the rub herbs in melted butter and spread under the skin. One thing you should check out is the smoked Paprika from Costco. Very nice ingredient .
Also went well with egg nogs with a shot of almond flavored tequila and a shot of Kaluha. Excellent. Also the loaded coffe cup with a shot of Baileys, Kaluha and Jameson's Irish Whisky.