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

[daninnewjersey]

I usually brine my turkeys but is that really necessary with that large amt of solution added?

I can tell you even if you don't brine it, you can still have an awesome turkey smoking it. My personal approach would be (after confirming beer supply is available) Crack one open (this helps the process along). Then...pat the exterior dry, coat the exterior with olive oil, black pepper and Kosher salt. Cook like 325-ish.....you'll be very happy.

 

[va_connoisseur]

Amazon has the turkey cannon on sale for $17.46 and Prime shipping. I just picked up one. Amazon.com : Camp Chef, Sante Series Turkey Cannon Infusion roaster indoor/outdoor TKYC : Grill Parts : Patio, Lawn & Garden

For those who have used the Turkey Cannon, a few questions:
What is the largest bird it can support?
Will it work in a 22" WSM?
And your general impressions?

 

[OpelGTMan]

For those who have used the Turkey Cannon, a few questions:
What is the largest bird it can support?
Will it work in a 22" WSM?
And your general impressions?

I just used mine for the first time on Sunday. I can't speak for the largest bird but I used a 12 lb bird in my 18 WSM and it fit perfectly on the top rack.

 

[The Smok'n Barrels]

Turkey Cannon on UDS - First time

Amazon has the turkey cannon on sale for $17.46 and Prime shipping. I just picked up one. Amazon.com : Camp Chef, Sante Series Turkey Cannon Infusion roaster indoor/outdoor TKYC : Grill Parts : Patio, Lawn & Garden

Ordered the Turkey Cannon. Will be using it on UDS. First time smoked a Turkey and using Cannon.

Any and All suggestions welcome.


The Smok'n Barrels
I'm just a simple man, trying to make my way in the universe.

 

[Roguejim]

I'd like to know the best way to assure crispy skin. It seems that brining gives juicy meat, but less than crispy/rubbery skin, no?

Also, anyone baste their birds?

 

[Untraceable]

Feel blasphemous over here, but we had a early thanksgiving and were very busy so I brined a fresh turkey in Kosmos chicken soak for a day, injected the breasts with 1/2lb of Plugra salted, hit the outside with Cow cover and yardbird. Stuffed the cavity with fresh sage and rosemary. In a roasting pan bottom, I put more herbs/onion/celery/carrot. 425 for the first hour, then 325 till the breast showed 159 ish. OMG was the breast amazing, skin was great, crisp and edible. The tender portion under the breast was buttery, melt in your mouth experience.

Oddly, using the roasting pan and rack in the oven, the thighs never got done. After slicing the breasts out, I threw it back in oven, we ate our meal, and the thighs were still pink. Legs were over 190. I think I got a quick reminder how effective spatchcocking turkeys are for even cooking.

 

[Wampus]

Great ideas here for sure.... Sorry if I missed this in the 32 pages of this thread but..... Got a frozen turkey from the work place recently and was in the process of thawing. Noticed on wrapper it had 8% solution added. I usually brine my turkeys but is that really necessary with that large amt of solution added? The most I remember ever seeing was 3-4%. Would have preferred fresh but impractical I guess when you are passing out 3000 birds. Beggars can't be choosey. Thanks for all your wisdom....

I do it all the time. Most of the turkeys I get are the cheaper ones that have the 5-8% solution. I brine them anyway and it helps.

Basically here's the deal....the injection already ads some salt to the meat. When you brine you're still trying to reach an equilibrium. The brine will extract moisture from the bird and then the moisture will equalize and go back INTO the bird, taking with it the salt and any flavorings in the brine with it.

SO....

If you start with a completely raw/unenhanced bird, there will be more of a change from start to finish while if you start with a bird that's already been injected, you won't have as much of a difference, but there will still be an improvement.



There are some who say it's a waste of time, but I do it all the time and have never been disappointed.

I'd say that cooking an enhanced turkey would yield a tastier result than a nonenhanced one, but I'd still say that a brined turkey will be better yet.

 

[Wampus]

For those who have used the Turkey Cannon, a few questions:
What is the largest bird it can support?
Will it work in a 22" WSM?
And your general impressions?

