First time smoking a turkey.

[RR]

Decided to smoke a turkey for Christmas Day.

Probably another hour or hour and a half to done.

Smelling amazing and looking good too.

12 lb Butterball
My chicken dry rub recipe from this thread:

Hickory smoked Wings (Or legs or Thighs)

Wanna impress your family or guests at your next cookout? Try this: Wings, Thighs, or Legs. (Or any bone in, skin on, chicken) Dry rub: 3tbs Salt (we use the pink Himalayan stuff) 1tbs garlic powder 1tbs black pepper 1.5 tbs chili powder 1tbs paprika Red pepper flakes to taste (I use a half...

carolinafirearmsforum.com

Where we started:





250 degrees over hickory and apple woods.

Started it at 11 am. Serving at 6. Pitt Boss Memphis Ultimate electric smoker.

Where we are now:



The secret ingredient:

 

[heavydoc]

You will love it

 

[Cucamonga]

I picked up two extra turkeys at Thanksgiving. Looking forward to seeing pictures and your follow up post.
I never have smoked a bird but just may try one in the UDS.

 

[GymB]

I’ve smoked several this year, making another for tonight. Family loves it.

 

[wvsig]

Looks good. One piece of advice I would offer up about smoking turkeys is that you want to keep the bird around 12-15lbs. If you are smoking it an under 300. Turkeys over 15 will stay in the danger zone for too long. If you are doing a turkey over 15 spatchcock it. This will help it cook faster but you risk drying it out. Other people will basically treat the smoker as an oven and cook it at 350 like you are roasting it. It will get less smoke but will not make anyone sick. I do smoked turkey a couple of times a year. This one is from Thanksgiving. I pushed the limit on this one. It was 15+ lbs. I did it at 275 and monitored it closely. Next year I am going to do 2 12lbs instead.

@RR Excellent rub mix. The baking soda is a must when smoking poultry IMHO so you do not end up with rubbery skin.

 

[Jp8819]

Its my favorite way after trying one couple years ago on the uds. I have always used the spatchcock method and turned out really well and moist.

 

[RR]

Looks good. One piece of advice I would offer up about smoking turkeys is that you want to keep the bird around 12-15lbs. If you are smoking it an under 300. Turkeys over 15 will stay in the danger zone for too long. If you are doing a turkey over 15 spatchcock it. This will help it cook faster but you risk drying it out. Other people will basically treat the smoker as an oven and cook it at 350 like you are roasting it. It will get less smoke but will not make anyone sick. I do smoked turkey a couple of times a year. This one is from Thanksgiving. I pushed the limit on this one. It was 15+ lbs. I did it at 275 and monitored it closely. Next year I am going to do 2 12lbs instead.

@RR Excellent rub mix. The baking soda is a must when smoking poultry IMHO so you do not end up with rubbery skin.

View attachment 414497

I have a larger bird in the freezer and will likely spatchcock it when I smoke it. Since this one was smaller I left it whole. We got through the danger zone with no problem.

 

[wvsig]

I have a larger bird in the fridge and will likely spatchcock it when I smoke it. Since this one was smaller I left it whole. We got through the danger zone with no problem.

Yeah at 12lb it is not an issue in my experience. Well done!

 

[heavydoc]

I smoked a 15.5 lb turkey for Thanksgiving, against my wishes, it was in the danger zone til 3 hours and 50 minutes. I was getting very nervous, and then cooked quite quickly after that. Enough I turned the temp down for a little bit. But I should have just left it alone.

 

[Cucamonga]

My birds are 19-20 lbs. I want to be safe so all ears for advice on smoking it.

Edit. Maybe just wait to next year and get a smaller bird.

 

[wvsig]

My birds are 19-20 lbs. I want to be safe so all ears for advice on smoking it.

Honestly it is a little large even if you spatchcock it. I would not try to smoke in the 200s. You will not get out of the zone in time even spatchcocked. You should approach it as roasting outside with some smoke. If you want to go for it I would spatchcock it and cook at 300 degrees. Make sure you have a probe thermometer in the bird the entire time. You want to get it over 140 in under 4 hours. Cooking at 300-325 will work but you risk drying out your turkey. I recommend a dry brine for 2 days before cooking.

 

[REELDOC]

Wish I could figure out this Brinkman gas smoker my bud gave me. He never used it and my first attempt was a flop.

 

[Mirac]

Wish I could figure out this Brinkman gas smoker my bud gave me. He never used it and my first attempt was a flop.

Since I’m a heck of a guy and I like you, I take this off your hands and dispose of it. I don’t want you to deal with this stress any longer..

 

[Get Off My Lawn]

We tried something different & it’s a winner. I thawed the bed in a 5 gallon bucket of brine, spatchcocked the bird, dry rubbed, placed it on a cooling rack in a cookie tray, poured a bottle of beer in, smoked it at 180 for several hours, then it went into a roasting pan with spices and chicken broth at 300 deg for hours. It was very Smokey and the moistest boid we’ve ever had. Then used a bunch of the liquid from the broth to make Smokey gravy.

 

[RR]

Stalled around 160 for a bit. Just hit 165 at the breast a few mins ago. 180 at the thigh. Going to pull it in 10 mins and let rest before carving.

 

[Snal~]

Wish I could figure out this Brinkman gas smoker my bud gave me. He never used it and my first attempt was a flop.

We love our Orion smoker. Cooks/smokes in a lot less time than most. Do turkeys every year, and doing a Boston butt later this week.
I forget the minutes per pound on the pork butts but it's always spot on.
We like it so much that we're thinking about getting the larger version.

 

[RR]