Newbie Needs Step by Step Instructions for Smoking a Turkey in a 30" Masterbuilt Electric

  Welcome to the forum!  Maybe this will help a little. First brine the turkey  in a mix of 1 cup salt to 1 gallon of water. Brine for at least 4 hours to overnight. Add rub to bird on and under the skin. Heat smoker to about 240 degrees. Smoke to 165 degrees in the breast. Approximatly 30 to 40 mins. per pound. When to temp, remove from smoker, wrap in foil and let rest about an hour. Unwrap and let sit 10-15 mins, then serve.

  Mike

http://www.patiodaddiobbq.com/2009/11/ultimate-thanksgiving-turkey-brine.html

This is the brine I used for my easter turkey that I did this year. After brining I stuffed the turkey with apples, oranges, garlic and smoked it at 225. I will post the pictures of how it turned out here in a few. I can not express to you how good this turkey was. My family could not believe it and there were no leftovers.

Well here is what I do. first I make my brine, I usually use this recipe, but doubled or tripled:

1 1/2 cups, Kosher salt**
**See notes below regarding amount of salt
1 1/4 cups, brown sugar
10 whole cloves
3 teaspoons, black peppercorns
1 1/2 gallons (6 quarts) apple juice or cider (non-alcoholic)
6 small oranges halfed and squeezed (put all into pot)
[optional: 3 teaspoons, dried thyme and/or 3 teaspoons, dried sage]

Combine all ingredients in a non-reactive pot, bring mixture to a boil, lower heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes (partly covered). Allow brine to cool completely.

Rinse turkey under cool running water, inside and out (remove giblets from body cavity). Pat turkey dry with paper towels, then immerse turkey in cooled brine.* Turkey should be completely submerged in liquid (place a plate on top of the bird if necessary to keep it covered with the liquid).

Cover the pot and refrigerate for 8-10 hours or up to 24 hours. Remove turkey, rinse, pat dry, and roast as usual.

*Be sure the container used for brining turkey is non-reactive: use enamel, glass or crockery or stainless steel - never cast iron or aluminum. The pot should be just large enough to contain the turkey (so the brine will be sufficient to cover the bird).


** NOTE REGARDING THE AMOUNT OF SALT IN BRINE: A milder brine may be made, which may have a less flavorful result – but if salt is a concern (the entire turkey will absorb only 10-15% of the brine) the amount of salt may be reduced. For the desired chemical effect to take place, however, the proportions cannot be less than 2/3 to 1 cup of salt per gallon (4 quarts) of water or other liquid.

**TYPES OF SALT: Kosher salt is the ONLY type of salt to be used in making brine (it is sweeter and more pure than ordinary table salt). Kosher salt is available in two varieties. The most common is flaked salt (example: Morton Kosher Salt) which has been pressed into flakes by rollers. The other type is a four-sided crystal (example: Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt). The crystal-shaped salt measures differently because of its shape. Use about 25% (one quarter) MORE crystal salt than flaked salt when measuring for brine or other recipes. The formula is: 1 tablespoon of regular table salt is equivalent to 1 ½ tablespoons flaked kosher salt, or 2 tablespoons, diamond crystal kosher salt.

After the turkey is brined I rinse well, pat dry and put on a wire rack with drip under in the fridge for 12-18 hours to dry up a bit. 

When its time to smoke I get the smoker going and set the temp for 275. While I am waiting for the thin blue smoke to start rolling I either rub some extra virgin olive oil on and a rub of garlic, pepper,salt. Or I rub butter under the skin and the rub on top.

Once the smoke is going, I put the turkey in and go until I hit the proper IT in the thigh and breast. Typically I have found that a 12-14 pound bird takes about 4-5 hours. If the bird is done early, you can hold it in a cooler.

Good Luck, smoked turkey is great!

What setup do you have by the way? never mind I figured it out. When I had my ECB I used A water pan. I didn't find it added moisture to anything I smoked but kept the temp. stable. you can wrap bricks with foil for the same effect.

No water in the pan.

No wood chips.

Order a AMNPS from Todd (he's a member here).  And, order 10lbs of Pitmaster's Choice.

The majority of us who own the MES use this product.  All you do is put your pellets in one slot.  Use a torch to light it and put it inside your MES.  It'll burn and will gently kiss your meat and give it a perfect smoke flavor.   Wood chips have a tendency of being to strong and if you're a newbie, you won't know how much to use.

I would hit Todd up on here and beg him to rush a AMNPS out to you.  That way you can play with it and learn it before turkey day.

http://www.amazenproducts.com/SearchResults.asp?Cat=12

  The AMNPS will make the MES much more set it and forget it. (I use it myself) Otherwise, add about 2 shotglasses  of chips every 30-45 mins.

