Turkey Reports - 2005

Just did my test bird yesterday...13.5lb, brined in smokin's holiday brine(24hr), wrapped in butter-soaked cheesecloth, smoked with apple and cherry wood(3oz mixed) and needed only 2 1/2 hrs @ 275, pulled at thigh temp 175. An unbelievable tender bird! For the real Thanksgiving bird I will change the wood and amount..add hickory and a little more wood (needs more smoke flavor). Thanks for the tips, this was a great test bird! With the bones I made an awesome stock for Thanksgiving gravy.

Thanks Guys for the info on Turkey Stock and Gravy,

Moved your replies to the Recipe Forum.

Turkey Stock and Gravy

Appreciate it.

Smokin'

Did a 7.75# pre-injected breast yesterday (11/12/05) with Smokin's Holiday Brine. Used 1.3 oz hickory. Pulled it at the 4 hour mark - temp was 162. It was a hit at the church Thanksgiving luncheon today.

For me this was still a bit too much smoke. But! I am not big fan of smoked birds but the Mrs loved it!

For Thanksgiving we'll probbably do a brined bird in the traditional oven

Smokin - Do you think the injected stuff could have caused a bitter taste? It was different. Not like bitter "smoke" taste that I've had before. Just curious.

I have done 3- 12 pound turkeys in my Smokette since buying it new in Sep. '03. I never ended up with anything exceptional, so I will just say they were all done on 225* for 8 hours. If I do one this year, I will inject and cook at 250*. I don't know why I was so hard headed before!

One thought is to use as clear an injection as possible.

The injection can stay in pockets in the breast and be unsightly.

Some of the bottled cajun injections do this.

Doesn't bother my guests.

quote:

Originally posted by Wheelz:
[qb] Did a 7.75# pre-injected breast yesterday (11/12/05) with Smokin's Holiday Brine. Used 1.3 oz hickory. For me this was still a bit too much smoke. Smokin - Do you think the injected stuff could have caused a bitter taste? It was different. Not like bitter "smoke" taste that I've had before. Just curious. [/qb]

Brining injected birds can be weird. I do it and have no problems, but some injected birds have 10 to 15% injections and those are pretty high already.

For your next one, try real hard to find a fresh or non-injected one and see how that tastes. Sometimes, some brands just taste weird. But you did say you don't liked smoked birds, so maybe you're just the cook and everyone else eats it.

I smoked a 14 pound turkey two nights ago. I brined it for 24 hours and then put it in the smoker, which was set for 250. It took 11 hours to get to 165 and I took it off then. Everyone said that it was the best turkey they ever had. I am just wondering why it took so long to cook, when many people say that it only takes them about 20 minutes a pound. I never opened the door while smoking.

Steve - which model smoker were you using? thx

Thanks for the response L.A.BBQ. I was using the 008 model and had it all the way up to 250 for heat. Any ideas?

Stephen, have you checked the internal temps of your smoker? 11 hours at 250 sounds a little off.

Need to reports this week

Don't forget, post your turkey stories, needs some good times,temps and weights

Did 2 13'ers this weekend, brined for 48 hours, smoked in the FE at 330, tried a few different things. Best of which was the Turkey Stock suggestion (see the recipe forum) that worked GREAT. Everyone noticed the difference in the gravy. I'm adding Turkey Stock to Turkey 101 (thanks DLS)

Smokin'

I'm glad I logged on and read this... I'm doing my first turkey in a Smokette tonite/tomorrow, and the cookbook that came with the smoker said ~10 hours @ 225 for a 10-12 lb. bird.

Why the discrepancy with the above posted times? Also, would injecting the bird alter cooking time?

Last Thanksgiving I did a 12 lb bird in my model 55. I brined it for 24 hours using Smokin's recipe. Covered with butter soaked cheese cloth. Smoked it with 2 Oz. of Hickory at 250 degrees. Took 4.5 hrs to get the breast to 160. Plan to do the same thing this year. We also did a bird in the oven. No leftovers from the smoked bird. Happy Thanksgiving to all of you. Roger

PJ, do NOT go with those times, go with what you get from the forum. Hard to explain the difference, that's one reason I'm asking for reports, to get some real #'s for folks.

Any reports???

Did two 13 lb'ers. Once with a normal brine and one with a brine then cajun injected.

Smoked in the FE @ 170 for 1 hour then bumped up to 330 for 2 hours. Both were done in 3 hours, 15 min.

You gotta love it when you wife who eats your Q ALL the time comes up and says they're the best ever...an means it.

And used my new Cambro to keep the turkey warm... Glad I finally got one (with my winnings from this year)

One 13lb'er injected and fried, one 13 lb'er brined in Okie's Holiday brine, and smoked for approx. 5 hours to 160. The smoked one won.....unbelievable!!!!! Thanks Okie!

Hey Russ what temp, 250?

Thanks for the report. Clad it worked.

How did your fried one come out?

Smokin, which bird did your party prefer? What temp did you cook to?

I did 3 that were between 10.5 and 11 lbs.
Brined in Smokin's Holliday brine for 14 hrs.
Smoked in FEC 100 at 180 for 5 hrs then on 250 another 50 min. Total 5 hrs 50 min.
Bird #1 on top rack = 168
Bird #2 on 3rd rack left = 158
Bird #3 on 3rd rack right = 162
Then foiled them for 1 hr.
All 3 were delicious.

Happy Thanksgiving
Lee

It's a long story, but I just put mine in about an hour ago, after brining in a variation of Smokin Okies Holiday Brine for almost 40 hours.

I'll keep you posted.

Wow! We need pics and/or a new pictorial on your website! I dig it man!

If someone is wanting to see pics of a turkey in my Honey Brine, just call up Turkey 101 for the full details.

