Smoked Turkey
Posted: Thu Dec 29, 2016 11:12 amThis year my sister in law asked me to smoke a turkey.
It's really not the best idea because if you straight up smoke a turkey or a chicken the skin and texture is not exactly what we're used to and isn't that good imo. Tried it years ago and I called it a fail. Have learned a lot about smoking in the last 30 years so I was not afraid to give it a shot.
It turned out so well that the turkey pretty much got ate before anything else. Once someone opened the package I'd put it in it didn't have a chance. The smell..oh yeah. I sliced it right before taking it to the in-laws. We live only about 2 miles apart. That turkey got destroyed. It was a 15-pound bird. Gone like the Bumpus' dogs had tore thru the house. OMG it was good.
What I did:
First I brined it (thawed out 15# Butterball turkey) with 2 gallons of water, 2 cups salt, and the peel off an orange. If I'd had lemons and limes....
All went into a five-gallon bucket. Brined it for about 18 hours. The brine smelled really good. That orange peel..mmm.
The smoker: I used the regular everyday charcoal and a nice fat log from an apricot tree I cut down last spring.
Smoked it about two hours and finished it in the oven. The smoker got up to around 275.
Oven set on 325. It took an additional two hours in the oven. Was checking with meat thermometer.
The thigh was not quite done according to the thermometer but the breast was well-done so I took it out of the oven. Turned out perfect. Juicy and dang the smoke flavor was tasty.
I'd suggest trying this out and adding your own zip. I wonder if I'd put some hot sauce in the brine...
The citrus worked great.
Enjoy.
It's really not the best idea because if you straight up smoke a turkey or a chicken the skin and texture is not exactly what we're used to and isn't that good imo. Tried it years ago and I called it a fail. Have learned a lot about smoking in the last 30 years so I was not afraid to give it a shot.
It turned out so well that the turkey pretty much got ate before anything else. Once someone opened the package I'd put it in it didn't have a chance. The smell..oh yeah. I sliced it right before taking it to the in-laws. We live only about 2 miles apart. That turkey got destroyed. It was a 15-pound bird. Gone like the Bumpus' dogs had tore thru the house. OMG it was good.
What I did:
First I brined it (thawed out 15# Butterball turkey) with 2 gallons of water, 2 cups salt, and the peel off an orange. If I'd had lemons and limes....
All went into a five-gallon bucket. Brined it for about 18 hours. The brine smelled really good. That orange peel..mmm.
The smoker: I used the regular everyday charcoal and a nice fat log from an apricot tree I cut down last spring.
Smoked it about two hours and finished it in the oven. The smoker got up to around 275.
Oven set on 325. It took an additional two hours in the oven. Was checking with meat thermometer.
The thigh was not quite done according to the thermometer but the breast was well-done so I took it out of the oven. Turned out perfect. Juicy and dang the smoke flavor was tasty.
I'd suggest trying this out and adding your own zip. I wonder if I'd put some hot sauce in the brine...
The citrus worked great.
Enjoy.