Skip to main content

14 replies

Turkey Time

FM Former Member
With Thanksgiving right around the corner, it's time to start planning the dinner. I am curious as to everyone's thoughts on turkey. How do you like to serve your holiday turkeys? Do you serve with mashed taters and gravy? I haven't had great luck making gravy from smoked meat drippins, as the gravy tends to have a bitter smoke flavor. Any thoughts here? What other dishes might make a nice accompaniment to smoked turkey?

On another note, some friends have asked me to smoke turkeys for them. Has anyone had any experience reheating cooked, uncarved turkeys? If so, what would you recommend as far as procedure/times/temps?

Finally, I have read over the posts on this forum on brining. What does everyone think? I am leaning towards trying Smokin's honey brine, but does anyone else have a favorite brine? Also, some posts have recommended adding apples or something else in the body cavity to keep the bird moist. Is this necessary with a brined bird, and if so, what do you like to add?

I've been cooking on my cookshack for a couple of years now, and am able to turn out great food, but this is the first time I've really gone after turkey. Any tips to save me some trial and error are greatly appreciated.

Finally, happy Thanksgiving to everyone! I think that with the events of the last few months, we have a lot to be thankful for. I am thankful for good friends, family, and living in the best country in the world! Oh, yeah, and Q!
Original Post

Replies sorted oldest to newest

T tomMember
Mornin',BQ Matt.

This should get you started and maybe some of our vendors and caterers will finish it up.

I don't try to reheat whole turkeys very often,although breasts are simple enough.

After you take them out of your cooker,loosely tent with foil for about 20 mins.

Wrap double in heavy duty foil and refrigerate.

Brick,on another forum ,offered instructions from an online meat shop.

They recommend placing in a 325� conventional oven in the foil for an average of 10 mins./lb.

If they have a probe thermometer,they would want to bring the bird back above 140�.

Some may wish to serve them cold ,which is excellent.

I also agree about skipping gravy from smoked drippings.Any good cookbook will offer an alternative.

I'd try Smokin's brine and make adjustments the next time out.

It is pretty traditional and has given good success to many on the forum.

The aromatics in the cavity would be more for flavor than for moistness and they are a personal choice.

Hope this helps a little.
FM Former Member
Here's how I'm going to do it.

Brine the turkey for 24 hours using a variation of smokin's Turkey bine.

Turkey Brine
1 gal water
1 cup kosher salt
2 tbls tender quick (1 oz)
1 cup Honey
3 bay leaves
1/4 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp sage
Brinq to boil then cool

soak 24 hours then rinse very
well. Cook for about 20 min/lbs @ 225

Take the turkey to 170 internal breast temp.


As the turkey is nearing completion, cube some potatoes and julianne some carrots. Put potatoes and carrots in dutch oven (I use a #12 Deep and pack it full), season with a little pepper then drizzle about 1 cup extra strong chicken broth (3 bullion cubes per cup of water). Bullion makes the potatoes taste like they were cooked with the turkey. Cook at 350 for a little more than 1 hr until carrots are tender.

Make the gravy using chicken broth (I usually make this broth a little stronger also), milk, butter, salt & Pepper to taste, thicken with corn starch desolved in hot water. Sorry the gravy isn't a measured receipe, I just throw it together in the pan till it looks good. Using the chicken broth and butter seems to duplicate what you loose by not using the turkey drippings.

To serve discard the turkey skin, slice and enjoy. I can't wait Big Grin

Hope this helps, made me hungry just thinking about it.
FM Former Member
Make sure you check out Brining 101, I put several Brine recipes in there (go over to the Open Forum to find it). My current thoughts are if you're comfortable with food safety, you don't need to go the tenderquick route.

If you haven't "practiced" a brine, DO IT. Don't chance the big day on your first time. Just do a breast this weekend and see how that goes.

Smokin'
FM Former Member
Our first bird was a dud. We will try a brine reciepe from 101, that might help a little. We tried an old brine that I had used before and it left too much salt in the bird. However, with turkey at $.75/# (young bird) and Boston Butt at $.99/#, we won't master turkey anytime soon. We had a 12# bird on for 7.5 hours and it only reached 162 degrees. I know its done when its done, but supper is at 6:00! These cook times really have us stumped.
T tomMember
Mornin',Chunkwood.

Your time doesn't seem too far off at 225�,unbrined.

I have several things going on,so Sunday I cooked a 15 pounder to store till Thursday.

I brined 24 hrs. and cooked at 250�,both of which will decrease cooking times.

I used a brine closer to Bigwheel's,since I was injecting with similar flavors.

I didn't use Tenderquick and really rinsed well for salt.

I also use no salt in my rub or in the cavity.

I use a probe in the breast and also deep in the thigh.

I don't always get great readings in turkeys,so when the breast is reading 150� I open up and check several places with an instaread.

Since it was brined,I let it go to about 165� in the breast ,which brought the thigh to almost 180�.

I foil tented it for 45 mins. and then cut off the two breast halves and the two leg quarters,and picked the scraps for dressing and gravy.

I Foodsavered them in three separate bags, that I had to double paper towel,because there was so much juice they wouldn't seal. Big Grin

Hope this helps some.
FM Former Member
quote:
Originally posted by ChunkWood:
[qb]Our first bird was a dud. We will try a brine reciepe from 101, that might help a little. We tried an old brine that I had used before and it left too much salt in the bird. [/qb]


Hi, ChunkWood,

I hope I am misunderstanding you! You say that you used "an old brine that I had used before" -- please tell me you don't mean that you kept it and used the same brine a second time!

Donna
FM Former Member
I have always smoked turkey the same way: rinse it, dry it, rub skin and cavity with mayonnaise, add some Cookshack Spicy Chicken Rub, and smoke about 8 - 10 hours at 200 degrees. Works great.

This year I am going to try brining. Smokin's brined chicken breasts have made a believer out of me. I am reading this thread with great interest as I am new to brining. Sounds pretty easy so far.

Donna
FM Former Member
Thanks everyone for the pointers. This bird was brined for 24 hrs. Donna, it was an old recipe that I used not an old brine. That did sound a little gross the way I wrote that. Bet you didn't want to come to my house for dinner did ya? We have alot of work to do cooking turkey before we call it a success. This Thanksgiving we will do a 14# whole sirloin roast. Thanks again for the help.
FM Former Member
quote:
Originally posted by ChunkWood:
[qb]snip- This Thanksgiving we will do a 14# whole sirloin roast. Thanks again for the help.[/qb]


Go ez on the smoke, sirloin is a sponge. Now I know; did them as steaks last week, they looked Great, good color that sweet pinkish-gray-red inside, brownish-gray on the outside. texture melted in mouth, moisture perfect, but oversmoked it, ouch, a little bit can go a long way.

Q,
Lamar
FM Former Member
Brining is the hot technique these days. There was an article about it in the NY Times not to long ago and a brief mention in today's article about turkey cooking technique. I've had nothing but excellent results brining and smoking and my neighbor ,who is a true gourmet cook will not cook a turkey without brining first. It is the easiest way I know to almost guarantee a moist bird. Go for it!!

Add Reply

Post

Membership Required

We're sorry. You must be signed in to continue. Sign In or Register
×
Are you sure you want to remove from your Block List?
×
Loading...
×
When you block a person, they can no longer invite you to a private message or post to your profile wall. Replies and comments they make will be collapsed/hidden by default. Finally, you'll never receive email notifications about content they create or likes they designate for your content.
Note: if you proceed, you will no longer be following .
×
Link copied to your clipboard.
×