TALKIN' TURKEY!! (The official/unofficial turkey thread)

Going to smoke a 17 lb turkey tomorrow at 300-325 shooting for 165 thigh and a little less in the breast if I get lucky. We plan on sitting down to eat approximately 1:00 PM. Ballpark wise can anyone tell me what time I should put the bird on the smoker? Thanks!

Smoking a whole turkey breast (the kind the looks like a whole turkey but no legs/wings) plus a single lobe to cover my crowd. I know that the single lobe will get done much sooner but about how long am I looking for the whole to get done if going in the 300+ temp range? I've not done one in some yrs so forget my times

Faston said:

Going to smoke a 17 lb turkey tomorrow at 300-325 shooting for 165 thigh and a little less in the breast if I get lucky. We plan on sitting down to eat approximately 1:00 PM. Ballpark wise can anyone tell me what time I should put the bird on the smoker? Thanks!

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I've got a 17 pounder as well. I'm going to light the fire.....(here's my master plan, at least)....at 6:00 am. I'd like the turkey to go on at 7:00.
When its done, its done.
There are a few GREAT posts here about how to "hold" a turkey that's finished cooking for hours. The way I see it, it's much easier to hold it, than it is to rush one to proper internal temp. This way, I can wait on my wife to cook the sides, as opposed my family waiting on me to cook the turkey. Last year we ate at 8:30. Nobody was happy at that point. :redface:

I'll have my cooler ready, with a half dozen towels in it, and a large pan of boiling water to pre-warm the cooler and towels. When the turkey is done, I'll put it breast side down in a cooking bag between thick layers of towels to keep it at temp (keeps the juices flowing toward the meat you're gunna eat).

Hope that helps!

Great, thanks Bob! That helps a lot, especially the idea or holding the turkey wrapped in towels in a cooler to make it easy to have the bird ready at dinner time. I also had the embarrassing experience of having the guests ready to eat and missing my target by 1.5 hours. I'll use your hold idea and get it right this year. Have a great turkey day!

You're very welcome!
I'd love to take credit for all that, but 99% of it I learned from the last couple pages of posts.

likeadeere said:

I read the whole thing. It's funny how no matter how many times I've cooked a turkey with great results, I'm always interested in new ideas. Thanks for taking the time to put that together. I'm gonna use some of your tips this Saturday for a cater job.

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I am with you! Thanks for posting

This will be my first time smoking a bird on my 22.5" kettle. I plan on using the fuse method with 2 chunks apple wood. I will probably use a deep dish pizza pan between the coals and bird to divert heat, and catch drippings below the grate. Now for 4 questions:

1) Bird is 12.75lbs, and is already "enhanced" to be juicier(wife bought it)...How long a cook at 350F?

2) If I put some chicken broth in the pan, can I also put the turkey giblets/neck in, too, for more flavor?

3) Some guys smear their birds with herb butter before putting them in the smoker. I guess it won't burn by the end of the cook?

4) Do you guys put your bird directly on the grate, or in a pan?
Thanks.

Roguejim said:

This will be my first time smoking a bird on my 22.5" kettle. I plan on using the fuse method with 2 chunks apple wood. I will probably use a deep dish pizza pan between the coals and bird to divert heat, and catch drippings below the grate. Now for 4 questions:

1) Bird is 12.75lbs, and is already "enhanced" to be juicier(wife bought it)...How long a cook at 350F?

I would imagine less than three hours.

2) If I put some chicken broth in the pan, can I also put the turkey giblets/neck in, too, for more flavor?

Sure ... more flavor.

3) Some guys smear their birds with herb butter before putting them in the smoker. I guess it won't burn by the end of the cook?

Works great. I just finished making my herb butter and will be smearing shortly. I like the results of this method in the past. If you do this make sure you get some under the skin on the meat.

4) Do you guys put your bird directly on the grate, or in a pan?

I would use a pain for additional heat diffusion and you will also capture the drippings if you want to make a smoky gravy.


Thanks.

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My responses in-line. Good luck!

I am doing a 22# on my Caldera tall boy. It is a tad cold here, so I smoked it for 4 1/2 hrs and then it went off to our oven to finish. The whole house smells AMAZING! Like having a smoker inside, but without the smoke!

Hey guys what's the longest I should hold a turkey? Temps got away from me a bit this morning and my 18 pounder got done in about half the time I was anticipating! This mixed with the fact that the in laws are chronically late for everything, I'm looking at having to hold the turkey in a cooler for up to 5 hours (hoping not that long but it wouldn't surprise me). Is that too long? Anything I can do? Thanks for any help!

Ryan

Cold day in Denver. 24 degrees. Gonna fire up the Primo 45 minutes earlier than planned to get the temp stable at about 325. Deflector plates, spatchcocked, apple cider brine with a small chunk of apple wood. Good luck to all.

It's sunny and 70 in St. Louis and I've got the windows in the house open.
Wonderful breeze flowing through the house.
Unfortunately, we're doing Turkey day tomorrow and it'll be 50 and raining. :sad:

13lb bird, smeared with herb-butter, smoked on Weber kettle at 350F over applewood chunks.

OK...Thanksgiving is now over, but I'm about to smoke two turkeys simply because I love turkey. Im sure this has been asked already but this is a LONG thread and Im about to start this bird. Im cooking one a stickburner for the very first time as well. Would I use aluminum pans for these birds to let them cook in, or is it best to just cook them right on the grates? Wouldn't the drippings in a pan that the turkey is sitting in help to moisturize it? Any thoughts? Pan or grate?

Save that "liquid gold" and use it as stock for future cooking adventures. I'll put it all in a bowl and set it in the fridge for an hour. By then, the fat has risen to the surface and begun to gel over. Then you can scoop it off (throw it away) and save what remains in ziplock bags laid flat in the freezer (freezing them flat makes for a "neater" storage than random odd shaped bag).

Should I wrap the turkey to begin with or cook for a hour or so then wrap because the last two I've smoked they was really good but the skin was way to dark and the outside was burnt. Cooking it in the morning

Thinking about doing it on the brink man instead of the offset but I'm not for sure which one would be better

UDS Turkey

We're fortunate enough to still have Mom's house to visit for Turkey Day. As such, I've never had the opportunity to fix a turkey on my own.

Well, this year I decided to pick up a turkey and give it a try on my Ugly Drum Smoker (UDS) (post Thanksgiving) -- just for fun -- no pressure to present something spectacular for the family.

While in Costco (big box store) I grabbed a basic Foster Farms turkey, 17 pounds at about 0.99 cents / pound.

Since this was my first turkey, I didn't want to try anything fancy. Didn't want to mess with brining.

After reading a few threads, I decided to just do a dry rub. Since I was using my UDS (with a flat lid) I needed to "spatchcock" the turkey in order for it to fit. Also a first.

Here are a few pics:
Spatchcocked -- removing the spine with regular ol' kitchen shears. Somewhat difficult, but manageable.



After spine removal, flip the bird over, position legs out to the side, and press down to slightly flatten.

Rubbed with a basic "Texas Style" rub I use on ribs or pork. Lifted the skin from the neck area and accessed all the way down to the drum sticks to put dry rub under the skin. Rubbed the underside and top with olive oil and then applied rub to the exterior.




After 2.5 hours on the UDS running at about 325 degrees F. until the thigh temp was about 165 degrees. Breast temp was a little higher than I wanted, but I think it turned out great. Turkey easily separated into leg/thigh quarters and wings.



Thanks again BBQ Brethren for this forum.