Anyone smoking their Turkey this year?

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3_yard-out

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I'm going to be smoking a turkey this thanksgiving for the fam and wondered if any of you guys had some pointers. I looked up a recipe on foodnewtwork that recommended smoking a 16-18 pounder at 250 for for about 7 hours. I like Pecan wood so i'll probably stick with that. They mentioned brining the turkey for 4-6 hours but I figure I'll brine it the night before. Here's the recipe they had. I doubt I'm stuffing oranges into my turkey though.

smoked turkey

Also, who was talking about smoking a ham a while ago? It would be a shame to wast all that room on the pit, and I dunno if I could talk the family into ribs, lol.
 
If you have FoodNetwork on Demand Alton Brown had a good brine recipe. From memory it was 1-1/2 kosher salt, 1 lb honey( approx 1-1/2 cup), vegetable broth, 7 pounds of ice, and one other ingrediant I can't recall. It's "On Demand" at the end of the "all-Stars thanksgiving Special where all the food network cooks contribute something to the table. Rub the whole turkey with oil though.

The last time I smoked a bird I popped in a temp guage to make sure it was done, but NOT overcooked. Turned out great.

One other hint: If you have an igloo water cooler (dispenser type) that is great for brining. Plus the spicot can drian all the brine out first!

As for smoking a Ham I would think it's going to take quite a bit longer, than the turkey.
 
Use a thermometer (don't rely on the pop-up and don't remove the popup if you have one) and keep in mind that the time to cook an unstuffed bird will be different than a stuffed bird. It could easily change by HOURS.
 
Thanks for the tips. It's just the immediate family so I can keep them busy with booze if things take longer than expected.
 
Shorter, not longer. That's the danger. You think you don't have to check on it and it's charcoal in 7 hours. You could smoke that baby in just a few hours if you aren't careful. I'm not a huge fan of slow smoking a turkey because it can really dry out if you aren't real careful.
 
One thing I have done when smoking a turkey to keep it from drying out and shortening the cooking time is to throw it in a 500 degree oven for about 30 minutes before putting it on the pit. It will seal the juices and get some color on the skin. YOu can then put it on the pit for 3-4 hours depending on the size of the bird.
 
I smoked one out at the ranch a few years ago and went out to check on it after a couple of hours and found it was ready about 2 hours before I was thinking. That was the year that my mother baked one and the brother-in-law fried one. The fried one was merely OK and the baked one was as expected. The smoked one was by far the most flavorful and FAR and AWAY made the best leftover sammiches. It was also the driest. I'm a dark meat guy and smoking doesn't do that much for the take-off and landing gear. Great sammiches though that year.

The pop-up gizmo is basically a spring with glue that gums it up until it melts at a certain temp. They are notoriously unreliable. Don't remove it, though. It will allow a lot of juice to run out while cooking if you do. Kinda like pulling the nail out of the tire before you are at the tire shop.
 
I already did one Sunday. I stuffed it with onion halves and garlic cloves, used oak at around 175 degrees, and shot it up with jalapeno butter every hour.
Good stuff.
 
Damn MrMyke that sounds good. I was thinking I'm gonna have to shoot lower than 250. Around how long did you have it on, and tell me about this jalapeno butter. I got one of these Tony Cacheres (sp) injectors so I might try something like that.

Horn4lifes brine recipe was right, it was lb salt, lb honey, 2 qts vegetable broth 7 lbs ice.
 
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