# First attempt to Smoke a Turkey - This weekend!



## Jim (Dec 17, 2013)

I scored a cheap 15 pound turkey and decided that this is the weekend to experiment with the smoker. The plan is to Brine it Friday Morning and throw it on the smoker around noon on Saturday.

Any tips?


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## Colbyt (Dec 17, 2013)

I've never done one. I did eat a few of my father-in-laws mistakes. 

It is very hard to keep the heat low enough. The final solution for him, almost as good as store bought was to only smoke the turkey in the smoker for a couple of hours and then finish cooking it in the oven. They were always good once he started doing it that way.

Some may call that cheating but if it works it works.


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## redbug (Dec 17, 2013)

we smoke our for around 5 hours and the temp ranges around 275 to 300 propane smoker we add apple juice to the water pan tey come out awesome but fresh turkey is much better than a frozen one


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## tnriverluver (Dec 17, 2013)

I smoked a couple of boneless breast a couple of weeks before Thanksgiving as a test. They were OK but not great. Everything else I have put on the smoker has been fantastic and I always want more along with the rest of my family and friends. The turkey breast did not leave me wanting so we ended up with traditional turkey for Thanksgiving cooked by the wife.


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## Captain Ahab (Dec 18, 2013)

[url=https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=336720#p336720 said:


> redbug » Tue Dec 17, 2013 4:57 pm[/url]"]we smoke our for around 5 hours and the temp ranges around 275 to 300 propane smoker we add apple juice to the water pan tey come out awesome but fresh turkey is much better than a frozen one




I need dates and times please


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## redbug (Dec 18, 2013)

[url=https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=336744#p336744 said:


> Captain Ahab » Wed Dec 18, 2013 7:11 am[/url]"]
> 
> 
> [url=https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=336720#p336720 said:
> ...


 if this weather breaks I am sure we will have one for Christmas dinner


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## Captain Ahab (Dec 18, 2013)

[url=https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=336752#p336752 said:


> redbug » Wed Dec 18, 2013 8:18 am[/url]"]
> 
> 
> [url=https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=336744#p336744 said:
> ...




So what time on the 25th? I might bring guests! Lots of guests!


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## fool4fish1226 (Dec 18, 2013)

Smoke the turkey between 250 and 275 about 25-30 minutes per pound. I normally pull mine off around 155ish internal temp and let it rest (losely covered) for awhile. Final temp will be around the recommended 165 temp. The brine is a great idea I would also give it a good rubing of your favorite spices and baste it at least every hour.

Good luck and thet us know how it turns out.


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## Paul Marx (Dec 18, 2013)

Unless it's a fresh turkey it has been injected with saline solution at the plant where it was killed. Soak it in a bucket of fresh water and ice over night to extract factory solution .Take it out of the water and let it drain good and air out till it's pretty dry . When you make your brine, replace some of the water with 100% natural Apple Cider . Add what ever you want to your brine , bay leaves , onion , thyme . I mix my brine 1C salt Kosher , 1C brown sugar , to 1 gallon of liquid (water or cider) . When you mix your brine you want to taste some of everything you put in it. I like to inject some brine to make sure it reaches everything . Cold poultry fat doesnt allow it to soak in as good as it should. Place said bird into a trash bag and pour brine into the bag . Squeeze out all the air and tie the bag closed and place it in a cooler or fridge for up to 3 days . Remove it from the bag and rinse it off . Place it on the smoker and cook it till the temp. reaches 160 take it off let it rest and cool so you can slice it . If you don't have time for all this , bring your brine to a simmer . Sink the thawed bird in it and simmer for about 30 minutes , remove and smoke. I like to smoke everything low and slow (180 - 200 ) to retain all the moisture in the meat.


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## Jim (Dec 19, 2013)

Thanks for the tips.

Plan so for because it has to be on the smoker by noon for sure…..

1, Get home tonight and rinse/wash Turkey to remove whatever I Can.
2, Tomorrow morning around 5AM it will go into my Brine Mixture
3, Saturday around 11:30AM I will take it out of the Brine and pat dry it. Rub it with a seasoning mix and drop it on smoker.

Because I have the Weber WSM cooker I will fill the pan with apple juice and water.

What did I miss?


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## Paul Marx (Dec 19, 2013)

I'd use Apple Cider in the brine . 
Since this sounds like your first attempt , I'd rinse it when you pull it from the brine. If you think it could have been saltier don't rinse it the next time. Don't over smoke it , all you want coming out of the smoker is a thin blue line of smoke. You may not think you are getting enough smoke , but if you can put your hand above the smoke stack for a couple seconds and it comes back smelling of smoke , your good.


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## Jim (Dec 19, 2013)

Cider it is! Thanks!


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## redbug (Dec 19, 2013)

[url=https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=336844#p336844 said:


> Jim » Thu Dec 19, 2013 3:06 pm[/url]"]Cider it is! Thanks!


I use 100% apple juice in the water pan


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## Jim (Dec 19, 2013)

Juice in the pan, Cider in the Brine.


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## Paul Marx (Dec 19, 2013)

That should do it. Pictures ............we want pictures .


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## Brine (Dec 19, 2013)

Sorry, I thought you guys were calling me.


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## Captain Ahab (Dec 19, 2013)

[url=https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=336815#p336815 said:


> Jim » Thu Dec 19, 2013 7:34 am[/url]"]Thanks for the tips.
> 
> Plan so for because it has to be on the smoker by noon for sure…..
> 
> ...





