First attempt to Smoke a Turkey - This weekend!

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Jim

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I scored a cheap 15 pound turkey and decided that this is the weekend to experiment with the smoker. The plan is to Brine it Friday Morning and throw it on the smoker around noon on Saturday.

Any tips?
 
I've never done one. I did eat a few of my father-in-laws mistakes. :)

It is very hard to keep the heat low enough. The final solution for him, almost as good as store bought was to only smoke the turkey in the smoker for a couple of hours and then finish cooking it in the oven. They were always good once he started doing it that way.

Some may call that cheating but if it works it works.
 
we smoke our for around 5 hours and the temp ranges around 275 to 300 propane smoker we add apple juice to the water pan tey come out awesome but fresh turkey is much better than a frozen one
 
I smoked a couple of boneless breast a couple of weeks before Thanksgiving as a test. They were OK but not great. Everything else I have put on the smoker has been fantastic and I always want more along with the rest of my family and friends. The turkey breast did not leave me wanting so we ended up with traditional turkey for Thanksgiving cooked by the wife.
 
[url=https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=336720#p336720 said:
redbug » Tue Dec 17, 2013 4:57 pm[/url]"]we smoke our for around 5 hours and the temp ranges around 275 to 300 propane smoker we add apple juice to the water pan tey come out awesome but fresh turkey is much better than a frozen one


I need dates and times please :)
 
[url=https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=336744#p336744 said:
Captain Ahab » Wed Dec 18, 2013 7:11 am[/url]"]
[url=https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=336720#p336720 said:
redbug » Tue Dec 17, 2013 4:57 pm[/url]"]we smoke our for around 5 hours and the temp ranges around 275 to 300 propane smoker we add apple juice to the water pan tey come out awesome but fresh turkey is much better than a frozen one


I need dates and times please :)
if this weather breaks I am sure we will have one for Christmas dinner
 
[url=https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=336752#p336752 said:
redbug » Wed Dec 18, 2013 8:18 am[/url]"]
[url=https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=336744#p336744 said:
Captain Ahab » Wed Dec 18, 2013 7:11 am[/url]"]
[url=https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=336720#p336720 said:
redbug » Tue Dec 17, 2013 4:57 pm[/url]"]we smoke our for around 5 hours and the temp ranges around 275 to 300 propane smoker we add apple juice to the water pan tey come out awesome but fresh turkey is much better than a frozen one


I need dates and times please :)
if this weather breaks I am sure we will have one for Christmas dinner


So what time on the 25th? I might bring guests! Lots of guests!
 
Smoke the turkey between 250 and 275 about 25-30 minutes per pound. I normally pull mine off around 155ish internal temp and let it rest (losely covered) for awhile. Final temp will be around the recommended 165 temp. The brine is a great idea I would also give it a good rubing of your favorite spices and baste it at least every hour.

Good luck and thet us know how it turns out.
 
Unless it's a fresh turkey it has been injected with saline solution at the plant where it was killed. Soak it in a bucket of fresh water and ice over night to extract factory solution .Take it out of the water and let it drain good and air out till it's pretty dry . When you make your brine, replace some of the water with 100% natural Apple Cider . Add what ever you want to your brine , bay leaves , onion , thyme . I mix my brine 1C salt Kosher , 1C brown sugar , to 1 gallon of liquid (water or cider) . When you mix your brine you want to taste some of everything you put in it. I like to inject some brine to make sure it reaches everything . Cold poultry fat doesnt allow it to soak in as good as it should. Place said bird into a trash bag and pour brine into the bag . Squeeze out all the air and tie the bag closed and place it in a cooler or fridge for up to 3 days . Remove it from the bag and rinse it off . Place it on the smoker and cook it till the temp. reaches 160 take it off let it rest and cool so you can slice it . If you don't have time for all this , bring your brine to a simmer . Sink the thawed bird in it and simmer for about 30 minutes , remove and smoke. I like to smoke everything low and slow (180 - 200 ) to retain all the moisture in the meat.
 
Thanks for the tips.

Plan so for because it has to be on the smoker by noon for sure…..

1, Get home tonight and rinse/wash Turkey to remove whatever I Can.
2, Tomorrow morning around 5AM it will go into my Brine Mixture
3, Saturday around 11:30AM I will take it out of the Brine and pat dry it. Rub it with a seasoning mix and drop it on smoker.

Because I have the Weber WSM cooker I will fill the pan with apple juice and water.

What did I miss?
 
I'd use Apple Cider in the brine .
Since this sounds like your first attempt , I'd rinse it when you pull it from the brine. If you think it could have been saltier don't rinse it the next time. Don't over smoke it , all you want coming out of the smoker is a thin blue line of smoke. You may not think you are getting enough smoke , but if you can put your hand above the smoke stack for a couple seconds and it comes back smelling of smoke , your good.
 
[url=https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=336844#p336844 said:
Jim » Thu Dec 19, 2013 3:06 pm[/url]"]Cider it is! Thanks!
I use 100% apple juice in the water pan
 
[url=https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=336815#p336815 said:
Jim » Thu Dec 19, 2013 7:34 am[/url]"]Thanks for the tips.

Plan so for because it has to be on the smoker by noon for sure…..

1, Get home tonight and rinse/wash Turkey to remove whatever I Can.
2, Tomorrow morning around 5AM it will go into my Brine Mixture
3, Saturday around 11:30AM I will take it out of the Brine and pat dry it. Rub it with a seasoning mix and drop it on smoker.

Because I have the Weber WSM cooker I will fill the pan with apple juice and water.

What did I miss?



What time is dinner? Will there be fishing ionvoved?


Cab BassAddict come with - he likes to eat especially if it is free #-o
 
[url=https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=336886#p336886 said:
Jim » Fri Dec 20, 2013 6:58 am[/url]"]Drop off MY boat and head over today. We can Pike fish the Sudbury River.


On my way :mrgreen:
 
Jim,
I have used the apple juice in the water pan method many times, I firmly believe that it is a waste of money. You are basically creating apple juice concentrate in the pan by boiling/evaporating off the water. You are much better off spritzing your meat directly with apple juice and using plain water in the pan.
 

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