Turkey Reports - 2008

1: Which smoker - FEC-100
2. Turkey Size - 13 lbs
3. Preps - see below
4. Smoker temp - 230
5. Total Time - around 5 hrs (I think)
6. Comments - see below

Stu's Q Turkey Brine

12-15 lb turkey

1 gal apple juice
1 cup Diamond kosher salt
½ cup brown sugar
½ cup white sugar
½ cup honey
¼ cup granulated garlic powder

however much cold water to cover the bird

Mix all ingredients together well until salt and sugar is dissolved. Pour into plastic bucket or ice chest (non-reactive container). Please bird breast side down in brine and cover with a few ice cubes. Place in fridge or ice chest and keep cold for 24 hrs.

After 24 hrs, take bird out of brine and discard brine. Let the bird set a few minutes and then pat outside of bird somewhat dry with paper towels. Rub Extra Virgin Olive Oil all over the outside of the bird. Sprinkle your favorite rub generously all over the bird. Please bird back into fridge for about 30 minutes or so until smoker comes to temperature.

Smoke the bird at 225-250 for 4-5 hrs until breast is at 160 and leg/thigh at 170. I use apple wood. Hickory, pecan, oak, are also great. Take bird out of smoker and place onto disposable aluminum restaurant pan and cover in foil. Let bird rest about 30 minutes.

Slice and enjoy!!

1. 008
2. Bone in breast 7.75 lbs 15% solution
3. Preps - see below
4. Temp - 250
5. Total time - 5 1/2 hours

I am not a turkey guy so this was my first bird on my Smokette 008 that I bought myself for Christmas last year.I brined the breast in a basic brine for 5 1/2 hours, removed, rinsed and put back in frig loosely covered with foil overnight, about 10 hours. Removed from frig loosened skin, give bird a light sprinkle of cookshack spicy chicken rub under and on top of skin. Covered with butter soaked cheese cloth, put in smoker at 08:30 temp set at 250 with 2oz of cherry. After 5 hrs in smoker removed cheese cloth internal temp at 150. Cooked another 1/2 hr internal temp at 156 checked with thermapen. Let rest covered in foil for 15 min. couldn't wait any longer. Checked temp again now at 160 perfect. Sat down and ate the moistest most flavorful turkey that I have ever had, hands down. The rest of the family was very pleased with the results also. Thanks for all of the info here on the forum. I guess you know who's cooking the turkey on Thanksgiving Day.

To help others out, post your reports in this thread.

Thanks in advance.

if you can post your results, it will help me add to the table of smoke times I've been tracking. Appreciate your assistance
Smokin'

Well, another great turkey.
1. 009
2. 13.5 pound fresh turkey
3. Brined with Smokin’ Okie’s Holiday brine for 37 hours. Had planned on going 40-44 hours but the in-laws called last night and wanted to start earlier due to the chance of snow later on today. Rinsed, rubbed butter under and on skin, apples in cavity and covered with butter soaked cheesecloth.
4. Removed wood box, preheated for ½ hour at 250, 3 probes, one for smoker temp, one thigh and one breast and into the smoker. 1.5 oz cherry and replace wood box.
4.5 hours and into a 400 oven for 10 minutes then foiled it for 1 hour in a warm oven. The skin looked so good out of the smoker next time I won’t put it in the oven which caused it to shrink and split in a few places
5. Man was it good! Took a picture but don’t know how to post it. Just the right amount of smoke and the brine penetrated all of the meat. Can’t wait for a smoked turkey sandwich later tonight or tomorrow.
Now if only the football games had been a little better.

1: Which smoker - Ducane Grill
2. Turkey Size - 22 pound, Kroger, 8% solution
3. Preps - Brine,
4. Smoker Grill temp - 325
5. Total Time - 4 hours
6. Comments - turkey came out great! Used apple wood chips and sugar cane as smoke source. Breast were 165 degree F. I was prepared for the bird to cook longer than 4 hours based on the information on the packaging info. Bird was done at 7am so I wrapped foil around the bird and kept the temp in the grill so that the breast stayed at 165 until we were ready to carve it.

