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

[ice_mf_mike]

2 tips.

1. Make sure it is wrapped well in plastic wrap while dry brining and remove wrap and let it air dry for a couple of hours before you cook it.

2. Watch it close while cooking and don't overcook, because a breast will cook much quicker than a whole bird.

Enjoy!

Why plastic wrap? I have it currently in a foil pan with. Foil over the top. Not all that tight though.

So I have 2 7 lb breasts. I plan to smoke around 325. How long am I looking at?

 

[SirPorkaLot]

Why plastic wrap? I have it currently in a foil pan with. Foil over the top. Not all that tight though.

So I have 2 7 lb breasts. I plan to smoke around 325. How long am I looking at?

Plastic wrap helps to keep the moisture close to the meat.
When you dry brine, the salt on the outside pulls moisture from the meat, the moisture then mixes with the salt and gets pulled back into the meat.

You want that moisture to stay close to the meat so it can be pulled back in.
If the moisture just rolls off or evaporates when it gets pulled out by the salt, then there will be less moisture to pull back into the meat.

Here is an article on dry brining I wrote back in August,

At 325 probably 2.5-3 hours.

I can cook a 7 lb breast at 275 in 4 hours

 

[Bob in St. Louis]

That information is gold right there. Thanks for the link and articles!
I take it, that's your website?

 

[ice_mf_mike]

Most of the breast reads ~171 but one spot on it reads 156...... leave it on or take it off?

 

[ice_mf_mike]

Some porn. So the turkey was great. However, it didnt take as much smoke as i would have liked. was expecting more smokey taste. Maybe next time i will do more wood. I used two palm sized pieces of oak, and two palm sized pieces of apple wood. SMoked at ~325 to 160 though some parts of the turkey were 175ish when i pulled it. I probably should have rotated the turkey while cooking.

 

[SirPorkaLot]

Gorgeous bird!

 

[ice_mf_mike]

Gorgeous bird!

Thanks. My only knock is that it wasnt as smoky as i wanted. I cook the same way and it comes out super smoky. Not sure what happened.

 

[Badgerjacob]

I have one going now!!!!

 

[SirPorkaLot]

I have one going now!!!!

Great color!

 

[acer234]

spachcock?

does anyone cut out the backbone

 

[toymaster]

does anyone cut out the backbone

I cut my turkeys in half and cut out the backbone. I brine my turkey in a 2 1/2 gallon bag and cutting out the backbone makes it easier to get it in the bag.

 

[HabitualSmoker]

After reading through pretty much this entire thread and gathering as much turkey 101 as I could, I finally did my first turkey today! 15 pound bird, spatchcocked, dry brined overnight, given a nice herby rub under and on the skin, simple butter and olive oil injection and onto the UDS.


Here it is an hour in cruising along at 335-340

One more hour and just like that the bird's done (IT read 159 in the breast and 178-184ish in each thigh)

Overall it came out great! Meat was tender and juicy, only place it was overdone was right at the top of the breast, probably could have left a little more skin there to cover that. I used one chunk each of sugar maple and peach wood which gave off mouthwatering vapors throughout the whole cook, first time using this wood combo and it was fantastic. Left the meat (and thus, the gravy :mrgreen with a surprisingly sweet taste, given that I only used a very small amount of sugar with my rub. I would have thought the sweet would have been overpowered by salty/pepper/herbyness but the sugar maple wood took charge lol. Perfect amount of smoky flavor too, not too strong but definitely enough to let you know it wasn't cooked in any conventional oven.

This was also kind of a first for me on the uds in that I simply left all vents open for basically the whole cook, so a bit of an expirment there too seeing the upper range on my drum. I got it running nice and hot (about 325) then put my wood chunks on, let it settle for 10 min or so, then put the bird on, at which point I think butter/olive oil drippings cooled my fire down a bit because it was stuck around 230 for a while with all vents open. After about a half hour it got back up to the 330-350 range where it stayed until about the last 20 min of the cook, I let it get up as high as 375ish in an attempt to finish off the skin (which unfortunately was still a bit rubbery, oh well, wasn't bad for the first attempt...dog still loved it)

Thanks everyone for all the info in here! It was quite the success, definitely won't be my last smoked turkey I do

 

[DODGE_THIS!]

brining

I like the basic brine with fresh oranges. thanks for the thread

 

[DODGE_THIS!]

Question. Does spatchcocking the turkey affect the juiciness overall?

 

[dadsr4]

Question. Does spatchcocking the turkey affect the juiciness overall?

To me, the legs protect the breast meat from the heat, causing it to cook at a slower rate, reaching the it's finishing temp closer to the time the dark meat gets there.

 

[DODGE_THIS!]

thank you very much. im going to give it a try

 

[Big_kat]

I have been toying with the idea of quartering my turkeys this year that I smoke for my school. I normally will spatchcock to smoke them but was thinking that quartering them so that I can pull the breasts out if they are done first. It will also help in making room in our fridge for 3 15 lbs turkeys. Is there any downside to quartering the turkey? I have a trailer offset so space on the smoker is not a concern.

 

[TXBronco]

So my wife and I are making a 14 pound bird in the oven, her and my mother in law decided. So I'm picking up two breasts to smoke on the UDS. I know what brine I'm using, but I'd like a couple of ideas for some rubs. I'm looking for something not to Thanksgiving-ish. I like turkey sammies.

 

[SmittyJonz]

I don't brine - I just inject with Tony C's and use McCormick Roasted Garlic n Herb Rub under skin.

 

[slugdog]

I'm smoking my first one this Thanksgiving. Should be interesting...