Thanksgiving practice

[schaydu]

My first smoke ever was a full turkey on Thanksgiving 3 years ago.  It was a Butterball, smoked in a Weber kettle style grill with hickory chips thrown on the coals periodically.  I didn't have the first clue what I was doing.  I had terrible temperature monitoring abilities and I probably opened the top every 45 minutes or so to throw more soaking wet chips on to keep that pretty thick white smoke billowing out.  Despite committing smoking sin after smoking sin, I wound up with a surprisingly good final product.  There was some beginner's luck involved, but here's my bigger lesson.

If you want a wide margin of error, grab a Butterball turkey.  They infuse so much butter and other stuff in those things that it's pretty tough to have it dry out or not taste amazing.  

I got a butterball defrosting now for my practice run. You mentioned that they are infused with various things. My concern is that I was planning on injecting with the creole butter. Will the "infusion" affect my injection at all. Also is it better to cook in an aluminum pan or cook with an aluminum pan under the cooking grates.

Thanks in advance,

Scott

 

[chef jimmyj]

Hey guys I just wanted to clear a misconception about Butterball Turkeys...They are not injected with Butter or any Fat for that matter. The Bird was named Butterball some 50 years ago because of it's Shape. They were bred to have round wide meatier breasts and the result was a Turkey that looked like a fat little Butterball. It is injected with a Broth that contains Sodium Phosphate, a well known and frequently used additive to retain moisture in meats and Sausages. It also contains Water, Salt, Modified Food Starch and other proprietary Natural Flavors, probably some herb extracts. Virtually all " Enhanced " or " Self Basting " Turkeys contain a similar Broth or Brine. 

You can inject Creole Butter but I would make your own and limit the Salt in your mix.... http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/123175/creole-butter-recipe   

If you want to use the commercially produced Creole Butter then you can soak the bird, under refrigeration, in a couple of changes of water for a day or two. This soaking will pull the salt out and then you can Brine with your choice of flavors and/or Inject anything you wish. 

If you want a uniformly browned bird, place the Turkey directly on the Smoker rack with a pan under it to catch the drippings for Gravy. If the look is not a big deal, put the bird in the pan. The part contacting the pan will not get very brown and will get less smoke but there isn't that much meat there anyway and you save space and having to clean the rack.

What ever pan you use throw in a couple of quartered Onions, 3 cut up Carrots, 3 cut up ribs Celery, the Turkey Neck, Heart and Gizzard but not the Liver. The liver makes a metalic tasting murky broth besides the Liver taste better sauteed in Butter with some Garlic and a splash of wine or brandy... Let these smoke an hour then add 12ea Blk Peppercorns, 1ea Bay Leaf, and a couple sprigs of fresh Thyme or other herbs you like. Add 4-6C Chicken or Turkey Broth and let the Turkey finish cooking. While the bird rests dump all the liquid and goodies in the drip pan into a sauce pot and simmer for 30 minutes. Adjust the seasoning adding Salt and Pepper as needed, Strain and skim off the Fat. Thicken this Jus up to make some tasty Smokey Turkey Gravy...JJ

 

[smokersteve7879]

I love this forum, so many great responses and every one sharing ideas. I've already got a couple of new things to try and every time I look at all the pics I get hungry.

 

[pit 4 brains]

Hey guys I just wanted to clear a misconception about Butterball Turkeys...They are not injected with Butter or any Fat for that matter. The Bird was named Butterball some 50 years ago because of it's Shape. They were bred to have round wide meatier breasts and the result was a Turkey that looked like a fat little Butterball. It is injected with a Broth that contains Sodium Phosphate, a well known and frequently used additive to retain moisture in meats and Sausages. It also contains Water, Salt, Modified Food Starch and other proprietary Natural Flavors, probably some herb extracts. Virtually all " Enhanced " or " Self Basting " Turkeys contain a similar Broth or Brine. 

You can inject Creole Butter but I would make your own and limit the Salt in your mix.... http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/123175/creole-butter-recipe   

If you want to use the commercially produced Creole Butter then you can soak the bird, under refrigeration, in a couple of changes of water for a day or two. This soaking will pull the salt out and then you can Brine with your choice of flavors and/or Inject anything you wish. 

If you want a uniformly browned bird, place the Turkey directly on the Smoker rack with a pan under it to catch the drippings for Gravy. If the look is not a big deal, put the bird in the pan. The part contacting the pan will not get very brown and will get less smoke but there isn't that much meat there anyway and you save space and having to clean the rack.

What ever pan you use throw in a couple of quartered Onions, 3 cut up Carrots, 3 cut up ribs Celery, the Turkey Neck, Heart and Gizzard but not the Liver. The liver makes a metalic tasting murky broth besides the Liver taste better sauteed in Butter with some Garlic and a splash of wine or brandy... Let these smoke an hour then add 12ea Blk Peppercorns, 1ea Bay Leaf, and a couple sprigs of fresh Thyme or other herbs you like. Add 4-6C Chicken or Turkey Broth and let the Turkey finish cooking. While the bird rests dump all the liquid and goodies in the drip pan into a sauce pot and simmer for 30 minutes. Adjust the seasoning adding Salt and Pepper as needed, Strain and skim off the Fat. Thicken this Jus up to make some tasty Smokey Turkey Gravy...JJ

Great post JJ. 

Knowing about the commercially injected birds is important if you are planning on brining a turkey. I have tried to brine the Butterballs and some others but the ones that do the best in a brine are the farm fresh turkeys you can get at good butcher shops and farmers markets. They may not look as nice but the quality of the bird is hands down.

Another thing I like to preach is the breast-down method when cooking. I know it's unconventional and that's now grandma did it, but having that backfat baste the turkey really helps to maintain a moist bird. You can even open up the little pockets by the wings and thighs and pack them with a little butter, onion, smoked garlic cloves, or any other aromatic you like.

 

[thsmormonsmokes]

I got a butterball defrosting now for my practice run. You mentioned that they are infused with various things. My concern is that I was planning on injecting with the creole butter. Will the "infusion" affect my injection at all. Also is it better to cook in an aluminum pan or cook with an aluminum pan under the cooking grates.

Thanks in advance,

Scott

See ChefJJ's post above.  If JJ says it, it's gospel as far as I'm concerned.

All I know is Butterball turkeys are incredibly moist and usually yield a lot of drippings in the pan.  I've never injected, so I have no input there.  Just make sure to educate yourself on food safety issues surrounding injecting because that introduces some new food safety issues you don't need to be quite as concerned about without injecting.

I usually sit it in an aluminum pan, but your idea to put the catch pan below the bird might be a better idea now that I think about it.  When the whole bird is in the pan, the back meat gets stewed in the drippings as much as anything, and it might limit smoke penetration into the lower portions of the bird.  But I'm just spit balling on these issues.  Your guess is as good as mine is. (That said, I think I'm going to use your idea and put the catch pan below the bird, which I'll sit right on the grates).

 

[schaydu]

Thanks for the input JJ. Thats the same recipe i planned on using. I used it on the smoked buffalo wings and have been injecting it in everything i can get my hands on!!! Im gonna try to track down a food grade 5 gallon bucket so i can start my brine tonight. Hopefully by staurday night for the bama lsu game we will have a smoked turkey, lots of smoked buffalo wings, and sausage balls. Gonna be a good week!!!!!