1. Which smoker: CS008
2. Size: 13#, Butterball 7% solution
3. Preps: brine (Okie's Holiday Brine) for 15 hours; wet-rub of butter, honey, poultry seasoning, and Cookshack's Chicken Rub
4. Temp: 250
5. Total Cook Time: 3:45 in the smoker, 15 min in a 350 oven to crisp the skin a little.
6. Comments: 4 oz of Cherry and Apple chips. Rave reviews, nothing left but the bones.

1:fec-100
2:two birds 11#,12#,one breast.
3:brined, frist time ever!
4:temp:250
5:4 1/2 to 5 hours
6:comments:everyone loved it!
will do it again! thanks.

Smokette
10 lb Turkey
Cooked at 250 (on the dial)
Outside temp ~75-80

Prepared Turkey by covering it in a paste made with chopped onions, chopped celery, garlic, salt, pepper and olive oil. Put this on the bird the night before on and under the skin. Also stuffed some sliced Elgin sausage under the skin for some added flavor - nice touch.

pre-heated smoker for 30 min and then put turkey in for 3 hrs. Had turkey in a drip pan and put a butter-soaked cheeseclothe on top to prevent Turkey from getting 2 dark

Pulled Turkey out at 3hr mark and pulled off the cheeseclothe. Breast temp at 135 and Leg at 150.

Put Turkey back in for another 90 min (still in drip pan). Pulled it out at 90 min and tested temp. Leg was ~168 and breast 160. Put Turkey back in for another 15 min - Leg 170, breast 165.

Pulled it out and let it sit 30 min and then cut it.

Turkey flavor was great, the cheeseclothe helped keep the skin from blackening up - color was a nice tan/brown. Meat was still pretty juicy, but there was still a little red near the joints - would cook it another 30-60 min next time.

Put Turkey back in for another 90 min after that and pulled it out to test temp

1: Which smoker? FEC100
2. Turkey Size: 19lbs
3. Preps: Soaked in S.O. Brine for 48 hours
4. Smoker temp: 275
5. Total Time: 4 hrs
6. Comments: One of the family cousins who doesn't eat at our hours every year said, after 2 meals earlier in the day... That was the best turkey he ever had Fun to hear those comments and more fun knowing you have the same recipe

One modification this year. Because I had a 19lb whole ham in there and didn't want the turkey dripping on the bird, when I rotated (and put the bird from below to above the ham) I put it in a foil pan. I draped a dry cheesecloth on the bird then basted it with butter. After cooking, I defatted the liquid and used it in the gravy and on the turkey.

1: Which smoker: Smokette
2. Turkey Size: 3.84 Boneless Breast
3. Preps: Brine 12 hours light dry rub
4. Smoker temp: 225 (3ozs apple)
5. Total Time: 4hrs 10min
6. Comments: I would definitely do this again everybody raved about the taste.

I was very fearful of brining because I did not want to ruin the turkey. There was not time or money for a dry run. It is very easy and is worth the effort. You will have a very flavorful and moist turkey. I used the drip the turkey in the bucket method to figure out how much water similar to when you fry a turkey. 1 gallon of water was not near enough.


1: Which smoker: CS55
2. Turkey Size: 16lbs
3. Preps: Brined 12 hours

2.5 gallons water 5 gallon bucket
2 cup salt
2 cup brown sugar
1 cup black pepper
1cup honey
1 cup cider vinegar
1/2 cup onion powder
1/2 cup garlic powder
rinsed


4. Smoker temp: 250 (4ozs hickory) "used drip pan under turkey for gravey stock"
5. Total Time: 5 hrs to 175 degrees
6. Comments: Very moist turkey skin stretching from moisture and tasstes better then injecting.
"comments very easy to make first attempt"

1) AmeriQue
2) 11.8# fresh turkey
3) Brined for 50 hours, then buttered and dusted on dry rub
4) 250* temp with probe in breast set at 161*, then let sit for 40 minutes wrapped in foil.
5) total cooking time 5 hours, 5 min.
6) used 3 oz. hickory, 3 oz. of apple
7) bird was very moist throughout, had terrific flavor and everyone loved it.

1. 008
2. 11.4 lbs.
3. brine 48 hrs.
4. 250 temp with 4 oz. applewood
5. 4 hrs.
6. comments: this was my first turkey using the 008. I put the turkey breast side up on the bottom shelf so the dark meat would be near the heating element. Put probe in breast and set timer for 165. The timer alarm sounded at 3 hrs but the inner thigh was only at 171.

