Smoking a Turkey ?

[7sdad]

I'm going to attemp to smoke a turkey for Thanksgiving. I have never done this and need the green screen's help.

1 - How hot of a fire?
2 - What type of wood?
3 - Pan or no pan?
4 - Cover or don't cover?
5 - How long do I cook it for?
6 - Anything else I forgot?

[jenningsshuter]

I personally like to smoke a turkey with pecan or hickory. 250-300 indirect heat. I'll inject one just like you do when you fry one. Usually takes me around four hours, a good meat thermometer will tell you when its ready (165 degrees internal temp is the rule) I'll season mine all over with cajun seasoning and set it directly on the grill of my smoker. If you're worried about it drying out, put a pan of water on the grill next to the turkey.

[Cantcatch5]

Brine it first!

[Uncle Saggy]

I brine for 2 days with Kosher salt in ice water before smoking

[ctyp3]

I brine for 2 days with Kosher salt in ice water before smoking

X2

[tlm23]

As stated above I like pecan wood

[tkuehn5410]

They have some real nice herby brines at Bed bath beyond that are really tasty. Brine for 6-24 hours and then pat skin dry. Use your favorite chicken rub and rub it real good! I like to separate the breast meat from the skin with your fingers/hand and put a good amount of rub in between.

I like to cook around 275-325 with indirect heat and at times I like to do a drunk turkey using a beer can turkey setup from basspro. I use 32 ounce beers. It won't matter if you use a pan or not unless you like the drippings. Don't cover, either. If you want your breast meat to finish at the same time as the thighs, add ice in a quart bag on both sides of the breast and use a couple toothpicks to attach the bag. Pull off the bag after the first hour of smoking.

It normally takes 4 hours for a 12-15 pound turkey and around 6 hours for 20+ pounders.

[KarlGansen]

Sounds like fun, Good Luck

[PBFrijoles]

Another trick is once you've got your rub on it coat it with a thick layer of mayo and smoke it

[Uncle Saggy]

Another trick is once you've got your rub on it coat it with a thick layer of mayo and smoke it

That sounds interesting

[lodgepole]

Really big Zig-Zags

[7sdad]

I hadn't heard about using a brine so I did some looking around. One site said not to brine if your using a frozen turkey due to them being injected with a salt solution. Anyone run into this problem ?

[ctyp3]

I always brine it. If not it gets very very dry when smoking it.

[Axis FMJ]

Really big Zig-Zags

Lol

[viper3853]

really big zig-zags

lamo