I tried to put a 16 lb'er on one and it didn't work out.
I've done a 12 lb'er on it many times. I'm not sure where the line is between what will work and what won't, but I'd guess around a 14 lb turkey is close.


When the turkey is too big, the cannon basically won't support it. It's like the cannon just sticks out of the cavity rather than actually lifting the turkey.

When I do turkeys 16lbs or bigger, I just end up stuffing and trussing them.

 

[Wampus]

I'd like to know the best way to assure crispy skin. It seems that brining gives juicy meat, but less than crispy/rubbery skin, no?

Also, anyone baste their birds?

True.

There are a couple of things you can do to help:

1. Dehydrate the skin. After you brine, rinse off the bird inside and out, pat the inside and outside down very well with paper towels, place the bird on a roast rack, cooling rack or even an upside down plate in a pan (anything that will lift it up off the bottom of the pan) and place it in the fridge to rest for 12-24 hours. I usually just rest it overnight until I'm ready to cook it. This will allow the refrigerator to dehydrate the skin somewhat.

2. Cook at higher temps. AT LEAST 325, but I've got as high as 400. This higher pit temp will really help to further dry and "sear" the skin.





If you're wanting true "crispy" skin, as in fried chicken skin I just don't think you're going to get it on a smoked turkey. I've never even seen much oven roasted turkeys come out truly crispy. About the only way I know to do that is to dunk it in oil either after smoking it most of the way or from the start. Fried turkey will give you crispy skin.

 

[revkab]

I've tried lots of turkey gravies, and I've made some good ones, but the best I've ever had, bar none, is made from smoked turkey drippings, 18 ounces of whole milk, and 18 ounces of... Williams Sonoma Turkey Gravy Base!

http://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/turkey-gravy-base/

It's probably horrible for me, but it really is so so so so so good. However, without the drippings, it's just ok. With them, man oh man, I can't seem to beat it.

Hmmm. I say forget the smoked drippings. My favorite turkey gravy is made with pan-rendered turkey fat (most turkeys have those two big hunks of fat near where the neck was, plus the tail, which I chop up for rendering). I like to render it to just at the smoking point. I set it aside and use it for the gravy, preferring to make it by the roux method. I also like to simmer the neck (chopped up), with the giblets (not the liver), and with a few goodies like diced carrots, a bit of onion, celery, etc., to make a tasty stock. Oh, and when finishing the gravy, add a little salt and a generous amount of pepper. You can't possibly put too much pepper in a good gravy.

I don't prefer the smoked gravy, preferring to let the smoked turkey speak for itself.

 

[Bob in St. Louis]

Mmmmm turkey stock from the smoker.....
The gift that keeps on giving...all year long.

Say, I seem to be having a brain fart....I've done a couple turkeys on the smoker and I told my wife that a 17# turkey should be done in six hours. She thinks I'm on drugs and will take MUCH longer. What times are y'all doing? (given a 250-275 temp).

 

[revkab]

I put my probe into the thickest part of the thigh. That's pretty much the best way to guage doneness with any poultry. If you have a second probe, I'd put it in the breast just to watch em both.

When the probe is reading done, I'll stick the bird in several different spots with my thermopen....breast in a couple places, thigh, leg, etc just to make sure it's all done.

Stick it in the breast. Pull at 160*. The thighs typically run a little hotter. The big thing here is to go by the breast temp, as even a little over 160* the thing goes bone dry. The dark meat can and should go a little warmer, and does not dry out as fast as the white.

I like to do the entire cook breast side down to keep the juices going into the breast. The same with the resting period - I put the bird into an oven bag, then put into a pre-warmed (hot water) cooler, with several layers of towels for further insulating. Rest it for a while, again breast side down, and the meat will come out moist and delicious.

 

[Cloudsmoker]

Thanks Wampus (and everyone else) for a wonderful holiday thread.

Cooking Thanksgiving lunch for 100 people on Tuesday - 5 20# turkeys. I have a large enough smoker, but it runs best at/about 275. Planning to brine and spatchcock. Two questions:
- any estimates on cook times? (I've been working the Google machine, but no luck to-date)
- any reason to not simply cut the birds in half? (Another brother asked same question, but I couldn't find an answer)

Thanks again, and Happy Thankagiving.