I continued to smoke it till the thigh reached 175, another 1 hr. Removed and tent foiled for 45 min. The meat was moist with a nice smoke flavor but the thigh meat could have been more tender.

Next time I will put the bird breast side down with the thigh meat near the ceiling of the smoker since the top runs 20 deg. hotter.

1: Which smoker: 20 year old #50
2. Turkey Size: 21.88 pound
3. Preps: 30 hr. Brine in "Neely's recipe, including their rub recipe for Turkey (Food Channel)
4. Smoker temp: 300 (3oz. apple, 2 oz. Hickory)
5. Total Time: 5hrs
6. Comments: I also had a 12 pound wild turkey in with it, and 2 goose breasts. Main turkey was covered with a butter-soaked cheese cloth on top rack, wild in middle and breats wrapped in foil on lower rack with some foil under. Bottom line: Main turkey was awesome, wild a bit dry, breats were dry but all tasted GREAT!

First time doing turkey...family was very happy and everyone asked for leftover.
John

Thanks for posting. Keep 'em coming. Real results like these help the new guys a LOT.

Smokin'

1. Amerique
2. (2) Approx 13# turkeys.
3. 33hrs in Smokin's brine, modified using only Ms Dash Garlic & Herb for spices. 1-1/4 gals brine each bird. Pulled from brine & allowed to drain 2-1/2 hrs in refr. Cookshack spicy chicken rub. Covered breast with butter soaked cheesecloth.
4. 250*
5. 6-1/2 hours.
6. Started smoking breast side up. After 4 hours, flipped birds over (breast down now) and switched top & bottom locations, and then inserted temp probes. Usually cooks in about 6 hrs, but since had door open for flipping, rotating & temp inserting, cooked 1/2hr longer.
Still good & moist birds. (I note the Amerique seems to take longer to smoke turkeys than Smokette does....)

1: Which smoker SM055
2. Turkey Size 14.11 #
3. Preps Used Smokin Okie Turkey Brine but added an additional 1/2 C Brown Sugar, 3/4 C soy sauce, and diddn't add Morton's Tender Quick. Had to double recipe to brine turkey.
4. Smoker temp 225 F
5. Total Time 7 hours 45 minutes
6. Comments Brined Giant Eagle brand turkey (8% solution)for 4 days. Outside temperature 19 F so preheated smoker to 45 F and then added 2 ounces of hickory and 2 ounces of cherry wood. Internal temperature in the breast reached 163 F when it was removed from smoker. Turkey was a beautiful mahogany in color. It was fully cooked, but a small area around the leg joint was just a little pink. Will go to 165 F next time. Turkey was very moist and had a nice medium smoke flavor. It was enjoyed by family, but next time I will reduce the wood to 1 1/2 ounce each of hickory and cherry. Turkey was a little salty for my tastes, although the rest of the family thought it was ok. I will not brine as long next time. I would like a little sweeter taste so I will incorporate some maple cure in my brine on my next turkey.

(1) Smoker: AmeriQue
(2) Turkey: Whole Foods Free Range Turkey, Fresh, 13.8 #
(3) Prep: Brine, Elizabeth Karmel's, "Taming the Flame", p. 255, Salt reduced to 1 1/2 Cups. Fresh Herbs: A few sprigs each of Sage, Rosemary, Thyme. Brined approximately 18 hours. 2 oz piece of Apple wood for smoke. Butter and seasoned cheese cloth placed on top of breast.
(4) Temp: 300 degrees, preheated AQ at 300. Probe set for 165 degrees for breast meat.
(5) Time: 6 Hours. Gave up on the AQ. Finished turkey in conventional oven (kitchen), about and additional 45 minutes. Had to finish turkey for dinner.
(6) Comments: Used a roasting pan and "V" rack to collect turkey juices. After 6 hours the deep thigh only registered 148 on my ThermaPen. Finsihed trukey in conventional oven. The oven did add a deep brown finish to the skin. However, the breast temp went to 180 plus to get the 165 needed for the deep thigh. Turkey was sweet and mild, although a bit dry from the extended cooking time. Got to find how to get the deep thigh done without over cooking the breast.
(7) SmokinOkie, a BIG Thank you for all the help. You all at the Forum are great!!

