Thanksgiving in August, first smoked bird ever...

[rovster]

Did my first smoked turkey yesterday on my new drum. Turned out great! We made a full thanksgiving spread, mashed potatoes, homemade gravy, repurposed leftover jalapeño cornbread stuffing and corn. We feasted. Not going to lie, best thing on the plate was that cornbread dressing, holy cow it was stupendous. Turkey was good. Skin was a little tough but bird was moist.

I brined the bird, then let it dry out in fridge uncovered overnight. Injected with chicken broth, butter and Cajun spices. Rubbed with Cajun spices. Stuffed cavity with onion celery and apples. This was a loose representation of Malcom Reed’s Cajun turkey.

I decided to hang the bird used a hook that was intended for fried turkey it worked out pretty good.

Hooked, stuffed and tied...

Rubbed and ready to hang....

Getting there. I blasted the bird with some olive oil spray every 30 min...

Tasty libations for me and wifey. Rare breed rye for me and old fashioned for wifey!

Fired up the Primo for some pecan wood smoked dressing...

Finished bird...

Was very moist. Kids wanted seconds...

Dinner plate...

 

[Stingerhook]

Beautiful plate Daniel, I knew it smelled like autumn around here.

 

[Lomey]

Love it! Looks great

 

[ShadowDriver]

Whoa! That's a killer bird, and feast spread.

Good looking old fashioned for CINCHOUSE.

 

[Titch]

Nice looking feed mate,time well spent

 

[ssv3]

Daniel,

I like your style man. Looking outstanding!

 

[Big George's BBQ]

Looks really good

 

[sudsandswine]

Thanksgiving in August works for me :thumb: it’s my favorite food holiday by far and should be celebrated more than just one time per year :becky:

 

[Shadowdog500]

Looks delicious! I like turkey dinners! Don’t have to be thanksgiving to have a good turkey dinner.

Between the turkey and the whiskey, I bet you had a nice nap afterwards!

 

[jzadski]

Some feast! Those are a couple of great looking birds and a bufflao to boot

 

[Skidkid]

Looks great! My favorite way to do a bird. People who can't smoke go for fried turkey but slow cooked on your grill is BY FAR the best. Nicely done.

 

[onemanlan]

I wish I were invited to that party. Smoked turkey is among my top tier in the list of smoked meats. Great sides pictured here too!

 

[toys4dlr]

hanging with the turkeys. lol Love the Orange Hunsaker (I have a orange too) and rare breed it one of my favs too. Great job.

 

[Shiz-Nit]

looking good

 

[farmer-fred]

Turkey looks great. I also smoked one yesterday in my Trail Embers drum smoker. I also used a homemade cajun injection using butter, chicken broth and creole spices. I was going to try to hang it but i would have needed to modify my hanging rack so I used my Rotisserie ring that I use on my kettle. We also had smashed taters and turkey gravy and corn on the cob. Nothing wrong with good smoked turkey anytime in my book. Just curious, what temp did you smoke it at? I ran 325-350 for most of my cook and used Kingsford BBB and apple wood chunks.
Thanks for posting
Tom

 

[rovster]

Turkey looks great. I also smoked one yesterday in my Trail Embers drum smoker. I also used a homemade cajun injection using butter, chicken broth and creole spices. I was going to try to hang it but i would have needed to modify my hanging rack so I used my Rotisserie ring that I use on my kettle. We also had smashed taters and turkey gravy and corn on the cob. Nothing wrong with good smoked turkey anytime in my book. Just curious, what temp did you smoke it at? I ran 325-350 for most of my cook and used Kingsford BBB and apple wood chunks.
Thanks for posting
Tom

Drum was running 300-325 for most of it. Dipped below 300 a few times but not for long. I used lump with a couple of cherry chunks. Smoke was very mild but present. No pan so juices dripping on Vortex plate.

Flavor was on point. Only knocks were skin was not as rendered as I would have liked. You could bite through it but slightly rubbery. Not terrible but was a slight knock. Other thing was despite being super juicy (pulled when breast was 160) some parts were a little “tough”. That was probably due the actual bird itself and not how it was cooked because it was not lacking in the juice department. I’ll definitely be doing this again as the family really enjoyed it. I’m wondering if next time if I crank the heat to 400 for the last 20 min or so would help with finishing that skin.

 

[farmer-fred]

My skin was not real crisp either but we do not eat the skin so I did not care. The higher temp might help the skin but I think I would turn it up before the internal temp get's too close to your finish temp. Would not want to dry it out.

 

[rovster]

My skin was not real crisp either but we do not eat the skin so I did not care. The higher temp might help the skin but I think I would turn it up before the internal temp get's too close to your finish temp. Would not want to dry it out.

Yeah was thinking of waiting until the breast hit 140-145 then open up the vents and let it roll until 160. I'll be doing it again for sure. Got a lot of things I want to try.

 

[Smoking Piney]

Killer bird and feast! :thumb:

 

[SweetHeatBBQnSC]

That is a beautiful bird. I'd say the first timer looks like an expert.