What time is dinner? Will there be fishing ionvoved?


Cab BassAddict come with - he likes to eat especially if it is free #-o


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## Jim (Dec 20, 2013)

Drop off MY boat and head over today. We can Pike fish the Sudbury River.


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## Captain Ahab (Dec 20, 2013)

[url=https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=336886#p336886 said:


> Jim » Fri Dec 20, 2013 6:58 am[/url]"]Drop off MY boat and head over today. We can Pike fish the Sudbury River.




On my way :mrgreen:


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## RiverBottomOutdoors (Dec 20, 2013)

Jim,
I have used the apple juice in the water pan method many times, I firmly believe that it is a waste of money. You are basically creating apple juice concentrate in the pan by boiling/evaporating off the water. You are much better off spritzing your meat directly with apple juice and using plain water in the pan.


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## Jim (Dec 20, 2013)

Let the games begin! Turkey is in the brine!


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## Jim (Dec 22, 2013)

Oh my, just woke up from the food coma. The turkey was the most moist Turkey we ever ate, no comparison. The skin was gross and that was the general consensus. I only used a few chunks of wood, but it was still a little too much, even for me.







Would I smoke one again? Absolutely!


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## RiverBottomOutdoors (Dec 22, 2013)

Looks light on the rub? Did they think it was over-smoked? Could you bite trough the skin or was it rubber? Did you wrap the bird to finish?

Lots of questions...haven't done a bird yet....trying to learn all I can before I do. Did put the BBQ pit smack down on a butt today.


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## Jim (Dec 22, 2013)

[url=https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=337006#p337006 said:


> RiverBottomOutdoors » 22 Dec 2013 08:34 pm[/url]"]Looks light on the rub? Did they think it was over-smoked? Could you bite trough the skin or was it rubber? Did you wrap the bird to finish?
> 
> Lots of questions...haven't done a bird yet....trying to learn all I can before I do. Did put the BBQ pit smack down on a butt today.



1, Didn't intentionally go light on the rub, Just eye balled it and made sure to cover where I could….under the skin. and a little on top of the skin. I did coat the bird with a very thin layer of olive oil first.
2, They did not think it was over smoked and the turkey meat itself tastes smoked. To be honest I only had 3-4 small golf ball sized chunks of wood and half a handful of left over chips that were at the bottom of the bag of chunks. I thought to myself that I would be short of smoke flavor because of it.
3, No biting through the skin, it was chewy as all heck, I did not wrap the bird. I waited till the thermometer read 165 and took it off. Wait about 15 minutes and carved it.

The Dogs loved the skin! :LOL2:


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## DrNip (Dec 22, 2013)

Chewy turkey/chicken skin is nasty. Got to be crisp or I don't eat it.


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## fool4fish1226 (Dec 23, 2013)

:beer: NICE :beer:


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## Paul Marx (Dec 23, 2013)

I never wrap the bird . The skin would have been worse. Next time let it cool a little and rub the outside down with real butter , salt , and crispin it up in a hot oven. Brining doesn't do the skin any favors , only the meat. This is the reason you want it to dry out real good before putting it on the smoker. Plan way ahead and allow at least 24 hours uncovered in the fridge to dry itself out. I can say this " you will never get better skin then fried. "


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## RiverBottomOutdoors (Dec 23, 2013)

Wrapping steams the skin and makes it "bite through". I do this with chicken.


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## Paul Marx (Dec 23, 2013)

[url=https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=337045#p337045 said:


> RiverBottomOutdoors » Today, 11:06[/url]"]Wrapping steams the skin and makes it "bite through". I do this with chicken.


Yea , personaly preffrence I guess . I like it crunchy or take it off.


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## juggernot (Dec 23, 2013)

I smoked 2 10/12lb. Turkeys a few years ago for Thanksgiving. One w an Asian spiced brine w soysauce and ginger, the other traditional spiced, cranberries,bay leaf,black peppercorns, orange juice and peels, tyme and rosemary etc and both were outstanding. I have a horzontal barrel smoker/grill and I soaked split pieces of white oak overnight and drip dryed while the first batch of charcoal smoked a few hours w apple chips soaked in apple cider. When the heat started dropping I layed 2 pieces of the damp Oak on the coals and it kept the heat constant for 4 more hours. I sprayed the birds w apple juice about every hour of the last 4 and both birds were beyond delicious. I prefer unbasted or all natural Turkeys for brineing but they are hard to find and more expensive. I've read that larger Turkeys are harder to smoke well than smaller ones as the outer will overcook before the center of the breasts but when brined well it's about impossible to dry them out IMO.


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## switchback (Mar 9, 2014)

Going to smoke one tomorrow (today now) lol. Smoked one for Thanksgiving and used mesquite. First one I've done. It smelled really strong with smoke but didn't taste that way. Everyone loved it. This time I'm going to use a small amount of mesquite chips mixed with alot of apple wood chips. All I do is thaw it out, rinse off and pat dry really good. rub with my favorite pork and poultry rub and put in electric smoker on 225. Same with whole chickens. ohhh and stuff a cut onion in cavity.


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## RiverBottomOutdoors (Mar 10, 2014)

Try oak or hickory. They produce a milder smoke.


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## ChrisBoat (Jun 8, 2015)

Only thing I can add is to try one that has been Spatchcocked (Cut the backbone out to lay flat). I usually brine mine and then just seasalt and pepper for a rub. Smoked Turkey is some of the best if you ask me.


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