Quoted from Lethal_Inc:Would prefer not to use the brine method.
Too late for this year because it takes longer, but look up the Judy bird method, then. There are a number of variations of it now online.
(Topic ID: 292213)
Sana'a
Quoted from Lethal_Inc:Going to smoke my first turkey. Any pointers or advice?
You are getting a late start but you can still do it.
Take the turkey out of the plastic and spatchcock it.
Cover both sides of the turkey with a coating of kosher salt, black pepper ,onion and garlic powder
Put turkey back in fridge uncovered overnight to let the salt dry out the skin so it will come out crisp
Because you spatchcocked it, you now will have a 3-hour cooking time with most turkeys
Put the turkey neck spine and tail into the drip pan beneath the turkey and about an inch of water to the drip pan and a half cup of apple cider. These drippings and stock will become your gravy later.
Put one probe in the thickest part of the breast, don't touch the bone. Put the other probe in the thigh, again keeping away from the bone.
Start the first hour of smoking at 200° F. This will give some extra time for the smoke to penetrate before the meat gets too warm to absorb any more smoke. Hickory and cherry are a great mix of pellets during that first part of the smoking. After that it won't matter what pellets you use.
Next, turn temperature up to 250-275 degrees Fahrenheit, and start drizzling the skin with a mixture of butter and bacon drippings. You can leave this on the upper shelf of the smoker and they will stay melted and gain extra smoke
When the breast probe hits 135° F, Crank the grill up to 375°. This will put the final color and really crisp up the skin.
Pull turkey when breast hits 150° F. The temperature will continue to rise, don't worry. Don't risk drying out the breasts by taking the temperature up to 165° F whiie still on the grill
Very loosely tent the turkey with aluminum foil and allow to stand for about 25 minutes
Remove the breasts from the turkey and then slice against the grain, do not slice those long, with-the-grain slices like you see in the movies, that is nonsense
The best turkey is always wet brined.
Doing 2 young turkeys this year. Just seems better to do two smaller turkeys than one big old bird.
I cook up the brine mixture on the stove, just before boiling point I cool it down with a bunch of ice. Then I put the turkeys in the cooler neck side down
I pour the brine in over and inside the turkeys then I pack the cooler solid with ice, then top off any remaining airspace with additional water
All that ice keeps the turkeys from floating to the top, out of the brine mixture, I put the coolers outside with a bungee cord around them to keep animals from stealing the turkeys in the night
24-hour wet brine for natural turkeys, 12 hours for those weird frozen ones in the plastic bag that already have some kind of brine soaked into them
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Evansvile, IN
Quoted from Lethal_Inc:Would prefer not to use the brine method.
Are you talking about not dry brining?I just salt it with kosher salt as if to taste and put it uncovered in the refrigerator overnight.Just don’t add salt to your seasoning the next day.
This year we're just doing the Costco Turkey Breast Thanksgiving Dinner plus some of our favorite sides. It's just a whole lot easier and stress free. I really like their stuffing. The mashed potatoes are OK. Turkey is turkey. The stars of our meals are the sides. More time for football and beer! Kudos to you folks putting in the extra effort though!
Quoted from vid1900:After brining, then I take the turkey out and put it on a wire rack.
Don't rinse it, just put it uncovered in the refrigerator for a day to let the skin dry out so it will come out crispy[quoted image]
Interesting, to avoid having to put the bird in my cinnamon wet brine before I have to go to work this morning I got it in pretty late last night, so it will go closer to 30 hours. I've never taken it out to rest like this. I'll try that tonight. I've run into too salty when brining too long when I couldn't get to the cook when I planned.
Quoted from mcluvin:Most of them are already brined for you…
I have heard others say this and I don't believe that store brine is anything like a wet brine that I do. I use lots of salt, brown sugar, honey, bay leaves, peppercorns, and cinnamon sticks boiled first to get a real nice flavor.
Quoted from RyanStl:I have heard others say this and I don't believe that store brine is anything like a wet brine that I do. I use lots of salt, brown sugar, honey, bay leaves, peppercorns, and cinnamon sticks boiled first to get a real nice flavor.
Oh, I'm sure it's nothing like what you do. But they are brined for the most part.
Quoted from mcluvin:No, turkey is turkey.
My bad.
Quoted from RyanStl:I have heard others say this and I don't believe that store brine is anything like a wet brine that I do. I use lots of salt, brown sugar, honey, bay leaves, peppercorns, and cinnamon sticks boiled first to get a real nice flavor.
The Butterball premium has 200 mg of sodium in each serving.So I usually dry brine our turkey with 4 teaspoons of salt.I’m other words check your brands ingredients and adjust as needed.I make up a season paste with nine different seasons but no salt.
