Smoking a Turducken

[mgwerks]

To remain semi-on-topic but shift the focus, how many of you have made your own turducken vs. buying them? I was jus thinking how it might tasted if bothe the chicken and the duck were wrapped in bacon before being stuffed. Sorry, but I am a tocinohiliac and am ALWAYS thiking about bacon.

Mark

 

[geek with fire]

I've never done one, but I did do a Turkey, Chicken, Cornish game hen. Only because I'm not a fan of duck. In retrospect, I think you need the duck to add moisture to the internals. I also used bacon instead of sausage. The bacon added a nice flavor but gets rubbery when not exposed to fire. I may try one this year just to say I can.

 

[solar]

I'm not a big fan of duck either, but I've never had a turducken but would like to try one sometime.


no, it weighs more than a hen.

My uncle got me on that one more than 35 years ago.

 

[ncdodave]

Like I said in the first post, I have cooked all my Turducken's in my massive 22" Dutch oven. The turducken's I have done I have completely assembled from scratch. I have not cooked a turducken in a smoker as directed in the recipe I use because I like the results the Dutch oven gives me. A very moist bird all the way through with lots of terrific juices for gravy. A smoker would dry out the bird and the juices would need to be caught in a pan under the turducken for basting and gravy.

I do cook in the Dutch oven at between 300 and 325 for 4 to 6 hours. the beauty of the Dutch oven is it cooks and bakes like a pressure cooker because of its tight fitting lid and the pressure it takes to push steam out of the D.o. I get the skin crispy by putting all the coals on the lid to brown the skin and crisp it up a bit. The low pressure effect of the lid of a D.o. is a great advantage to cooking in a D.o. I usually end up with an internal temp of 170 and let it rest for 35 to 45 minutes and serve after the resting time.


This is the picture of one of the finished turduckens in the 22" Dutch oven.

 

[supervman]

Dang! that thing must weigh a TON!
Very cool DO.

 

[printerman]

I did a "dry run" in early November in anticipation for Thanksgiving. I didn't use a true Turducken. I substituted a pork tenderloin for the chicken. I layered the inside of the turkey with peppered bacon, then stuffing, then the duck, then more stuffing, then the pork loin. While I could have gone for even more stuff inside it (that was part of the learning curve) I didn't. It was a little flattened, but looked pretty much like a raw turkey.

After that, the biggest problem was keeping the temperature up in my smoker. Before putting it in, I browned the bird in a conventional oven a little. This produced about 8 ounces of drippings in 30 minutes. (I had used 2 pounds of thick bacon, plus the duck, plus sausage in the stuffing. Transfering the roast to the smoker, it stayed in for six hours, because the temp went down once. After 3-1/2 hours I covered it with foil to stop coloring the bird. At this point, it looked EXACTLY like turkeys I had done previously in the smoker, so I was happy.

After taking it out I allowed it to rest for almost an hour. I ve heard that the way to carve was to go lengthwise, but photos of this look to me like autopsies, so I made a lateral cut at mid-bird. It was beautifully layered. Did I mention that I drained over 16 ounces off it--probably more. Ducks are fat.

RESULTS:  Pre-cooking, I had a 24 pound Turkey, a 7 pound duck, a 2 pound pork tenderloin, 2 pounds of bacon and stuffing weighing (?).Around 36 pounds raw weight. I had brined the meats, so these are minimum weights. Final product looked the same (unshrunken--really beautiful). 

I had 8 guests, and there was very, very little left. Most of the people there didn't ever eat white meat turkey, but this time they did and couldn't get enough. One of the guys complained of "meat sweats". I attribute the surprising results to the duck and bacon basting from the center. The Duck pretty much disappeared as a distinct portion, but was a major contributor of flavor. Everyone thought it was a condiment. The bacon had been peppered from Sam's Club (I haven't been able to find any more since. They just don't carry it.) and it contributed a delightful peppery flavor to the entire roast.

Two of the guests tacked "whole slices". These were just over 1/2" slices that overlapped the edges of the plate all the way round. They looked truly disgusting.

I'm doing another one for Christmas (it's Saturday as I write), and I'm hoping that my first one wasn't "beginner's luck".

