Turkey Reports - 2009

Well, I'm back again. To begin where I left off...
The turkey is in the smoker set for 300. Every hour I opened the door and basted it with melted butter. At 2 hours and 45 minutes, the breast was 165 and the thigh was 175. I thought that was fast for a 17.5lb bird, but hey, when it's done, it's DONE!!
NOTE:
The temperature on the smoker was set for 300 but it never got above 255. I suppose the bird was too much of a heat sink to let the heating element get the box up to 300, but not sure.
I prepared the ice chest with towels so that the bird could rest an hour and took it out. After an hour, I took the bird from the ice chest and set to carving it. Here are photos of the finished product.


Time to carve! Here I am doing the honors. The color was great, just a tad dark, but I thought that was appropriate for a smoked turkey. It sure smelled great!


Here is the bird with it half carved. The dark meat from the thigh is in the foreground on the plate, the breast toward the rear. It was very tender, moist and warm. After an hour in the ice chest, the breast was still reading over 150 degrees. I was able to serve the carved turkey piping hot.


I used a drip pan under the smoker, one of those aluminum Webber catch pans. It filled up once, and I drained it into a seperate large bowl. It filled up about half way a second time and I drain that into a separate bowl. The first bowl of drippings had a bolder smoke flavor than the second, so I used the second dripping caught to make gravy for the mashed 'taters. It was a wonderful gravy! The next day I used some for my breakfast, biscuits-n-gravy. Best I've ever had, with my wife making the biscuits from scratch. I also used some of the first drippings with my fried potatos for breakfast too. The juice added just the right amount of smokiness to the fried potatoes.



1: Which smoker:
Smokette SM020

2. Turkey Size
17.5 pounds


3. Preps
Read all details above

4. Smoker temp
Set for 300, preheated to 100, never saw it get over 255 in the 2 3/4 hours it took to cook.

5. Total Time
Brine time: 60 hours
Smoker time: 2 3/4 hours

6. Comments
Next time I'll put orange slices and thyme in the cavity and cranberry concentrate in the cannon.

Update;
I did another turkey, this time the 13 pound bird. I duplicated my efforts and the bird temperature was 165 breast and 170 thigh at 2 hours even. The turkey was not as dark as the 17 pound bird, so it's my theory that the longer to cook, the darker the finished product. Next time I do a small bird like that, I'll open the smoker a couple more times to let out the moisture and to allow the heater to kick in more and toast that skin darker. I just love experimenting! ha!!

I smoked a 6.5# kosher turkey breast to go along with a larger bird the wife was cooking for a Christmas get together. Dry brined with kosher salt for a couple of days(method call for 3 days). After a generous coating of CS spicy Chicken rub, I decide to see what a light dusting of of turbinado sugar would do.

Results were the most awesome dark brown, mahogany color ever. Loved it. Taste not effected but presentation was a hit. Excellent in every way.

Smoker: 020
Turkey size: 6.5# breast
Preps: Dry brine, CS rub w/ turbinado sugar dusted over the top, 3 1/2"x2" squares of pecan and 1 similar sized piece of apple
Smoker temp: 250*
Comments: Pulled at 162* (3.5 hours or so) Excellent flavor. Beautiful dark color. Was a hit with company

I know it ain't 2009 anymore, but seeing that there's no 2010 report on yet, here it goes...

1: Which smoker: SM025
2. Turkey Size: 10 lbs,
3. Preps: Smokin's Holiday brine for 40 hrs.; rubbed w/ salt, white pepper, garlic pow., onion pow., sage, oregano & paprika; couple sprigs of rosemary & thyme under skin; cavity stuffed w/ red onion, carrot, celery, orange zest, thyme & rosemary.
4. Smoker temp: 250* w/ 1 chunk hickory
5. Total Time: 4 hrs. 10 min to reach 170* in the thigh
6. Comments: Everybody loved it. Not one to gloat over my own cooking often (usually my own harshest critic), but thought it was the best turkey I've ever had. White meat was super moist and flavorful. Legs reminded me of ones the family used to get from a smokehouse about an hour from here. Skin a little rubbery as to be expected, but still very good w rub on it.

I'd like to take the credit for this one, but really it has to go to Smokin' and the forum... The only thing I did was not screw it up. THANKS!

Jeremy

Well done Jeremy!!

This is a 2010 Turkey posting to the 2009 turkey log.

I am fairly new to smoking and have the Cookshack smokette. I put a 4.5# turkey breast with the bone in my smokette last Sunday. I followed the Lemon-Smoked Turkey Breast recipe in the Cookshack cookbook. Basically, that is a baste with lemon juice, oil, lemon rind, garlic and dill. I put the 2 oz of hickory and 1 clove of garlic in the smoke box and smoke cooked at 225 for 6 hours. The internal temp was 165. The breast was very juicy and moist. I would have liked more of a smoke flavor. The wood pieces were chared, but not turned to ash. I didn't look to notice how much smoke was coming from the smoker during the cooking process. Would the meat have had more of a smoke flavor if the wood had burned more completely? I know to keep the wood pieces towards the front of the wood box for better burn and I thought I did this. Any suggestions?