First Turkey - Test before the holiday.

donegotfat · Nov 9, 2016

Was a bit worried about making the family bird on TG, so I decided to do a test run.

13lb bird

Decided to brine the bird and let set over night, ended up being in brine for total of 18 hours.

Washed well after brine, and let dry a touch.

Brine used - Slaughterhouse Poultry Brine By Tip Piper of Hillbilly Vittles

I did inject after the brine and used Packers Bird Booster that i already had on hand.

After seeing BDSkelly's topic on "Holiday Smoked Turkey" I went with most of his steps knowing it was a great place to start.

1x apple, orange, lime, lemon cut up and stuffed in bird.

Used Rotisserie Chicken Seasoning for a lite rub.

After rub and stuffed let sit in fridge for about 1 hr while at doc. appt

Smoked at 250 degrees, used apple for wood in my AMZNTS gave it about 2 hours smoke from apple.

Took 5.5 hours to hit 160, pulled it to rest for 1 hour knowing it would still make it to 165 while resting.

Put it into a Oven Turkey pan and foiled for the 1hr.

I am getting ready to cut into it in a few minutes and see how it tastes...

Some pics taken on the way to this point, and will post a final look after I cut into it.

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donegotfat
Nov 9, 2016

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donegotfat
Nov 9, 2016

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donegotfat
Nov 9, 2016

donegotfat · Nov 9, 2016

WOWSERS!! That is a dang fine bird.. Juicy as all get out, tender as heck, crispy skin even!

OOO boy, its just a shame it was this late at night when I was done cooking.

With my Doc appt today, as well as other "stuff" to do, i was not able to start the bird till 3PM. While this smoker is doing well, I haven't gained enough confidence too leave the house while I am smoking, at least not on a first cook.

Now that I have a good time frame on what it will take, ill start it at the appropriate time on Thanksgiving

So i got it cut up, portioned, and sealed! Set aside one of the breast fillet's and some choice dark meat for our dinner tomorrow night. 1 package set aside for some sandwiches tomorrow and Friday afternoon, and the rest will head to the freezer for future sandwiches and new dinners

One side of the bird towards the center of the drum was a touch pink, so I will have to rotate the bird around the half way point, or spatchcock it next time.

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donegotfat
Nov 9, 2016

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donegotfat
Nov 9, 2016

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donegotfat
Nov 9, 2016

Thanks for looking

dirtsailor2003 · Nov 9, 2016

Nice smoke!

Points!

Rafter H BBQ · Nov 9, 2016

Tasty lookin bird ! Thumbs Up

donegotfat · Nov 9, 2016

dirtsailor2003 said:
Nice smoke!

Points!

Thank you, double thank you as I spent many hours in topics of yours as well to get the confidence to try this.

WaterinHoleBrew said:
Tasty lookin bird !

Thank you

SmokinAl · Nov 10, 2016

It looks perfectly cooked!

Now you can relax until TG Day!

Al

donegotfat · Nov 10, 2016

SmokinAl said:
It looks perfectly cooked!

Now you can relax until TG Day!

Al

Thanks, I was definitely worried. Now it has increased rather than abated.

Being this was a test turkey, I wanted to be able to send some out to family and to my wife's co-workers at the hospital she works at.

I now have a request from a co-worker to smoke theirs. Luckily they understood that I don't have the cooking surface to make them at one time on TG day.

So Ill be starting early AM to do them back to back. I be sure to do our own last and have any changes I find applied to ours.

SmokinAl · Nov 10, 2016

Gonna be a long day brother!

I'm in a similar situation.

The company I work part time for has asked me to smoke a turkey & ham for the employee party.

It's the day before TG Day, but they want it ready to go at 11:00 AM.

I'm going to have to get up at midnight to get this done.

Were both going to be barely awake for the party!

Al

hardcookin · Nov 10, 2016

SmokinAl said:
Gonna be a long day brother!

I'm in a similar situation.