 

[revkab]

Thanks Wampus (and everyone else) for a wonderful holiday thread.

Cooking Thanksgiving lunch for 100 people on Tuesday - 5 20# turkeys. I have a large enough smoker, but it runs best at/about 275. Planning to brine and spatchcock. Two questions:
- any estimates on cook times? (I've been working the Google machine, but no luck to-date)
- any reason to not simply cut the birds in half? (Another brother asked same question, but I couldn't find an answer)

Thanks again, and Happy Thankagiving.

I'm with ya. Everyone talks about spatch-cocked chickens, but I just split them in half and do 'em that way. I haven't done it with turkeys, yet, 'cuz mine come out just fine doing them whole. But... I would like to try sometime when it's just me. I think you would get a lot more smoke flavor by cutting them in half and exposing the "inside" to more smoke.

This year, I'm gonna try an el cheapo version of the cannon - I'm gonna insert a good sized tin can into the neck opening to keep it wide open and available to the smoke.

Cook times? depends on your smoker, cook temp, brined vs unbrined. The ONLY thing you can go by is a high quality thermometer. Here's the trick - start way early and have a large cooler on hand. If you finish early, preheat the cooler with hot water (dump before you put the turkey in), place the bird in an oven bag and seal off. Put layer of heavy towels on bottom of cooler. Put turkey in and place heavy towel over turkey. Close cooler. That will not only keep it hot for several hours, it will let the juices reabsorb. PS - place breast side down.

 

[Bob in St. Louis]

Cook times? depends on your smoker, cook temp, brined vs unbrined. The ONLY thing you can go by is a high quality thermometer. Here's the trick - start way early and have a large cooler on hand. If you finish early, preheat the cooler with hot water (dump before you put the turkey in), place the bird in an oven bag and seal off. Put layer of heavy towels on bottom of cooler. Put turkey in and place heavy towel over turkey. Close cooler. That will not only keep it hot for several hours, it will let the juices reabsorb. PS - place breast side down.

That's gold right there. Thank you. :becky:

 

[itschris]

Need some planning advice my friends...I literally just noticed the two turkeys are both 18.5 pounds...not 15 like my wife told me. My plan is to run them in my Stumps Classic at 325-ish. They're going to be stuffed...Nancy insists on it. I was thinking 2.5 hrs (I think that would be unstuffed) but now I really don't know...

Ballpark...what do you think I'm looking at time wise for two stuffed 18.5 pound turkeys at 325? I really don't wanna ruin dinner.

 

[SmittyJonz]

ive never stuffed so a smoked turkey so I dunno but I held turkey in a cooler 3 hrs last year and it was Great so maybe start 1-2 hr early. ?

 

[itschris]

Yeah I don't see the harm in that. Just looking at "normal" indoor ovenood call on holding it cooking times... They're saying four hours give or take...shouldn't be any different outside in my smoker I guess.

Good call on simply holding them. Did you do anything special? I can just put them in a warmed up cooler with towels. Would that work?

 

[Bob in St. Louis]

Yes, store it in a cooking bag, upside down (juices flow towards the breast) in the cooler packed with towels. That was mentioned several posts ago. I'll be doing mine early, and holding it until the wife cooks the sides. Usually the family is waiting on the turkey (one year we ate at 8:30pm). Not this year.

 

[jasonalan724]

Just did this as a practice run, well thats what i told my ol lady, for thanksgiving. I rasie my own turkeys every year so i have a few to go around.
This gal was 16.5 lbs i like smoking my birds butterflied.

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Took a bath in cranberry and apple juice with ginger, garlic, and a dash of tenderquick and a few dried chillis

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two hours cook at 215 to let the smoke sink in a little then cranked the drum up to 325 to finish... 6 hours all together. glazed with cranberry, ginger, brown sugar and chilli glaze. wrapped and coolered for an hour breast side down. Turned out just how i wanted, thankfully! no pun intended.

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