My first smoked turkey tomorrow i need help

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gotribe28

Fire Starter
Original poster
May 6, 2013
39
10
I have a 13 lb bird all thawed. Am going to put it on the offset at 300 deg. 

1. not going to brine
2. I am going to inject
3. Stuff with some orange and lemons 

Do I tent it with foil after a couple of hours for color? or how do you recommend I handle it. I don't want a black one.

I am going to oil and rub it, any other advice would be very welcome

Thanks guys and gals....
 
Hello.  My friend David has his way, I have mine.  Not sayin mine is right but here we go.  Just so you know where I am comin from; WHY inject?  Is there somethin wrong with that turkey?  Is it old?  Was it cheap and nasty at the start?  You are oilin it, rubbin it, stuffin it with citrus: DO you not like the taste of turkey?  If you did all that to a cardboard box it'd taste good.  What about the turkey?  NOW.  I AM FINISHED RANTING!  I know what ya mean about not wanting it black.  I'm not a fan of all that, in fact I know it may be sacrilege but I ain't a big fan of bark.  I think you should be able to do you pimped up turkey 
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 without foil and without drying out.  If it does start goin over golden brown then definitely foil.  Good luck.  Don't forget the Qview.  Keep Smokin!


Danny
 
No bad advice above.  Could you do things differently?  Sure, but you have to start somewhere, so take good notes as to what was done and how, along with the results.  The next one will be better.

Tom
 
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Trust me Gotribe28; Mr T and Oldschool have posted!  ( 2 of the VERY big dogs here ) 
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 The word has been given.  If they and certain others are ok with the advice you can't go wrong.  Good luck my friend.  Keep Smokin!


Danny
 
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Trust me Gotribe28; Mr T and Oldschool have posted!  ( 2 of the VERY big dogs here ) 
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 The word has been given.  If they and certain others are ok with the advice you can't go wrong.  Good luck my friend.  Keep Smokin!


Danny
Very kind of you KC5TPY, but the mule and oldschool are much bigger than me.

Thanks

Tom
 
DAVID!!!  Please for give me for not including you!!  I have been doin this for quite a while and I know who knows their stuff.  You 3 guys and certain others KNOW your stuff!!!  Keep Smokin!

Danny
 
DAVID!!!  Please for give me for not including you!!  I have been doin this for quite a while and I know who knows their stuff.  You 3 guys and certain others KNOW your stuff!!!  Keep Smokin!

Danny
Danny

I have you fooled. I just have a box of matches and some good Friends on here who tell me where to light the fire. Then I am a stalker. I find someone who post pretty pictures. Then I go read every post they have ever made. Then I
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. Sometimes it works sometimes Fido gets a lot more than I had planned. The most important thing I have learned I learned from OLDSHOOLBBQ.   Everyone already knows it. PATIANCE  But when the wind is blowing. it is raining. the guest are saying "WHEN IS IT GOING TO BE DONE?"

.

Then their is this everyone should know. It is done when it is done and not before. Temp not time will tell you it is done!

Happy smoken.

David

Sorry didn't mean to
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Everyone smokes as to how they like their end result. When you ask a ford man its a Cobra GT, as a Chevy its Vette. Its whatever you like. I spent 30 years injecting before I ever brined. Personal preference. Suggestions for injections; keep it simple. Use a cattle hypodermic needle instead of the huge shoot out the sides things. Make lots of holes and use little juice in each one. Puddling is not a pretty sight. If you trying a new injection always best to go in conservatively. Everyone appreciates a little added flavor, nobody like to bite into a pool of garlic juice. Keep your injection not cold, it injects better. Also unless its a cheap no name turkey you probably don't need to inject butter. It hardens and pools. Keep a warm glass of water to put the hypo in to keep it warm while injecting.

My Dad always rubbed "Kitchen Bouquet" sauce all over the bird before he'd oiled it up with suntan lotion. He said the Kitchen Bouquet helped smooth out the color of the skin so the little scraps and scratches are not noticeable.

I assume 300 is because you are planning on crisp skin. It depends upon your smoker. I can smoke at 300 and my skin is rubbery. I can smoke at 220 and the skin is tender, but definitely not crisp. Best way to ensure crisp is to transfer to a grill or oven. An electric doesn't crisp any better than it imparts a smoke ring.

If you are going fruits instead of vegetables, you can also handle an aromatic like thyme or lemon grass maybe? I did a chicken a couple a weeks ago with apricots, it was totally awesome.  If you use fruits you might also look into possibly adding some to your injection. Not a lot nothing should overpower your taste buds, but you should be wondering where that taste came from you just enjoyed.

Be sure and let it rest min. 6 hours refridge after injecting so that it can be better absorbed into the meat. Over night is best. And don't forget to rest after removing it, meat tastes better when you have not burnt your taste buds.

Look for sweet fruity woods to smoke with and don't over smoke it. You are not smoking to hang it for the winter, you are smoking to enjoy that taste.

Anyway, Those are some things I would think upon. I am sure there is more but you'll take some notes this time and the next one is even better.

Hope ya have a great smoke and remember what a wise man says, Patience. (I can't believe he missed his chance to say grasshopper there). Enjoy the smoke, its not work, enjoy it.

Good luck and good smokin. Its all about personal preferences, you never finish refining.

Please come back and let us know who you did, better yet show us.
 
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Thank you guys very much for all the advice.....   I will post some qview tomorrow when it goes down...

Karl
 
Karl, morning..... Well, a little late but, something to try at a later date.....    Bride makes a compound butter adding garlic, onion, rosemary and basil.....   rubs under the skin and on it...   Comes out pretty good...

I don't recommend tenting in a smoker...   You might try cooking at a lower temp next time... say about 225-250.....   then cranking the temp up to 300 or higher to crisp the skin at the end...  to reduce the "blackened" look....  you can remove the bird part way through the smoke and finish in the oven...  maybe for the crisping part or even before that....  It's the smoke that usually makes for a dark bark on most meats....

Experimenting if fun because you can eat them...    

Dave
 
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