Quoted from vid1900:How do you get the already cured meat to absorb any more smoke?
Wash with baking soda first?
Don't know, but it turns out amazing. I should have said double smoked though. I've done this recipe twice to great satisfaction.
https://biggreenegg.com/recipes/double-smoked-maple-bourbon-glazed-ham/
Quoted from romulusx:My bad.
According to this fella, you're right and I'm wrong. My bad...
Friend owns a smokehouse restaurant just called.
He is giving me $1000 gift card to work tonight. 80% of his line staff is out with covid, on his busiest night.
I'm fully vaxed, but I'm still wearing a mask - probably a new variant from hell will kill me.
Of course I already have my drink started; he sent a Lyft .
I'll steal all the secrets I can
Quoted from vid1900:Friend owns a smokehouse restaurant just called.
He is giving me $1000 gift card to work tonight. 80% of his line staff is out with covid, on his busiest night.
I'm fully vaxed, but I'm still wearing a mask - probably a new variant from hell will kill me.
Of course I already have my drink started; he sent a Lyft .
I'll steal all the secrets I can
Sweet. You'll need to root out the MSG. That's the secret 
Edit: I'm going to treat this like a confessional post. I use MSG in my rub in addtion to shiitake mushroom powder.
Quoted from vid1900:Friend owns a smokehouse restaurant just called.
He is giving me $1000 gift card to work tonight. 80% of his line staff is out with covid, on his busiest night.
I'm fully vaxed, but I'm still wearing a mask - probably a new variant from hell will kill me.
Of course I already have my drink started; he sent a Lyft .
I'll steal all the secrets I can
If it's for restaurant.com, it ain't worth it....
Quoted from vid1900:Off to a good start.
Kitchen manager woman just asked "Are you drunk???"
Ask her to define drunk...
Quoted from RyanStl:I think we may need a new thread.
Somebody usually starts a Thanksgiving thread by now...
No spatchcocking tonight, these are "presentation turkeys"!
They have all been Sous vide-ed already, so next they hit the smoker
They still look kinda raw to me, lol. Might just be the brine if it has wine in it or something. Will investigate further
No idea what we are dusting them with, but they got to hit the smoke while still warm, I'm told.
IMG_20221123_203604_01.jpgQuoted from Lethal_Inc:Turkey day is almost here. Going to smoke my first turkey. Any pointers or advice? I was just going to season it and smoke it at 250 degrees for as long as it takes to teach the internal temp. Happy Thanksgiving!
https://www.virtualweberbullet.com/whole-turkey-apple-brine/
For many years, this and only this. It’s a delicious finished product. I now have a pellet smoker and just set it on the upper rack over a water pan. I’m doing 2 turkeys tomorrow for my large family gathering. 20lb and 16lb.
Just got my turkey out of a 36 hour brine, rinsed and now air drying overnight in the fridge.
2 days of intermittent prep work, 1 early ass wake time and morning of smoking… all so that for like 10-15min tomorrow I don’t have to eat my grandmothers annual dry turkey that sat in an oven for 2 hours too long.
Quoted from vid1900:These got a super thin coating of what tasted like mayonnaise with paprika mixed in.
"Very thin coating, but must be 100%"[quoted image]
Dang! I would love to see how SV is used in a commercial setting. That is a lot of birds put through SV.
Thanks for the photos with story behind it.
Quoted from vid1900:These got a super thin coating of what tasted like mayonnaise with paprika mixed in.
"Very thin coating, but must be 100%"
How about some pics of the finished product? You can sleep later 
Quoted from MaxIsDead:It’s coming along nicely. 12 hrs in 4 to go
[quoted image]
Strange bird man?
Success! Final product. Nice, crispy Turkey skin is possible when you smoke it.
Hope your birds taste yummy as well.
2EB293DC-0DA9-42AE-B1E7-A7CB287C218F (resized).jpeg76084333-A000-40A9-B25B-43F3FAA1E160 (resized).jpeg8AA39406-79C0-45AA-A129-AC97A20520D4 (resized).jpegA341AD6F-8CEC-4793-9FC9-E5EF0A855847 (resized).jpegHere's mine. Wish I would have left in the brine last night instead of drying. Still very juicy.
Just put on
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2 hrs in
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Pulled after 4 hrs. 15.25 lb bird
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Making the gravy from the drippings
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Turkey was a hit. Thanks to vid1900 who unknowingly inspired me with his simple recipe (about 10 posts up). First time with a dry brine and a spatchcock bird in the smoker. Will definitely be my go to approach from now on!
Happy Thanksgiving!
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