Christmas Eve turkey in the smoker

yardbird

Meat Mopper

Original poster

Dec 25, 2011

215

19

Sanborn, NY

• Dec 23, 2012

• #1

This one is in. Did a pair of 8# shoulders yesterday, turkey today. Might do mac-n-cheese this evening as well.

2012-12-23_11-28-09_384.jpg

• yardbird
• Dec 23, 2012

Oh... and had some elf help as well...

2012-12-23_11-27-00_769.jpg

• yardbird
• Dec 23, 2012

I think he was checking whether the aromatics were naughty or nice.

 

yardbird

Meat Mopper

Original poster

Thread starter

Dec 25, 2011

215

19

Sanborn, NY

• Dec 23, 2012

• #2

lawdy, lawdy... this one came out good... heheh.

2012-12-23_turkey.jpg

• yardbird
• Dec 23, 2012

 

davidhef88

Master of the Pit

OTBS Member

Jun 24, 2011

2,176

120

Rochester, NY

• Dec 23, 2012

• #3

That looks a good as your butt yesterday. Pork butt! Thought I should clarify. The weather held out a lot better for you today.

 

shoneyboy

Master of the Pit

OTBS Member

Nov 3, 2010

1,895

58

Denham Springs La

• Dec 23, 2012

• #4

 

yardbird

Meat Mopper

Original poster

Thread starter

Dec 25, 2011

215

19

Sanborn, NY

• Dec 23, 2012

• #5

Davidhef88 said:

That looks a good as your butt yesterday. Pork butt! Thought I should clarify. The weather held out a lot better for you today.

Click to expand...

Yeah with the sun and no wind to speak of, I was actually out there in my shirt sleeves today. It was mid-30s but didn't feel cold. While the turkey was in the smoker I was in the house making mac-n-cheese. That'll go in the smoker tomorrow to heat up. Above the pork shots :)

 

sprky

Master of the Pit

OTBS Member

Jun 26, 2007

2,932

41

Hutchinson Kansas

• Dec 23, 2012

• #6

 hope mine look as good

 

den60

Smoke Blower

Jun 6, 2012

125

12

Cardiff by the Sea, CA

• Dec 24, 2012

• #7

I had planned to do a turkey this year but didn't get around to it. I'm relatively new to smoking, bought my WSM at the beginning of summer and have a question about doing a turkey. Do you guys use stuffing in the turkey when you smoke it? So far I have done pork ribs, baby backs, chicken, beef ribs and today I will be doing prime rib. Turkey is on my list, though.

 

august west

Newbie

Jul 7, 2012

21

10

Loveland, CO

• Dec 24, 2012

• #8

sprky said:

 hope mine look as good

Click to expand...

 +1

 

yardbird

Meat Mopper

Original poster

Thread starter

Dec 25, 2011

215

19

Sanborn, NY

• Dec 24, 2012

• #9

Den60 said:

I had planned to do a turkey this year but didn't get around to it. I'm relatively new to smoking, bought my WSM at the beginning of summer and have a question about doing a turkey. Do you guys use stuffing in the turkey when you smoke it? So far I have done pork ribs, baby backs, chicken, beef ribs and today I will be doing prime rib. Turkey is on my list, though.

Click to expand...

No stuffing! You have to overcook a bird to properly cook the stuffing. That's not just a smoker thing. That's any time you cook a bird. Don't be intimidated by Turkey. If you've already done chickens, it's just a bigger chicken. For the smoker I look for 12 pound birds. The one I just did was closing in on 15 pounds and I have an absolute limit of 15 pounds. If you need more meat, buy 2 small birds rather than one large one. :)

 

den60

Smoke Blower

Jun 6, 2012

125

12

Cardiff by the Sea, CA

• Dec 25, 2012

• #10

Thanks Yardbird. Makes sense about the stuffing. I am going to try a Turkey in the next couple of weeks. When I did my chicken I think I did three full chickens and a couple of quarters. What people told me when I was shopping for a smoker and debating whether to go with the 18.5 or 22.5 is that you tend to want to fill your smoker when you use it. They were right. As for how big a bird my mom always told me to never go over 15 pounds because the meat isn't as good.

I just did my first prime rib yesterday for Christmas Eve dinner. It was a huge success (posted pics in the beef forum) so I'm not worried about Turkey. Being that this is the first season the only concern I had was that a newer grill doesn't maintain temperature as well. But, I am seeing the grill being a lot more consistent now. My son wants me to try a brisket soon as well. Now that one is going to be a challenge.