Hickory Smoked Turkey

Saucy Sue · November 2005

I have a 24# turkey with a dry brine consisting of brown sugar, kosher salt, garlic powder and thyme on it. I know that it will fit in my BGE with a platesetter. I want to really smoke it. I plan to wash off the brine before I cook it, and let it dry well. I will load the grill to the top with the lump and some big chunks of hickory, put a pan of water on the platesetter, and the turkey on top of the grill on a v rack. If I set up my BBQ guru, do I do it long and slow, like 225 or so? I am after a nice smokey taste with a nice pick color of the smoked meat. Any suggestions?

fishlessman · November 2005

Saucy Sue,
one of the best tasting smoked birds ive done was in a metal smoker at those temps over a water pan. the flavor was great, the texture of a bird smoked at these temps is soft, moist, but gummy. i make a few of these during fishing trips when i wont be around to cook the bird during the day. i prefer the bird cooked or roasted in the mid 300's for texture though and its the way ill cook on tday. ive been using pecan pellets soaked and wrapped in tin foil and some scattered in during the cook. hickory may be a little bitter for this. expect the bird to be very pink near the bones in the breast (looks under cooked). and the legs will need to be thrown back on at a higher temp to finish things up. if cooked at roasting temps, i use pecan pellets and just a little cherry wood for smoke, been thinkig of trying the guava wood this year with a little cherry.

Unknown · November 2005

Saucy Sue, Unless you included a cure in your brine, I would not recommend smoking at 24 pound turkey at 225ºF. At this low of cooking temperature, a bird that size will spend too much time in the danger zone between 40º-140ºF. I would kick the heat up to at least 275ºF if not higher.[p]Lager,[p]Juggy

Chicago Wine Geek · November 2005

Saucy Sue wrote:

I have a 24# turkey with a dry brine consisting of brown sugar, kosher salt, garlic powder and thyme on it. I know that it will fit in my BGE with a platesetter. I want to really smoke it. I plan to wash off the brine before I cook it, and let it dry well. I will load the grill to the top with the lump and some big chunks of hickory, put a pan of water on the platesetter, and the turkey on top of the grill on a v rack. If I set up my BBQ guru, do I do it long and slow, like 225 or so? I am after a nice smokey taste with a nice pick color of the smoked meat. Any suggestions?

What in the world is a "dry" brine? Wouldn't that be a rub?

stike · November 2005

Juggy D Beerman,
it's the surface of the bird that you need to worry about, and the surface of the inner cavity.[p]if there's no stuffing, the exposed surface microbes (where the danger is) will be in a 225 environment with no problem.[p]the temperature of the meat interior is not the temp you go by. if it were ground meat, then there'd be a concern.[p]see the post down below, regarding safe time/temp exposure. it finally made sense to me after reading the explanation.[p]

Unknown · November 2005

stike, With all due respect, I beg to differ. I can't find one reputable site on the internet that claims slow smoking a turkey is a safe thing to do. Both the USDA and the Canadian government web-sites both warn against slow cooking a turkey. As a matter of fact, both sources recommend a cooking temperature of 325ºF minimum.[p]Aside from the safety issues, there is no benefit taste wise or tender wise in slow smoking a turkey. I guess I am still gun shy. I had food poisoning from BBQed chicken 25 years ago and I have been over cautious ever since.[p]Lager,[p]Juggy
[ul][li]Canadian Food safety Site[/ul]

drbbq · November 2005

I'm with you Juggy,
It's NOT just about the outside. Maybe cook it low for an hour to get a good pink color and then raise the temp to at least 275 and for that big one I'd say 300-325.[p]It's just not worth the risk.
Buy a small one while they're cheap and try brining and slow smoking that one.

Hickory Smoked Turkey

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