  Mike

Hi  Ted  My Names'  Kathleen and I'm a smokeaholic

  Some people will say no water in the pan. Others will say to add water, or apple cider vinegar,, or maybe chicken broth. I think it is mostly personal preference. Putting liquid in the pan will cause the skin to be softer. No liquid and higher temps will tend to a more crisp skin.

  Mike

SMOKERinFL said:

Thanks. The [color= rgb(24, 24, 24)]AMNPS sounds like a good idea but I'd like to stick to my current setup for now.  That being said, will [/color][color= rgb(24, 24, 24)]2 shot glasses of chips every 30-45 mins and keeping the water pan full be sufficient?[/color]

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NO WATER in the water pan. Fill it with clean sandbox sand you can get a Home Depot or other such place and cover the sand with heavy duty foil. Put one of those disposable aluminum foil pans under the turkey to catch the drippings. Yes 2-3 shot glasses of chips every  30-45 minutes will work if you do not have or want the AMNPS. But the AMNPS and MES were made for each other. Otherwise you will be adding chips quite frequently and that's ok. Remember Hickory, Mesquite are very strong flavors so if you are using one of those, cut them by adding some fruitwood (apple, peach, cherry etc). 

I've never brined my turkeys but everyone says that's the way to go.  I usually use butter or mayo to make the rub stick. when I use a rub.  Just be sure to season the inside and out of the bird well with what ever seasonings you like.   I start my bird out breast side up and half way through turn in breast side down.  keeps it moister.  (its the opposite in a conventional oven  don't ask me why some old smoker told me to do it that way and I do.   Don't be afraid but give yourself some extra time it always seems to take me longer than I think it will.   I also like to put my turkeys in a cold oven to rest, the bird is then out of the way of picking fingers, and it  it seems to keep it warmer I also like to put fresh herbs under the skin if I'm not using a rub.   Good luck, be brave

One note to remember. I have forgotten this more than twice. Rinse all the brine off the Bird before you smoke it. Otherwise you will have A salty bird. For some reason I get so excited about getting her on the grill I forget that step. Food for thought.

Also with wood for smoking if you can get some well seasoned apple chunks 1 or 2 inches big (or any fruitwood for that matter) and A small well burned out coffee can. You can soak some wood up and put some foil over the opening of the can and poke a few holes and place this on the burner you will get that thin blue smoke. It might take a little experimentation as to how to prop up the can. I had mine at a 45 degree angle with the bottom corner of the can just touching the burner and got great smoke with quite a bit less tending involved. I got the idea from an old thread on ecb's here long ago. give it a try. I think the less times you have to open A smoker the better. you would still have to reload it A couple times but not so much as chips in A pan. Little tricks you learn when you have to use those types of smokers. Mark my words eventually when the smoked food addiction takes you will step up to charcoal or gas. Just my 2 cents.

If you are going to brine your turkey, make sure you don't buy a pre-injected, self basting bird.  It will be one salty mother if you brine one that's already been injected.

Also, I said it in another thread, but I'm a big believer that you don't need to go low and slow to get excellent turkey results.  I mean, I've baked lots of them in the oven and they came out great.  If you're using your smoker to produce the high heat instead of your oven, what's the difference?  Other than the infusion of smoke, that is.  See my point?

That being said, I've been meaning to try smoking a turkey with a true low and slow approach.  Maybe I'll get up really early to do it on Thanksgiving this year.

ThsMormonSmokes said:

If you are going to brine your turkey, make sure you don't buy a pre-injected, self basting bird.  It will be one salty mother if you brine one that's already been injected.

Also, I said it in another thread, but I'm a big believer that you don't need to go low and slow to get excellent turkey results.  I mean, I've baked lots of them in the oven and they came out great.  If you're using your smoker to produce the high heat instead of your oven, what's the difference?  Other than the infusion of smoke, that is.  See my point?

That being said, I've been meaning to try smoking a turkey with a true low and slow approach.  Maybe I'll get up really early to do it on Thanksgiving this year.

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I agree with this statement but if you like stuff really smoky like I do low and slow allows more smoke. I do jack the temps at the end to crisp up the skin or flame crispen the skin with a torch. The latter is my new trick that I almost always do with whole birds of all kinds now. I'm always afraid to dry out that breast meat.

SMOKERinFL said:

Thanks Timber.  This is the Masterbuilt Electric Smoker that I have.  It has a side loading canister for the wood chips so I really don't need to open it at much at all...

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Just make sure you are getting thin blue smoke otherwise you will get a bitter bird. I started with a little chief as my first smoker then went to the big chief. Then I got a used charcoal Brinkman smoke and grill, then I modified it with A gas burner which really worked good for a long time for me. Last year I hooked up with a 55 gallon oil drum and built A UDS, I will never need A better smoker I don't think. I just aquired some large wine barrels which I am going to turn into smokers on the same premise as the UDS this winter. Man what A difference that old oil drum has made to my meat. When that element goes out in your mes you might consider gas conversion or going ugly. Anyway happy smoking.