Smoked Turkey

Seeing how its Thanksgiving. What are some of the smoke turkey recipes???

Inject turkey (or brine it), season it, put on smoker low & slow with wood of your choice (I also like steaming with pans of apple juice near the fire box). That's it.

seems like there was just a thread on this topic ...

anyway, depending on the size and type/packaging of the bird, be sure you allow plenty of time for it to thaw!!! (I learned that one the hard way a decade or so ago).

(if not already brined) brine with a slightly salty solution overnight. Shooting from memory, 1 gallon water, 1/8 cup salt, 1/8 cup soy sauce, 1/4 cup brown sugar mixture. submerge bird in large pot (or a small trash bag, double layer).

prior to getting started smoking, pat bird dry, completely rub down with butter (olive oil will work but not near as good), completely coat with your favorite seasoning (I use course ground black pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, smoked paprika). set in large aluminum roasting pan. Start your fire and get pit up to temp. I use alternating live oak and pecan wood. I recommend using a water pan flame side (or below if you have vertical smoker) of bird in roaster pan. Depending on your heat (I run about 160-180 during smoke cycle), allow 1 hour per 2 lbs of bird (12# bird=6 hours) heavy low temp smoke and I baste with juices in pan & spray with apple juice every 45 minutes-an hour. I then kick up the fire (or move to finish in the oven) to 250-275 and seal off the roaster pan with heavy aluminum foil. I have gotten to where I use a thermometer probe placed deep into the breast and leave on the higher heat until internal temperature gets up to 165 or slightly higher. Take out of heat and let set for about 45 minutes before unsealing aluminum foil, the allow to cool a bit before carving.

also make note before throwing away packaging, whether it states on whether giblets are included or not. (found this one out the hard way too). If they are included, likely the skin at the top of the breast is folded over the throat cavity and a small plastic bag is stuffed in there with the giblets including neck bone.

I have had mixed results with using injection, be sure to inject in multiple locations deep into the thicker portions of meat (breast, thigh, etc.) to prevent large pockets of injection trapped in fewer locations. My SIL does a bang up fried turkey using the injection method.

Ive boned a couple, trussed them back up and smoked them breast side down. They came out fine. Most of the juices are in the backbone. The whole turkey will do just fine propped up on its pulley bone.

Smoked one tonight for 7 1/2 hrs, full of juice and house smells awesome. Injected, rubbed and put on smoker basted with butter. Gonna be good. Gonna fry two more tomorrow.

Not long before the flip to crisp up the skin on the breast. Love me some smoked turkey. Happy Turkey Day everyone.