Smoked turkey - I need a good recipe

Unknown · March 2007

I'm still looking for a recipe to smoke a whole turkey. I've made the MAD MAX recipe and really like it (but it's more like an oven roasted turkey -- not a smoked one). Now I'd like to try a really smoky one. Can anyone point me to a good recipe?

stike · March 2007

markymark,
you'd just add more smoke....[p]turkey is mild enough that smoke really stands out. it doesn't "absorb" more smoke than anything else, it just can taste really smokey.[p]turkey isn't really cut out for low and slow, if that's what you mean by not wanting an oven roasted bird. it's just not that kind of meat (not high in collagen and fat).[p]i know some folks do chicken very lo, say 250 for maybe 6 hours. don't know how that would translate to turkey. would be very long. [p]i guess i'd suggest still roasting it (higher temps, shorter time) but smoking the bejeezus out of it if that's what you want. smoke flavors meat no matter what time or temp, or how long into the cook you add it. so you could mix a lot of chips in to the lump, or keep adding during the cook.

fishlessman · March 2007

markymark,
ive done hundreds between 225 and 250 in my old bullet style smoker over a water pan. for safety reasons go 250 degrees and i would still use the water pan in the egg. go by internal temps, not time, i have had 18 pounders take15 hours but thats is because i went fishing and didnt come back for 15 hours, still very moist, it gets a gummy texture which is not like roasted turkey. an easier way to get things timed is to smoke at 225 to 250 for about 5 or 6 hours then crank the heat up to 300/325 til done. my old bullet smoker had very inacurate gages so idont know the real temps (i just cooked it as low as i could get it without the propane flame going out) it was not a safe practice) 250 degrees and make sure not to put anything in the cavity so that you get heat in there would be safer. slow cooked turkey isnt the safest way to cook a turkey and i dont do this anymore. pecan pellets is what i have always used

thirdeye · March 2007

<p />markymark,[p]In order to truly smoke turkey (or chicken) you need to prepare a curing brine and go with lower pit temperatures. The cure and salt will allow you to safely do this. The characteristics of the white meat verses the dark meat is different, so I wind up butchering them like this. You can do whole birds, I just get better results and control with halves.[p][p]You need to experiment on the brine times for both leg quarters and breasts to get the saltiness, texture and flavor right for your tastes. DON'T worry about the pink color of the breast meat. It is from the curing agents. The brine will allow the breast meat to stay moist. The cure has an additional effect on the dark meat (because of the fat content), it will change texture to something more like ham. It is my favorite.[p]For turkey breasts I brine 48 hours and I brine the dark meat a bit longer. Smoking time varies, but at 250° at the grate, smoke time is 4 hours or so. I rely on internal temp readings more than time. Of course whole birds will take longer if you go that route.[p]The link below will take you to my cookin' site. The Turkey section has a drumstick page which has the brine I use for all poultry (I just brine less time for chicken), and the breast page shows some prep work I like to do. Experiment with the time in the brine. Don't tweak the strength of the brine or change the amount of cure too much, unless you use more, otherwise you defeat the purpose of curing. Adding other spices or aromatics is okay.[p]One work of warning, when smoking poultry you will not get crisp skin like you do when roasting or grilling .... but the rewards are under the skin.[p]~thirdeye~ [p]
[ul][li]Click Here[/ul]

fishlessman · March 2007

thirdeye,
i wonder if the kosher birds have enough salt to keep them safe during a low heat cook, after cooking them thru the years we found the frozen kosher birds to be much better smoked than the fresh birds.

Unknown · March 2007

fishlessman,
Thanks for the ideas. This is actually going to be a salted kosher turkey (hopefully fresh). Can anyone else comment on whether or not it still has to be brined?

Unknown · March 2007

Seems to be different opinions on "low and slow" vs "just add more smoke". Anyone else want to weigh in?

John · March 2007

What kind of wood chips?[p]Any other opinion on Long and slow vs. 350 degrees?[p]

Unknown · March 2007

john,[p]If you do low and slow, you'd best be careful that it's 100% cooked when done. A L&S turkey spends a lot of time at lower temps, where bad things (bacteria, salmonella, etc.) will mulitply tremendously. These things die at higher temps, but if there are parts of the turkey not cooked all the way through, you could have some very sick guests on your hands. Safer to cook at 325+[p]

Not Sirius · March 2007

markymark,
If the bird is kosher, then do not brine it. In essence, it has already been brined. Best to add a not-too-salty rub (preferably under the skin) shortly before smoking. My opinion is that you can get a tasty bird at either 250 degrees or at a higher temperature, but that it will absorb more smoky flavor at 250.

