Smoking a turkey

I smoked a 'medium' sized bird about 1½ months ago; saw Stephen Raichlen do one on BBQ U (PBS) & decided it was my time.

Just consider it a rather large chicken & do it whole; don't split it or ¼ it up. Put a LOT of butter under the skin & if you're like me, you'll have a water tray underneath it (I have the New Braunfels "Bandera" model, from back before they were bought out by Char Broil or Weber or whatever & now they're made in China with thinner metal).

I did a rub, not a soak (marinade) & liberally dispersed it inside of the turk. Good stuff. Good times. Great freaqin bird.

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I posted the recipe for this from the "Legends of Texas BBQ" book a while back (month or so???). I'll try and search for that post a little later this morning and link it. (Or I can retype it.)

There was actually a whole thread on just this subject.....
 
I plan on smoking my first turkey in my Weber bullet this Thanksgiving (greatest anniversary gift I've ever received from the Mrs.). But I've already smoked a couple of turkeys on my other Weber kettles in the past & they've been excellent (I've also done them rotisserie-style on the Weber).

Just give yourself plenty of time for your bird to thaw completely & to brine it. You may be brining it for several days so having a 2nd fridge can be very helpful. Don't wait until the week of Thanksgiving to go get your bird. Get your bird at least 7 - 10 days before you plan on eating it.
 
My neighbors always smoked turkey's for thanksgiving. Can't beat the taste. If i was tailgating though, i'd go for the deep fryer. Nothing goes with a parking lot like a deep fried turkey. (or anything for that matter).
 
I smoked a turkey last year, and I will try and find the recipe. The jest of it was that I took a package of bacon, some orange zest, lemon zest, garlic, thyme, rosemary, basil, salt, pepper and some olive oil and turned that into a past using a food processor. I put this paste under the skin, and stuffed the cavity with oranges, rosemary sprigs, and lemons. I smoked it for abnout 4 hours on 280-300. I hate turkey. A lot, but this thing was pretty freaking good. That bacon grease and herb mixture really basted the meat and kept it moist. Great smoke flavor too.
 
As stated in the other thread, make sure you don't oversmoke it, because it will come out completely black. I did this about a month ago and while it tasted amazing, the appearance was laughable. It looked completely torched and inedible.

I brined it, threw a rub on there, and the turkey tasted amazing.

Good luck.
 
I've had good luck w/ the self-basting turkeys too on my WSM. Just follow the recipe on the weber site- and you're all set.
 
My problem is I keep forgetting the foil part as well... I get so tied up inother things, I don't remember to wrap it up.

Whacking it in the thighs & breasts with a flavor injector isn't a bad thing, either.

mmmmmmmmmm... making me want some more bird.

PS: I mentioned this somewhere else, but if anyone in the Austin area wants to assist on the takedown of a Pecan tree, we can get some good sized rounds to split up. It's in South Austin near Manchaca & Ben White.

Let me know - my Email is on the profile.

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you can buy a stand to do the turkey like beer can chicken, the trick to it is making sure that your pit is big enough to hold the turkey while standing up...unfortunately mine is not thus I need a new pit.
 
Best smoked turkey in the world comes from Greenberg Turkeys in Tyler, TX. I pride myself in my bbq, but their ain't no better, I promise.....
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