Butterflied Easter Turkeys! Q-View!

[davenh]

Happy Easter!

I wanted to do a couple 12lb turkeys in my MES and decided to try them butterflied so they would fit better, I like using the bottom rack for my drip pan. These were frozen with a solution, so skipped the brining and only injected and mopped.

I also ditched the water in the pan and filled it with some crushed stone instead of the water as a heat buffer.

The temp is set for 275 and they are looking good.

Here is some Q-view, will follow up as things progress.


Butterflied and looking like a couple giant frogs!!!

Loaded in the smoker.

1.5 hrs. internal temp 123, mopped.

2.5hrs, internal temp 143, mopped again. Looking good

.

 

[walking dude]

so...........is butterflied, kinda sorta like spatch cocking em?

http://youtube.com/watch?v=wGQr8xmxR...related&search=

good looking birds dude

 

[fireguy]

Looks great Dave, what did you use to inject and mop them???

 

[desertlites]

looking real good there-great color

 

[seboke]

Butterflying the big birds...what a great idea! Gonna have to try that with my next gobbler. Great job!

 

[davenh]

I guess they would be one in the same Dude

. Butterflied sounds better

.

I butterflied them and injected a combination of Sweet Vidalia Onion and Italian dressings the night before. In the morning, I injected again with butter, broth and some Italian seasonings.

I mopped with a mixture of 1/2C of apple juice, 3TBSP of EVOO, 1/2 tsp each of onion and garlic powder, 1 tsp Italian Seasonings and 1 TBSP of Kikkoman teriyaki marinade. I'm not an exact measure kind of guy, but this should be close

.

Smoking with Cherry and Hickory, 2:1 Cherry.

Thanks for the comments guys

. Here is the latest Q-View.


3.5 hrs, internal temps ~152, mopped again.

 

[walking dude]

and easier to remember.......a former member couldn't remember spatchcock to save her life..............it was always a grin when she would try.....LOLOL

 

[travcoman45]

Fine lookin vittles indeed! Excellent work!

 

[davenh]

One finished in about 5.5 hrs and the other at 6 hrs.

The one we ate was good, but some of the breast was a little drier than I like. I did pull it at 165 and the probe was not too close to any bone. So, I think by not putting water in the pan I had some uneven temps

. The thigh need a little more time and the breast meat was more moist toward the center of the bird. Pretty much cooked more around the outer edges of the smoker. Overall, still good and we enjoyed it

. Next time I'll buy a bird without added solution, brine and put the water pan back in the smoker. The one from the lower shelf seemed to cook more uniformly and was more moist , it also took a half hour longer to finish

. Too bad I have to give that one away! Promised one to the guys at work.

I like the butterfly method

.

Couple more Q-View of the first one out.

 

[crewdawg52]

Beautiful birds and a very nice smoke ring! Well Done!

 

[smokin-jim]

Really nice looking birds. I am betting that they are just as tasty. Enjoy.

 

[walking dude]

Dave..........even if you get one with added "stuff"..........just soak the bird for couple days......that will remove alot of the added salt.......then brine, with abit less salt that you would normally use.........inject with the brine........when i inject.....i like to make one hole, and got off in diff. directions.........you will use less holes this way, but can still reach alot of the bird..........this last one i did for turkey day, was my best so far........and i have smoked fieldbirds for years now..........

 

[smoke_chef]

Hey Dave,

Great looking birds you have there. I think turkey is my next smoke. I hope mine turn out looking as good as yours did.

Franklin

 

[smokin' joe]

Nice work Dave...I am a turkey fanatic, and I am quite impressed.

I hope you and the family enjoyed your holiday!!!

 

[desertlites]

I'm with joe, I love turkey and those look really GOOD-u done damn fine job!

 

[gt2003]

absolutely beautiful color! Great bird. I'm doing my 1st turkey in a few weeks. I can't wait. Thanks for the q-view as you went along. Keep up the good work.

 

[davenh]

Thanks guys

...already thinking about the next one

. I do have a lot of fun with this stuff, I think I've used my smoker every weekend since buying it.

I do think there is more smoke penetration doing them this way. With the cherry, it was a nice mellow flavor completely through the meat. The whole bird was pink.

 

[domn8_ion]

You did a fine job. Just a question and a comment.
Question is how did you butterfly it? Did you just cut out the backbone, or did you de-bone it completely?
Comment. Don't call it "pink". It's smoked. Pink makes it sound raw. Which you and I know its not. But your friends might not.

 

[walking dude]

dom.........scroll down to my fist post........i posted a spatchcock youtube video..........thats how you do it...............

 

[davenh]

Hi domn8...I removed the backbone only, just like in Dude's youtube link.

As for my "pink" description, I was describing the color of the meat..LOL. It is pink

.

I do tell first timers that get smoked food from me that in this case "pink" is good, a side effect of the smoking and its fully cooked, I tell them what to expect when the cut into it. If I just said "here is some smoked meat enjoy", I'd be afraid they would toss it believing it were undercooked

.