Thanks for the reports! Not enough reports, but appreciate those of you who did

Dave, the problem I've seen with pans sometimes is they'll restrict the heat and you'll have that problem. Next time, keep the bird in the open but the pan underneath (allowing more air to circulate). You want to expose the dark meat to the hottest temp (put it down towards where the heat is coming up from) That might help.

1st smoke in SM 055, 2ea 6 3/4 lb turkey breasts, Maverick ET-73 Therm for smoker and Turkey Temperature. Brined in Simple Brine for 10 hrs and sprinkled a poultry rub insodem and out.
Set temp at 225 w/3oz mesquite in wood box. Temp Rose to 274 within 1st hour range 189-274) so I reset temp to 200 (range 171-231). At first I thought I had a wood burning problem (saw this on my old converted propane water smoker running as a dry wood smoker). Didn't open door to verify but thermostat seems to cycle +/ 30 degrees at 200 and higher matbe 40 at 225. Is this normal? I have meverick smoker probe within 4" of cookshack thermostst probe. Finished in 5 Hrs 25 mins at 155, tented and let rest for an hour. Tender moist good smoke flavor. Positive results. Is large temperature swing normal. After tasting, I almost didn't send the report.

Yes, that kind of swing is very normal. When I got my 055 two years ago, I checked the temps too and when set for 225 it went from 265 down to 185. (ave=225) And I've never checked it again.

As long as it averages out to roughly the temp you set it to, the product won't know the difference. The results are what counts.

And I suspect, but never checked, that the swings won't be as great once you get the smoker totally broken in.

1: Which smoker: Masterbuilt
2. 2 turkeys: 12# AND 13.5#
3. Prep: Brine (Smokin's Holiday Brine) for 24 hours followed by 8 hrs in the fridge (out of the brine). Coat with honey and rub (standard poultry rub). Sliced apple and onion in cavities.
4. Smoker temp - set for 270
5. Top bird done at 4.25 hr mark.; Second bird done at 5.25 hr mark.
6. The wings on the bottom bird were getting black, so when I took the top bird out, I moved the grill up in the oven and flipped the bird so the wings were on top.. Birds are now foiled and in cooler, ready to go to my sister's house to feed the gang. I sampled some of the skin and it's both tasty and crispy, so taking it out of the brine 8 hrs before cooking seemed to have helped the rubbery-skin problem. Pics to be attached if the add-attachment feature works ...

quote:

Originally posted by Qnorth:
Yes, that kind of swing is very normal. When I got my 055 two years ago, I checked the temps too and when set for 225 it went from 265 down to 185. (ave=225) And I've never checked it again.

As long as it averages out to roughly the temp you set it to, the product won't know the difference. The results are what counts.

And I suspect, but never checked, that the swings won't be as great once you get the smoker totally broken in.

Thanks for the feedback Qnorth, my mind will rest a little easier as I try some baby backs today

ln my 08 went in a 13.5lb that i injected with a mixture of butter and brown sugar 24 hrs befor. pulled skin loose and put chicken rub and a little brown sugar mixed under skin.
after the 24 hrs i removed bird from refrig.
got 08 ready w/3oz of apple wood. coated bird w/a mix of honey and brown sugar.then soaked chesecloth in butter and brown sugar. first time w/ cloth [works fantastic.] put bird in at 8am set temp at 250deg. max for an 08. at 1145am temp was 170. wraped in foil then in big towel in to cooler. took out of cooler at4pm bird was still hot. company said it was best bird the ever had. meat was sweet and tender add dark meat was best i ever tasted.thanks to turkey 101 for all the info. did not brine.

1: Smoker: SM055
2. Turkey: Giant Eagle 13.91# 8% solution
3. Prep: Used Smokin Okie Holiday Turkey Brine and included the Tender Quick. I also added 150 grams of Log Cabin syrup.
4. Smoker Temp: 225 F
5. Total Time: 7 hours 15 minutes
6. Comments: Brined Giant Eagle brand turkey (8% solution)for 4 days. I had to double the brine solution. Outside temperature 45 F. I used 1 1/2 ounces of hickory and 1 1/2 ounces of cherry. Internal temperature in the breast reached 165 F when it was removed from smoker. Turkey was a beautiful mahogany in color and was fully cooked. Turkey was very moist and had a nice medium smoke flavor. I liked the subtle maple flavor.