Turkey Smoke

g8golfer

Going to try a spatchcock turkey this year because my MIL turkey is way to dry. I’m going to try Malcolm Reed’s recipe but was wondering if I should use pecan wood? Malcolm uses pecan pellets when he did his YouTube video. I’m not that experienced with smoking so I don’t want to go over board and overpower the turkey. If so should I use chips or chunks? If not pecan any other wood you might suggest? 

theyolksonyou

Pecan or fruit.  A little goes a long way on poultry 

JohnnyTarheel

I like apple..

northGAcock

Maple 🍁 is good.

StillH2OEgger

Cherry is relatively mild, but tastes great and adds wonderful color to the bird.

55Kevy

+1 for cherry.

lousubcap

+2 for cherry.  Nails the mahogany color every time. 

littlerascal56

Cherry gives this color.  Pecan will be lighter in color

Mickey

One handful mixed cherry-pecan 

oldgeezeystax

What's the approximate maximum bird size to fit on a Large after spatchcocking?

tarheelmatt

I went with a very small sliver of hickory.  

YukonRon

For Turkey, I prefer cherry. It provides an excellent flavor and makes an outstanding presentation when served.
I have used both maple and pecan, which both provided a delicious flavor, but the color was much lighter. With not as much browning.
Using any of them will get you a very tasty bird for the meal, though. Just a handful of chips or a chunk will do.

1911Man

I've found that the best turkey's to cook are always 'fresh' birds (or parts). The ones that are marked "frozen" on the label are far too salty for my tastes (or diet). I also use an even mix of sugar maple and black cherry for flavor wood. I use two or three chunks (depending on the size of the chunks) of each wood at the start of the cook and then don't add anything until it's done.

I'd also advise using a probe thermometer with the display outside the egg (I use one that connects to my cell phone so that I don't even need to look at it to see the current temp). Pull when it hits 165F and then let rest.

I've had best results with this combination in my BGE (medium) since I went to it. Earlier I tried to use the popper in the bird to be my guide. While it still works to confirm when it's done, the remote thermometer lets me know when it's either damn close, or ready to get pulled.

My earlier cooks on the BGE, I would add more flavor wood to the coals. Not anymore. I get a great flavor with just what I add at the start and it also means I'm not opening it up during the cook time.

My only 'issue' is the size of the medium BGE for what I'm cooking. The breast sections are no issue, but my size limit, on a whole bird, is 14# when smoking it. Not the 18# they claim.

BTW, when you're done eating the bird, save the skin and carcass and make smoked turkey soup out of it later. I've made one batch of that so far and will be making another before the end of the coming weekend. I'll also be saving the skin and carcass from this week's bird to make another batch later. Depending on how much smoke flavor you add to the bird while cooking, is how much you'll get in the soup. I've also found that the smoke smell is much stronger while the soup is cooking (or heating up later) than it tastes. I added some chicken thighs to the last batch of soup I made to give it some more meat. I did those on the grill to get rid of at least some of the fat, and used smoking chips in that cook to give it a bit more good flavor. I'll probably cook whatever I'm going to add to the coming batch on my BGE. More to get just a bit more smoke flavor into the soup this batch.

I just need to rig up the setup for the coming bird to make sure it doesn't drip into the coals and cause another flare-up (happened on the first turkey). I plan to get the setup with a large drip pan for use with the next turkey (or large amount of meat being smoked).

Brisket_Fanatic

I used peach wood chunks last weekend and it turned out amazing. I used 4 fist sized pieces

g8golfer

Brisket_Fanatic said:

I used peach wood chunks last weekend and it turned out amazing. I used 4 fist sized pieces

When did you decide to put the turkey on? Right after you put the wood chunks in the fire and it starts to smoke or do you let it smoke a 10-15 minutes then put the turkey on? 

StillH2OEgger

The easiest way to ruin a turkey on the BGE is too much smoke.

RRP

Here is something that works so all the folks sitting around the TD table can uniformly agree...instead of any type of wood I throw a large onion into the center of the burning lump just as I am putting my bird in my egg! Trust me - the onion trick works and will even drive your neighbors nuts from the delicious smelling smoke coming from your yard!

g8golfer

RRP said:

Here is something that works so all the folks sitting around the TD table can uniformly agree...instead of any type of wood I throw a large onion into the center of the burning lump just as I am putting my bird in my egg! Trust me - the onion trick works and will even drive your neighbors nuts from the delicious smelling smoke coming from your yard!

Just a whole yellow or white onion? 

RRP

g8golfer said:

RRP said:

Here is something that works so all the folks sitting around the TD table can uniformly agree...instead of any type of wood I throw a large onion into the center of the burning lump just as I am putting my bird in my egg! Trust me - the onion trick works and will even drive your neighbors nuts from the delicious smelling smoke coming from your yard!

Just a whole yellow or white onion? 

Either one works and the bigger the better. Just don't use one that is showing any sign of rotting. I have never had a sweet onion to try in November so I have no opinion on those.

Brisket_Fanatic

g8golfer said:

Brisket_Fanatic said:

I used peach wood chunks last weekend and it turned out amazing. I used 4 fist sized pieces

When did you decide to put the turkey on? Right after you put the wood chunks in the fire and it starts to smoke or do you let it smoke a 10-15 minutes then put the turkey on? 

I let the white billowing smoke clear until it’s a nice thin blue and has a pleasant smell.  Hold your hand over the smoke for a few seconds then pull you hand away and smell.  If it smells like you want to eat it then your good. If the smoke smells bad then it will Flavor you food with the same bad.