Mike Morgan, Gaithersburg, MD

 

[printerman]

I did a "dry run" in early November in anticipation for Thanksgiving. I didn't use a true Turducken. I substituted a pork tenderloin for the chicken. I layered the inside of the turkey with peppered bacon, then stuffing, then the duck, then more stuffing, then the pork loin. While I could have gone for even more stuff inside it (that was part of the learning curve) I didn't. It was a little flattened, but looked pretty much like a raw turkey.

After that, the biggest problem was keeping the temperature up in my smoker. Before putting it in, I browned the bird in a conventional oven a little. This produced about 8 ounces of drippings in 30 minutes. (I had used 2 pounds of thick bacon, plus the duck, plus sausage in the stuffing. Transfering the roast to the smoker, it stayed in for six hours, because the temp went down once. After 3-1/2 hours I covered it with foil to stop coloring the bird. At this point, it looked EXACTLY like turkeys I had done previously in the smoker, so I was happy.

After taking it out I allowed it to rest for almost an hour. I ve heard that the way to carve was to go lengthwise, but photos of this look to me like autopsies, so I made a lateral cut at mid-bird. It was beautifully layered. Did I mention that I drained over 16 ounces off it--probably more. Ducks are fat.

RESULTS:  Pre-cooking, I had a 24 pound Turkey, a 7 pound duck, a 2 pound pork tenderloin, 2 pounds of bacon and stuffing weighing (?).Around 36 pounds raw weight. I had brined the meats, so these are minimum weights. Final product looked the same (unshrunken--really beautiful). 

I had 8 guests, and there was very, very little left. Most of the people there didn't ever eat white meat turkey, but this time they did and couldn't get enough. One of the guys complained of "meat sweats". I attribute the surprising results to the duck and bacon basting from the center. The Duck pretty much disappeared as a distinct portion, but was a major contributor of flavor. Everyone thought it was a condiment. The bacon had been peppered from Sam's Club (I haven't been able to find any more since. They just don't carry it.) and it contributed a delightful peppery flavor to the entire roast.

Two of the guests tacked "whole slices". These were just over 1/2" slices that overlapped the edges of the plate all the way round. They looked truly disgusting.

I'm doing another one for Christmas (it's Saturday as I write), and I'm hoping that my first one wasn't "beginner's luck".

Mike Morgan, Gaithersburg, MD

 

[tennisrogue]

Actually, in Paula Deen's Turducken recipe, under chef's notes, it says 'if you smoke, cook at 225 for 5 hours...until internal temp is 155 and external is 165'. http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/turducken-recipe/index.html#!

I found this thread because I am planning a smoked turducken in my electric barrel smoker (I know already, this is just until I buy my house and can build a good one, haters can save their tirades).  I am not certain what temp I achieve in there but it is high, I use a wireless digital thermometer so I will be able to verify internal and external temperatures.

 

[oldschoolbbq]

Send Q-view . . .

 

[smokinginal]

Success based on your posts collectively!
We took a 16 pound turducken prepared by Heberts in Lafayette, LA. We injected it thou roughly with creole butter marinade, and let that sit overnight. Started smoking in the morning, kept the smoker at a steady 250. We put the bird in a baking pan to keep the fat drippings off the fire, and drained the drippings regularly, using them for basting and gravy. At between 5.5 and 6 hours, the internal temp reached 155. I removed it from the smoker and let it rest in the oven at 170 for an hour. The suspense peaked at dinner time, when we began cutting, and the meat was just falling apart. The meat was delicious, tender, and topped off a great meal. It was a great experience!

image.jpg

• smokinginal
• Dec 23, 2013

 

[ken66]

I have cooked about a dozen turduckens in my oven that my lovely wife has prepared. We do it low and slow, we have about 30# of meat that we cook at 225 for about 18 hrs. It is the best. I was thinkin about smokin one.

 

[travelbilly]

i'm thinking of smoking one too. because I'm not sure if I can ever get nice edible skin in a smoker (i havn't been able to yet) I'm thinkn of finishing it in a deep fryer. Thoughts? opinions? conserns?? Many thanx