Smoker pros! I need advice!

[MySRT8U]

So every year my older cousin cooks our turkey for thanksgiving. However on February 19th of this year, he very suddenly passed away in his sleep. Thanksgiving was his favorite holiday so this one will be very hard for the family. We have now moved the meal to my house to try and ease some of the pain of not seeing him in his normal spot at my granny's house. Well this year the turkey has fallen on me. I've cooked birds before but last thanksgiving Eric went on and on about smoking a bird for this thanksgiving. So I figured I owed it to him to give it a shot. I've never smoked anything before. I'm a very good cook and I grill all the time but I know that's not the same. Here is my rig


I was thinking I would give this recipe a go

But basically I want yalls opinions. Am I in over my head? I can't make an already hard holiday worse, by serving a crappy turkey. Should I go with a normal baked turkey or do you think smoking a turkey is fairly easy to pull off?


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[Ætheling]

You got this! Smoke that turkey, that pit will do just fine. If you have time Id start a fire in the box and play around a little seeing how your temps go in the chamber. Between all the guys on here that smoke meat on the regular you are in good hands.

[MySRT8U]

You got this! Smoke that turkey, that pit will do just fine. If you have time Id start a fire in the box and play around a little seeing how your temps go in the chamber. Between all the guys on here that smoke meat on the regular you are in good hands.

Thanks man. Yeah I'm starting a fire now so I can see how to get to the sweet spot. 240° according to that recipe


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[Boss Buck]

That maple bird look good, prayer for you and your family this holiday. I'm no help on the smokers..

[Ætheling]

Thanks man. Yeah I'm starting a fire now so I can see how to get to the sweet spot. 240° according to that recipe


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Its all about internal temp. If you are looking at 240, you are safe at 225 to under 275. Just keep it going steady till the IT is where it needs to be and then place in a cooler to rest. Below is a thread from a while back where a bunch of us give advice on running a proper fire in an offset.

http://discussions.texasbowhunter.com/forums/showthread.php?t=597555&highlight=fire

[kembry]

I've only smoked two turkeys so I'm by no means an expert. The best advise I can give you is to spatchcock the turkey before you put in on the smoker. It will allow the bird to cook evenly. Do a quick google search and you'll find plenty of info on how to do it and why. You got this!

[Texas Tracker]

Ok brother I have smoked a lot of birds. Try this. Prep bird like you would any bird then stuff it with apples oranges limes and lemon's Clove of garlic and two sticks of butter. Rub it down with butter salt and pepper. Put it on smoker with a pan of OJ and take the left over fruit and put it in the pan. Smoke away. Gives that bird a nice juicy citric flavor.

[TTU TX Hunter]

I don't know if the recipe calls for injection or a brine but I would suggest to inject the turkey and smoke with a pecan/peach combo or something of the lighter nature. One more tip, to crisp up the skin you can get olive oil in a spray can and coat the skin and the last 30 min of the cook get the temps up around 325 and the skin will crisp right up for you!! Good luck you got this and will make your cousin proud!!

[Chad74]

Brine Brine Brine Brine!!!!!!
I stuff the inside of mine with quartered onions and lemons
Then smoke for about 30 mins per pound
Make sure internal temp around the thighs (dark meat) is good and you should be good to go.

[kd350]

Hope it turns out well for you and hope it's not too hard of a holiday on you and the family and everyone remembers the good times with him. My advice is to get a wireless meat thermometer so you can watch the internal temp

I'd try and inject it as well to keep it moist


What Texas tracker said sounds good as well

[Turtlewax]

I dont know if it will be the same for smoking but this is how we started cooking ours.....


Pull the bird out and let it warm up a touch. While warming place ice bags on the breasts. The breasts always cook faster but the legs is what your waiting for. The ice chills the breasts and they end up finishing the same time.....which means the breasts are cooked perfectly.

And a decent thermometer is key. I have the maverick and you can find them at any bbq store.

I didnt read all the posts above....as i know the GS gives solid advice. Try the ice though....youll never do it the old way again.

[TexasTealHunter]

Happy thanksgiving to you and your family hope it is a blessed one, great to be honoring you cuz

key to any turkey bird is to brine for around 12-24 hours in advance... so go ahead get that bird in a brining bag!

then we typically inject with a cajun butter mixture (butter, pepper, garlic, will suffice if you do not like cajun) inject in breast legs and drums

Both of the above help keep the bird juicy

other than that... get your smoker at the temp you mentioned and monitor both that and the internal temp of bird.

[MySRT8U]

I don't know if the recipe calls for injection or a brine but I would suggest to inject the turkey and smoke with a pecan/peach combo or something of the lighter nature. One more tip, to crisp up the skin you can get olive oil in a spray can and coat the skin and the last 30 min of the cook get the temps up around 325 and the skin will crisp right up for you!! Good luck you got this and will make your cousin proud!!

It calls for a brine. It says to brine for 12 hours but I was thinking about putting it in now. Is it possible to over-brine a turkey?


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[KDinTX]

It calls for a brine. It says to brine for 12 hours but I was thinking about putting it in now. Is it possible to over-brine a turkey?


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Nah, youll be fine putting it in a brine for longer than 12 hrs

[FeetDown]

Good on you. Wishing your family a great Thanksgiving together.

While I am confident that smoked turkey will turn out great due to your cooking skills and advice from the fine gents on TBH, you might consider having a backup to take the pressure off yourself, time and funds permitting. Could buy a ham (easy but costly) or you could do a second turkey in the oven (maybe somebody could help with that). Whatever y'all don't eat you could donate to a local shelter or needy family. Kind of a thanksgiving bonus right there.

Either way, good luck and enjoy spending time with your family!