Smoked Turkey Help

[glrae]

I've smoked most meats but never a Turkey. My lovely bride wants a smoked turkey for thanksgiving, I usually fry turkeys. I have found some brine threads. What I need most is how long to smoke the turkey and what temperature. I'm counting on you guys to help me out here.

[eradicator]

Smoke turkey at about 275 degrees until breast reaches 165 and thighs 175. A 12 -15 lb turkey should take you about 5-7 hrs. Brining is a must. I also stuff with anjou pears or apples to help keep moist. Cover the turkey in cheesecloth and baste with butter about every hour. This will help to keep the skin from burning(turning black) and give a nice dark golden brown color. Good luck and let us know how it turns out. Let me know if you need help with a brine. I will be waking up about 4am on Thursday to do ours.

[glrae]

eradicator,
Thanks for the help. Looks like I need some cheesecloth. I guess I will brine overnight tomorrow. I've seen a couple of brine recipes on here. Looks like I will start somewhere between 4 and 5 myself.

[glrae]

Report on 1st Smoked Turkey (Kinda Long)

Thanks to Eradicator, Mesquitecountry, Cajunblake, and Alton Jones for help with my 1st Smoked Turkey. I used a little bit of everyone's suggestions I think. I didn't think to get pics but I will try to remember when I do this again for Christmas.

Brine
1 cup salt
1 cup brown sugar
1 box chicken broth
3 cloves garlic
sprinkle of onion powder

I used hot tap water to put the salt and brown sugar in to dissolve some of the solids. I put all the above in a 5 gal bucket and added more water to have enough almost cover the turkey. I added ice to the mixture until I had the turkey covered by about 3". I brined overnight.

I fired up my electric smoker before I went to bed so that it would be up to temperature when I got up. I got up at 3:00am and wasn't even going hunting, this is a miracle in itself. Pulled the turkey from the brine mixture and let drain. I quartered 1 pear, 1 apple, 2 lemons and stuffed in the turkey along with 4 celery stalks. I rubbed the outside of the turkey with olive oil and wrapped the turkey with cheese cloth. The turkey my wife bought had 1 of those pop out thermometers, so I cut the cheese cloth from around the thermometer. I put a little more olive oil on more to help hold the cheese cloth in place than anything. I put the turkey on the smoker at 3:40am and added my Jack Daniels pellets in the chute, a couple handfuls.

I pretty much checked the turkey every hour mainly because I just can't stand not checking it. At 8:40am (5 hours) I was thinking the turkey was done, the meat was pulling back from the leg bone but the little pop out thingy was still in. Man, I need a good meat thermometer!! It's one my Christmas list now! At 9:40am (6 hours) the pop out thingy was sprung so I pulled my turkey, wrapped it in foil, and put it in an ice chest. I pulled it out to carve at 12:30pm. The turkey was still good and hot. I removed the cheesecloth and the fruit and veggies. The turkey was absolutely beautiful!!! I think the cheesecloth was a big factor in that. The turkey was very good, but just a tad too dry. I probably should have pulled the turkey at the 5 hour mark which is what my gut told me. I will probably brine the next one a little longer as well. It was certainly better than any store bought smoked turkey.

Thanks for everyone's help!!

[eradicator]

Glad it turned out for you. You can get a thermometer at Academy for about $6 or $7 bucks. This is the first year we were "in the rotation" to host Thanksgiving, and I think I screwed up. The turkey was TOO good and I think I have been nominated to be in control of the bird from here on out. Oh well, it's a good excuse to indulge in some big boy sodas. Congrats on your first turk!