Yum Yum. Did a 13 1/2 pounder. Brined in the Okie Holiday Brine (slight variation) for 38 hours. Soaked cheesecloth in butter and spread over bird.

Pre-heated Smokette to 250 degrees. Used 1 oz pecan, 1 1/2 oz apple, and 1 oz cherry wood. Took about 5 1/2 hours at 250 degrees to reach 170 degrees. At the 4 1/2 hour mark, I opened the smoker to remove the cheesecloth.

Let sit for 20 minutes or so. Very juicy, nice sweet taste. Skin still wasn't as crisp as I would like. Got big thumbs up from the Mrs., who said it "tastes like candy".

I'd do it again, but might finish in a hot oven to crisp the skin.

I'll post the step-by-step on my site within a couple days.

My timing was very close to Daves, 5 hours at 250. I too used the buttered cheesecloth, but didn't get anything close to crispy skin....but that's OK. The brine made a big difference, the smoker chugged along flawlessly. Only used 1 oz of apple wood, leaving just a hint of smoke. I'm not waiting till Thanksgiving to do another. I am going to perfect it, if it can get any better.

Well I'm surprised, only a couple of Turkey Reports (that doesn't make you guys Turkeys, just your reports).

Thanks Lee, Dave and Russ

Dennis, they prefer the non-cajun. I used a stronger brine, similar to J Appledog's in Turkey 101. The cajun one just wasn't cajun enough. I added more flavor, but it still cooked out.

Russ

Turkey report-just plain delicious! Fresh turkey 13.14lbs, Smokin's brine 36 hours, 250 degrees in model 55, in at 0730, dinner is at 1300. Oh yes outside temp is 3 degrees with a 35 mph wind. Smoker sits outside. Temp probe in breast, looking for 165. At 1130 bird is at 158, turned smoker down to 200 degrees. At 1215 bird is at 163. Wrapped in foil at put in cooler for transport to grandmas. Roger

I got the LAST minute word to smoke a breast for
thanksgiving.WHAT!!!Ive never even tried one yet.
So to the forum and 101 I went.
Turned out pretty darn good.Had to finish in hot
oven for timing purposes.
Soaked cheesecloth is a MUST.I spiced it up with
all kinds of stuff mostly garlic powder,salt,pepper.
I lost track of time(sorry)but I did have the 08
up all the way.

I did 3 turkey breasts for Tgiving this year. All were prepared by loosening the skin and putting mayo & rub under the skin and rub on the skin. All birds were between 6-7 lbs each. Cooked with 3-4 oz of apple wood at 225* and reached temps (160*) between 3-3.5 hrs. Let each one cool down then put in zip lock baggie in fridge till all 3 birds were done. Then cut breasts off carcass and sliced meat on elec meat slicer. Last nite I vacumn sealed 2/3 of my leftovers and froze for later use.

Bob

I did a 7 lb turkey breast in the 008 without any wood. Just rubbed with CS chicken rub,sprayed with Pam.Put in 250 until it reached 155.Then got worried as it didnt seem done enough even after sitting in double foil for 20 minutes.So I put in 425 oven for about 30 minutes. The skin didn't crisp but it had a good flavor and was juicy as heck.

Did 4 breasts, each about 7 lbs in my 055. Brined them for 15 hours, then smoked @ 250 for 4 hours with 5 oz. of pecan & apple. Staggered them left and right on 4 different racks. Temps were 167 on the bottom to 162 on the top rack when done. I had wanted to take them out around 160, but they cooked a lot faster than I had planned. Next time I'm going with 225 degrees.
I am a little perplexed why they cooked so fast, as I had done the identical setup 3 weeks earlier with 6 lb breasts and @ 4 hours they were only registering 150+. On this batch I dropped the temp to 225 after 4 hours and cooked another 2 hours to get them to 160.
They were good, just not as good as the first batch.

I did three smoked 13 pounders brined for 18 hours with salt, maple syrup, brown sugar and garlic. After brining I injected a half melted butter half maple syrup mixture (approximatly 1 cup) through out the bird and seasoned with garlic and pepper in the cavity and on the skin. One of these turkeys went to a friend and the other two went to my parents, everyone said said it was outstanding, the best they ever had.

The next night my wife wanted to do a second Thanksgiving that she could cook all the trimmings for but wanted something diferent done to the turkey so I decided to try a smoked/fried turkey and it was fantastic, even jucier then the smoked birds the night before.

I brined and injected a 13 pound bird as above and then smoked at 250 degrees with more hickory than usual due to the short time in the smoker(about 5oz). I also used a wire stand to stand the bird up so smoke would pass through the cavity of the bird.
I pulled the bird from the smoker at 1.5 hours and put a Polder in the breast and deep fried for one half hour until the turkey was at 165 degrees. The smoke flavor was present but not as strong as a full smoked bird but with the taste of the butter/maple syurp injection it was fantastic. The best turkey I have ever tasted and the leftovers were moist and very tasty.

For fire safty reasons I recommend the electric deep fryer as opposed to the propane fryers. The electric fryer can be used safely indoors, no odor or smoke problem and with no open flame there is no fire danger. The directions for the smoker even say it is recommended for indoor use. They sell for between $89 and $169. The one I have been using the last two years is made by Masterbuilt and available by doing a search on the web for "Masterbuilt Turkey Fryer".

One last note...The maple syurp will slighlty discolor the white meat but none of my guests seem to mind it.

Cowboy - great report. I too use the electric Masterbuilt. It's both safe and easy to use. I will try your way next. thx

Do you guys check the temperature of the bird in the breast or in the inner thigh? and what is the two diff temps needed?

thanks,

david

I do the breast. At 155, the dark meat usually is around 172. That has been my experience. Because they retain so much moisture, overcooking a bit doesn't seem to hurt.