Turkey Smoking Critique

torchMember

New CS025 owner, bought mainly for pork & ribs, but thought I'd test a turkey with Thanksgiving coming up. Smoker worked great, but need advice.
1. 12.88# fresh turkey, put in SO Holiday brine at 8:30 pm Thursday and left in fridge for 47 hrs, until 7:30 Saturday night. Rinsed several times and left in fridge to air overnight.
2. Out of fridge at 1:00 pm Sunday, loosened skin and rubbed with paste of butter, poultry seasoning with a little extra sage; added sliced apple and onion to cavity and used slightly less than 3 oz of applewood.
3. Into CS 25 at 1:30 pm directly on rack & set temp to 275, with intention of adding butter soaked cheesecloth at 2 hrs. Inserted CS thermometer (came with CS 25) and turkey showed 39 degrees going in.
4. 65 minutes later, turkey temp was already 125. Opened smoker (turkey looked nicely brown) but thought I should wait longer to add cheesecloth. Dropped smoker temp to 250 and sprayed turkey with Pam. Turkey temp did not seem to be moving, so moved smoker temp back to 260.
5. At 1 hr, 55 min; added butter soaked cheesecloth, but skin already very dark. Raised temp back to 275--also moved the thermometer from thigh to breast at this time.
6. At 2:45 hrs, breast temp already at 160, and turkey skin very dark; so removed from smoker, double checked breast temp with a new digital thermometer (confirmed 160) but thigh still at 160 too. Covered breast in aluminum foil and put in in 325 oven for 24 more minutes; but thigh still only 165.
7. Cut legs and thighs off & back in the oven, while I enjoyed the breast.
APPRECIATE ANY IDEAS AND CRITIQUES ON WHAT I NEED TO DO DIFFERENTLY.

10/14/139:30 AM

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padrefan98Member

I am no turkey expert. But the glaring thing that jumps out at me is letting it rest in the fridge overnight after you rinsed it. Was the breast still moist?

I do a lot of whole chickens and find spatchcocked works really well. Wondering if it would be the same for a turkey?

10/14/139:49 AM

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torchMember

Thanks, I'll relook the overnight airing; but I thought I read that in several places.

10/14/139:52 AM

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torchMember

Forgot to mention that the breast remained moist right up to the end of cooking

10/14/139:54 AM

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maxqMember

Tally, I read through your post twice. It appears everything you did was within norms. The dark skin may be due to the type of wood and amount you used. Which wood and how much did you use? My preference for poultry is apple and I'm pretty stingy with it...maybe 3 ounces for bird that size.

Once you have decent color, go ahead and add the cheesecloth.

Down in the turkey section of the forum, are annual feedback reports. Give them a peek to compare. HEREis the last one.

10/14/1311:43 AM

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pagsMember

I make life simple and smoke whole turkey breasts. No legs or wings to worry about. Brine, smoke, perfect every time. I don't lift the skin for spice, just on the outside. Buttered cheesecloth. Moist and flavorful.

Turkey is like 2 different animals. Even in the oven...a short window for having moist breast when the legs/wings finally are ready.

10/14/1312:05 PM

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Former Member

You can also cook the whole bird monitoring the breast. When the breast is done, seperate the legs and thighs and put them back in. You just lose the visual effect of the whole bird.

10/14/1312:15 PM

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cal 2Member

Leave the smoker at 275* and start out with the butter soaked cheese clothe on the bird. At 2 hrs either put a stick of butter on the cheese clothe or spray the cheese cloth with butter flavored pam.

At 2 3/4 hours take the cheese clothe off and put the probe in the turkeys breast, pull the turkey when it hits 160*, should be about 3 1/4 hrs...

You won't need to tell em your an expert!

PS...make sure your clothe is not on the internal probe/sensor.Make sure your bottom grate is as close to the fire box as you can get it.

10/14/1312:37 PM

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olysmokesMember

I have found a light coating of the skin with mayonnaise + some rub before smoking makes for golden brown skin. Works well with chicken skin also. The Mayo trick does not give crisy skin (need higher temp to do that), but it does give skin a nice color if that's what is important to you.
I agree with GaryT's comment on separating breast from other pieces and letting those cook a bit longer. Temperature is what I care about - not presentation.

10/14/131:29 PM

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olysmokesMember

quote:
Originally posted by Padrefan98:
I am no turkey expert.
I do a lot of whole chickens and find spatchcocked works really well. Wondering if it would be the same for a turkey?

Padrefan98, Can you explain what "spatchcock" is? Do you split at backbone or split at breast and then open up and lay 'flat'? Thanks.

10/14/131:33 PM

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torchMember

Thanks for all the comments & appreciate the recommendations. They will really help. Will implement changes & give it another try. But first, going to try some ribs and a Boston butt. Bt the way, I used slightly less than 3 ounces of applewood.

10/14/132:54 PM

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cal 2Member

Hopefully it turns out something like this....

10/14/132:58 PM

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padrefan98Member

I remove the backbone and the breastbone. Instead of explaining it, I found this easy to follow proceedure for spatchcocking a bird. I like to brine mine after removal of the bones. I can get two birds submerged in one pan a lot easier. Or place them in a freezer bag with the brine.

http://www.cookthink.com/refer...spatchcock_a_chicken

10/14/134:31 PM

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joemMember

quote:
Originally posted by Padrefan98:
I remove the backbone and the breastbone. Instead of explaining it, I found this easy to follow proceedure for spatchcocking a bird. I like to brine mine after removal of the bones. I can get two birds submerged in one pan a lot easier. Or place them in a freezer bag with the brine.

http://www.cookthink.com/refer...spatchcock_a_chicken

Or you could just go to Smokin's Spatchcoking 101 under the Turkey Tab.

10/14/138:18 PM

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joemMember

In Brining 101 Smokin covers cures in brines.

I use cures when brining poultry for two reasons (1)food safety and (2)color.
A little bit goes a long way.

10/14/138:25 PM

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torchMember

Thanks to everyone for the info. Cal;
1. so air drying in the fridge (after brining) was okay?
2. I put the bird directly on the lower rack, no pan. Is this correct?
3. I put bird in and then set temp to 275. Should I have let temp get up to 275 before adding the turkey?

10/15/1310:18 AM

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cal 2Member

quote:
Originally posted by TallyTorch:
Thanks to everyone for the info. Cal;
1. so air drying in the fridge (after brining) was okay?
2. I put the bird directly on the lower rack, no pan. Is this correct?
3. I put bird in and then set temp to 275. Should I have let temp get up to 275 before adding the turkey?

1. Yes, probably the best way in a small electric. It will help with the skin. If using an FEC, it doesn't need done.

2.Yes, this will get the legs done closer to the time of the breast. Like I said make sure you are careful about the internal probe/sensor. If you get into it, it will cause the cook to go faster.

3. I've done it both ways and got tired of getting smoke in my eyes.

I just start with a cold smoker when using the electric.

4. 3ozs of wood is about right(1oz of Cherry,1oz of Oak and 1oz of hickory or pecan)or that's what we like. Lots of smoke at the start,so this is why I use the clothe 1st in the electric and remove towards the end. Can be done the other way if you are using a FEC.

Good luck and keep us updated on your next try, love seeing folks practice for an important day like Thanksgiving. Some will wait till the last minute and wonder why their turkey didn't turn out excellent.