Help!!!!

smokenlove · May 19, 2009

Hi-
I have smoked 2 turkeys but have a question, I do use a brine and only get about a 12lbs turkey. My question is, i use an oklahoma joes smoker the kind with the fire box on the side. i only cook the turkey for about 4 -6 hours at 250, my problem is the outside is black and not that pretty gold color, i do use Charcoal and wood chips, how do i prevent this? the meat is wonderfull to say the least so i know its not burnt...please help!!!

rivet · May 19, 2009

Does your brine have alot of sugar in it? Do you baste or rub the bird with anything containing sugar? When you cook it, do you have white billowing smoke coming out of the chimney or a very light hazy blue smoke. The thin blue smoke is what you want.

A thick billowing smoke will contribute to darkening your bird. Sugars will caramelize, then carbonize, turning black after a period of time.

If you can give us a few details I'm sure you'll find the answer here.

werdwolf · May 19, 2009

What Rivet said!

billbo · May 19, 2009

Welcome aboard!

txbbqman · May 19, 2009

yep

what rivet said

smokenlove · May 20, 2009

I do not like sweet meat so no I do not use sugar in my brine, about the smoke yes it is white, I do soak my chips for a while before I cook with them.....so how do I get this blue smoke? I am smoking a turkey and ribs this weekend, so I would like to see what I can change to make it even better.... thanks in advance for all your help!!!

visilor · May 20, 2009

Soaking the chips might be your problem there. Personally I never soak the wood and I like to use chunk.

bigbaldbbq · May 20, 2009

I never soak. I also use chunks. I will get the smoker temp set, and toss in a chunk when the TBS goes away. You just want to kiss the meat with the smoke, not choke it to death.

richtee · May 20, 2009

Undoubtedly you are using too much wood. It only takes a very few chunks at a time. White smoke is the give-away here. Start the smoker with just charcoal. Get it up to temp, and add a quarter of the wood you usually do. Thin blue should appear soon. And remember if you SMELL smoke yer smoking. You need not even see much of it. Then after a while of NOT seeing smoke, add a little more wood. And soaking chips is IMO worthless.

Search also "preburn" - it may make the learning curve a bit shorter for you.

imasmokedjim · May 21, 2009

back off the black pepper if you are using it as a season...just a thought.

richoso1 · May 21, 2009

Words of wisdom from a guy who knows his stuff, and then some. If you follow his advise, you'll be ok. It's all good my friend.

bigsteve · May 21, 2009

IMHO chips are okay soaked, and used on a grill. But for smokers they burn up too quick and tend to be "smoke bombs." Try using chunks, and only one at a time.

smokenlove · May 22, 2009

ok, thanks for all the advise.....Sunday will be the big day so we will see how it turns out!!!!!

travcoman45 · May 22, 2009

Sounds like yall got to much sugar content in either yer brine er yer rub er both. Sugar will burn durin the long smokin process.

Also, fer turkey's I smoke at 325° fer turkey. Just what I do. I use my Slaughterhouse poultry brine, injection an spritz which gives me the color yall lookin fer.

Hey smokin be a learnin craft, ifin yer meat tastes good yer on the right track, ya just need ta make a few adjustments an yall be right where ya wanna be.

countrysmoked · May 26, 2009

can you get the temp down to 225? I do turkeys at 200-225 for 6-9 hours after brining then rubbing with veg oil and always get golden brown birds time is dependant on internal temp and when I get to the outside color I want I cover in foil and let it keep going until it gets done. hope this helps.

stickyfingers · May 27, 2009

Once you achieve that color you're after tent the bird with foil. Usually the wig tips will start to darken first(wrap with foil) then once the bird achieves that magic color tent it with foil and continue smoking. This will prevent the bird from darkening too much.

richoso1 · May 27, 2009

Words of wisdom from a guy who knows his stuff. Thanks for the explanation Rich.

rickw · May 28, 2009

No disrespect intended, this is bad advice. When doing poultry the temps need to be up towards the 275 to 325 degree mark. Way to many nasties on poultry to go low and slow.

To the OP; Turn the temps up and only use basic seasonings on the bird.

countrysmoked · May 29, 2009

Rick your right 200 is to low but 225 is the ideal temp that almost every recipe that I have seen for smoking a turkey calls for.

rickw · May 29, 2009

From what I have read here and elsewhere it has been recommended to smoke poultry at higher temps, this is what I do.

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