smoking a 12# turkey Sunday...suggestions?

AUCE

Going to low and slow a lil bird sunday. Smoked bigger birds before but not in the bge.
Any suggestions for prep, injections etc.? Wanna home run..having a few friends over. 2 potential converts...Like to also do some sides on the bge...love carrots and green beans in drip pan with water but thinking I want to keep drippings for gravy. But theyll be smokey so maybe not...
Also wood suggestions. Historically used apple or hickory.
Estimated cook times???

tarheelmatt

Never done a low and slow turkey, personally.  Always go about 350° and takes about 2-3 hours for a 13lb bird.  

I brine the bird first with salt, peppercorns, brown sugar, orange peel, garlic, thyme, sage, and lemon peel.  

I believe I added one small chunk of hickory to last bird and it came out very subtle, which I liked.  Drippings will be a smokey, but I felt gave the gravy a different twist.  I made two gravy in case others didn't care for the smoked one.  

I am not a fan of the store bought injections.  Tastes funny to me.  

I do want to try a dry brine sometime instead of a wet.  

Foghorn

With poultry, a lot of smoke is not your friend.  Go easy on the wood and if you have options for your lump, go with the mildest one. 

As long as you cook to temperature (160 in breast, 180 in the thigh) it will be a home run as most people are used to overcooked turkey.  So, I usually put the breast toward the front of the grill and the dark meat toward the back where it is hotter.  Some people take the turkey out of the fridge and put ziplocks with ice cubes on the breasts in order to get the temperature gradient before you even put it on the grill. 

tailg8ers

You will be hooked on the smoked turkey!!!  We've done 4 and not gonna put another bird in anything but the BGE!  The last 2 we used cherry wood chips - great flavor!  As for the bird itself - used my dad's simple set up - a Vidaila onion, 2 stalks celery and stick of butter in the cavity - rub your turkey down with butter and salt and pepper - let the smoke add some extra flavor.  We put some chicken stock in the drip pan and sometimes add a little white wine.  I hove found that the less meaty parts get a little dry - so you may want to wrap some foil around the legs and wings. 
My brother said the one we did at Thanksgiving was better the day after with the smoke flavor really setting it off.

lilwooty

We do raised direct at 400.  Takes about 2 hours or so for a bird your size.  Last one I did was with an injection of 1 stick melted butter, 1 cup apple juice, 1 cup chicken broth and some swamp venom rub.  Let the skin dry out overnight the day before in the fridge. Then rubbed the whole bird with more swamp venom.  The end result was awesome.

SeahawksEGGHead

Spatchcock = homerun.  I did a small 10lb turkey riased direct at 450-ish, took an hour and ten minutes for the breast to reach IT of 160.  Added a chunk or two of hickory for some subtle smoke, and it turned out moist and delicious.  No injection, no brine, just rub is with EVOO, S&P, rosemary and thyme.  I keep it simple.  My small family killed half the bird in one sitting, and leftovers didn't last very long.  My 2 cents.  Good luck.

Grillmagic

+1 on the spatched, it cooks faster and in my opinion tastes Great, I do bone in spatched turkey breasts indirect at 375/400 until 165/185 twice a month and most of them have been injected with 10/15 % (Brined kinda) I still brine them and also do a 1/2 hour clean soak in water after the brine and they come out great. We typically eat half and make soup out of the rest.

nolaegghead

Last 13 pound bird I cooked around 400-425 and it took around 1.5 hours.  If you cook at those temps, pull when the coolest part of the breast is around 140-145F.  Trust me on this, it will keep cooking after you pull to a perfect temp around 160.  @SGH and I also had a long conversation on the phone about how Turkey is routinely overcooked. 

That said, if you cook low and slow, you can pull at 150F breast temp.  Time is whenever it gets there.  I'd guess if you cooked at 250F it would take over 3 hours.

jak7028

No point in low and slow on a bird.  Keep it at 350 or above and pull it at temperatures stated above. You will get a nice moist bird with crisp skin. 

My wife hates turkey and was mad when I cooked one.  She is used to dry, overcooked birds that people serve at Thanksgiving.  She tried the BGE roasted bird and is already asking when I will do another one.  Even the breast were very juicy, with a very light smoke.

I did my 12 pounder whole on a roasting rack with handful of oak chips for smoke.  Kept temp around 350 to 375 the whole time. 

blakeas

I did a 15lb bird last sunday.  I wanted to make up for the one I screwed up over thanksgiving so I did a 24 hour brine AND I injected with melted butter.  Came out fantastic but I don't know if it was the brining or injection?  I did 300 indirect with a drip pan for around 5 hours, did the ice bags for 1l2 hour on the breasts before I put it on, then pulled at 160.

lousubcap

If you want to get great color on the bird smoke with cherry wood-but as mentioned, not too much.  One chunk should do it.  FWIW-

jak7028

blakeas said:

I did a 15lb bird last sunday.  I wanted to make up for the one I screwed up over thanksgiving so I did a 24 hour brine AND I injected with melted butter.  Came out fantastic but I don't know if it was the brining or injection?  I did 300 indirect with a drip pan for around 5 hours, did the ice bags for 1l2 hour on the breasts before I put it on, then pulled at 160.

You pretty much can't go wrong with melted butter

AUCE

I'm assuming the ice slows the breast cooking to coincide with the thighs..

blind99

get a fresh turkey, Brine it overnight, rinse well and dry. (if you use a butterball, most are pre-brined, you can skip the brine.) rub on the skin and under the skin. Compound butter under the skin if you're feeling fancy. cook it indirect at 350-400, pull before it's overdone like @nolaegghead says.  One or two pieces of oak or pecan, skip the hickory.  Skip the ice bags.

 

tl;dr Keep it simple, and don't overcook it and it'll be awesome.

AUCE

I'm gonna smoke this one. I've always cooked oven birds at 250 all night..bigger bird yes but low and slow seems to hold moisture better..liquid runs outta the breast...previous smokes have been a bit higher..some turned out great some not..NONE on a BGE..

Hmmmmm decisions decisions...Keep the comments coming! I appreciate all thus far.. great idea's...

SeahawksEGGHead

AUCE said:

I'm gonna smoke this one. I've always cooked oven birds at 250 all night..bigger bird yes but low and slow seems to hold moisture better..liquid runs outta the breast...previous smokes have been a bit higher..some turned out great some not..NONE on a BGE..

Hmmmmm decisions decisions...Keep the comments coming! I appreciate all thus far.. great idea's...

Nothing holds moisture like a spatched turkey.  Just sayin'

BigKlu

I have done 3 turkeys or turkey breasts in the last month and family wants more.  I have always brined with onions, garlic brown sugar and kosher salt and after 24 hrs we inject with butter and a little seasoning mixed in  (your choice).  I have typically used apple wood and cooked @ 300.  I do season the outside of the bird and typically we like a little spice and garlic so we use our own seasoning.  Good Luck