The company I work part time for has asked me to smoke a turkey & ham for the employee party.

It's the day before TG Day, but they want it ready to go at 11:00 AM.

I'm going to have to get up at midnight to get this done.

Were both going to be barely awake for the party!

Al

Al how big of a turkey? 15lb about 3hours @ 300. The ham already pre smoked?

DGF nice turkey test. Thumbs Up you will do fine.

donegotfat · Nov 10, 2016

SmokinAl said:
Gonna be a long day brother!

I'm in a similar situation.

The company I work part time for has asked me to smoke a turkey & ham for the employee party.

It's the day before TG Day, but they want it ready to go at 11:00 AM.

I'm going to have to get up at midnight to get this done.

Were both going to be barely awake for the party!

Al

Yeah, Ill be a walking zombie by the time we eat.. I may even have to break down and drink one of them energy drinks.. maybe even add some vodka to it

I hear they are pretty good, lol..

hardcookin said:
Al how big of a turkey? 15lb about 3hours @ 300. The ham already pre smoked?

DGF nice turkey test.

you will do fine.

Thanks, I am on the hunt now for a second bucket for the brine. My local grocery store is all out of frosting buckets from the baking section..

donegotfat · Nov 10, 2016

Finally off work, cleaned up, and ready for some dinner!

And.. the final shot.

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donegotfat
Nov 10, 2016

One of these days Ill put some vegetables on my plate, but its hard to fight being a meat and potatoes kind of guy.

Dinner is complete, kitchen is clean, time for a few beers and a good movie.

Have a great night all, thanks again for looking and commenting.

SmokinAl · Nov 11, 2016

hardcookin said:
Al how big of a turkey? 15lb about 3hours @ 300. The ham already pre smoked?

DGF nice turkey test.

you will do fine.

My turkey is 21#, but I'm going to part it out.

Gonna give it a test run today & see how long it will take.

Got 2 - 21# Butterballs for .98 cents a pound.

Yes the ham is smoked, but I'm going to cold smoke it for 4 hours, then foil it & heat it up.

DGF, that's a perfect looking TG Day meal!

Nice job!

Point!

Al

donegotfat · Nov 11, 2016

SmokinAl said:
My turkey is 21#, but I'm going to part it out.

Gonna give it a test run today & see how long it will take.

Got 2 - 21# Butterballs for .98 cents a pound.

Yes the ham is smoked, but I'm going to cold smoke it for 4 hours, then foil it & heat it up.

DGF, that's a perfect looking TG Day meal!

Nice job!

Point!

Al

That is definitely a big bird. I don't even thing it would fit on my pellet pooper in one piece. I would probably have to part it out as well. Great price on the turkeys, the ones at my local store were still up over $1.20 as they hadn't goner on sale yet. I was just to afraid if i waited, I would have nothing left to choose from but the big jiant ones.

Thanks for the points SmokinAl and hardcookin

burgerbob · Nov 11, 2016

jetsknicks1 · Nov 11, 2016

Point!

tropics · Nov 11, 2016

That is one fine looking bird,cooked perfectly Points for sure

Richie

donegotfat · Nov 11, 2016

BurgerBob said:

Jetsknicks1 said:
Point!

tropics said:
That is one fine looking bird,cooked perfectly Points for sure

Richie

Thanks for the points, and thanks for looking

bdskelly · Nov 12, 2016

That is one nice bird my friend. GREAT JOB! Nice color. Looks very moist. It should be winner for the holidays. Point!

B

donegotfat · Nov 12, 2016

BDSkelly said:
That is one nice bird my friend. GREAT JOB! Nice color. Looks very moist. It should be winner for the holidays. Point!

B

Thanks for the point.

I have my fingers crossed that I can make one as good on TG day. I may even have to head over to co-workers home when they cut into the one I make for them

disco · Nov 14, 2016

Beautiful bird. You're going to have a great Thanksgiving!

Point!

Disco

First Turkey - Test before the holiday.

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