fishlessman · March 2007

markymark,
i dont think many here have done low and slow turkeys, the lowest safe cooking temp according to govt standards is 325 for a whole not stuffed turkey.

stike · March 2007

john,[p]
i just personally have never done a turkey lo and slow because i like crisp skin, and we usually are around for the whole cook and can manage it in a few hours (rather than stretching the cook like fishless does in order to go off for a while). either is valid, but i can't express a pref since i have only done 350/375 temps.[p]i gathered that the reason was for smoke flavor only. you could certainly add a ton of smoke flavor to a turkey without going with a long cook.[p]

thirdeye · March 2007

fishlessman,[p]I really don't know, we can't get true kosher birds out here in the sticks. My granny would "kosher" fresh killed birds in a salt water bucket, but that was really to help extract blood.[p]You know, since the older methods of curing/brining/smoking are no longer required strictly for preservation, I guess what we are really doing is keeping some of the best attributes of those methods so we can enjoy whatever food we use these methods on. The use of salt alone or with additives gives us so many choices to explore. The one common point in the six or eight books I have on curing, preserving and smoking is that you need to figure out what method gives you the end result you are after. With smoked chicken or turkey for example, Mrs thirdeye likes a saltier & smokier product than I do. We are about even when it comes to something like the buckboard or smoked shanks. For sausages, she always prefers my fresh recipes over the ones I cure and smoke.[p]I think my brines are middle-of-the-road, stronger than just a flavor brine you might use for an hour or two on chops or breasts ..... and weaker than the hard brines or picklings used for cold smoking.[p]I have never had any issues with nitrates or nitrites, and actually like some of their benefits other than preservation so I use them even when I am not cold smoking.[p]~thirdeye~[p]

stike · March 2007

markymark,
i guess my question is, what do you mean by 'smoke' a turkey?[p]you thinking like pulled pork? hot smoking? cold smoking? smokey taste?[p]what is the desired result?

Unknown · March 2007

markymark,
am i reading this correctly in the responses below, that it is unsafe to cook a turkey breast at 250 degrees or low-n-slow? or is it just unsafe to l-n-s a whole turkey?[p]i've done three breasts on the egg at 250 since i got it and i seem ok... i think.[p]is the fear the 40 to 140 degree for 4 hours thing?

stike · March 2007

Rick's Tropical Delight,
no fear here. bacteria is on the outside, not inside the meat. and the outside hits 140 very quickly... even at 250.[p]frankly, with turkey, i'd worry about e. coli on your spinach more than the turkey[p]

Unknown · March 2007

stike,
cool... cause i plan on doing this cook several hundred more times!
it sure would be silly if low-n-slow smoking a turkey in the world's best smoker was unsafe especially since the logo shows a whole turkey on the egg! hahahaaaa[p][p][p]<img src=http://my.erinet.com/~pnsonr/biggreenegg/05nov06_2-009.jpg>

BigT · March 2007

fishlessman,[p]I shudder now at how many times we risked food poisoning cooking stuffed birds in the Cook'nCajun water smoker- but oh that smoked stuffing was the best part. [p]I will have to figure out how to get the smoke/drippings right on dressing cooked in a seperate pan.[p]Our water smoker cooks also took an hour+ a pound in the Thanksgiving / Xmas chill.[p]Still have the CC but the Egg gets all the use now.[p]BigT [p][p]

stike · March 2007

Rick's Tropical Delight,
i'm paraphrasing, though. i get into enough trouble here with folks thinking i'm advocating loosey goosey food handling.[p]just don't want you to think anything goes....[p]

Unknown · March 2007

stike,
it was turkey, not goose[p]and they were to 160 internal at 4:44 so i ain't skeered

Unknown · March 2007

Rick's Tropical Delight,
Which thermometer are you using in this turkey?
Thanks

Unknown · March 2007

mukl,
the top two used the bbq guru probe and then a thermapen for verification. the bottom one used two acu-rite remote thermometers.

fishlessman · March 2007

<p />BigT,
i dont like stuffing not cooked in a bird either. after thanksgiving i made myself this one, it was roasted , not low and slow and it was great, im still alive as well. the cork screw kept the stuffing from getting too smokey while allowing the turkey to take some good smoke. this was a small bird and cooked pretty quickly

BigT · March 2007

fishlessman,[p]Don't let Sundown see that picture. j/k lol[p]That corkscrew looks like just the thing for field expedient suturing...[p]BigT

Smoked turkey - I need a good recipe

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