I know alot of people here are doing turkeys for the holiday and many like myself haveb turkeys going different places that require them to be smoked prior to thanksgiving and reheated. I will be following the reheating suggestion from this thread by rbranster last year, a must read if you haven't seen it yet http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/100716/9-turkeys-for-thanksgiving-heavy-qview
I decided to do a test run and post the results of the reheat for any that are curious. I'll be updating until the turkey is reheated and sliced with plenty of pics.
Started out with the AMNPS full of hickory. I want a heavy smoke flavor that won't be slowed down by the turkeys skin. I lit both ends to maximize the smoke.
Went back inside and took the bird out of the fridge. It's been thawing for a couple days. This bird was not brined, just injected, rubbed and into the smoke. The weight of the bird is 9.6 lbs. I'm going with a whole breast since we're not big on dark meat plus I don't have to worry about the thighs temp catching up.
Im injecting with a mix of EVOO and a mesquite seasoning I buy at costco. Since the seasoning tends to get clogged in the injector, I run it through my spice grinder first to powder it up a bit.
makes quite a difference.
I pull the skin back in order to inject and to make sure i get the rub applied really well. Here the bird is getting injected.
Looks like it's wearing bikini bottoms
rubbed with EVOO and the same seasoning as the inside without going through the grinder.
Skin pulled back over to cover rub and keep in moisture. I "pin" the skin back in place with a few toothpicks.
There's different opinions on this but I start with the breast down for the first 2 hours. I've heard it suggested that this may help keep the juices running into the breast. Who knows if there's any truth to it but it works for me.
The bird went into the smoker at 8:15 pm
At 2 hours into the smoke I "flipped the bird"
so it was breast side up and I stuck a temp probe in each breast. It was taking on a nice color already.
At 11:19pm 1 side had cleared the danger zone. At 11:22pm the other side cleared. so for the guys that like to calculate time, for a whole breast it took just over 3 hours to clear the DZ. At this point I rotated the bird to keep it cooking evenly.
At 12:12am 1 side was at 165 IT, the other side reached 165 at 12:18am. Just a hair over 4 hours from start to finish.
I wrapped the bird in foil and after it cooled it went in the fridge for the night. This afternoon I will take it out and place it on this roasting rack I got at walmart for under $5. I will go with rbransters suggestion and pour some chicken stock in the bottom and probably cook at 250 for 2-3 hours until it comes back up to temp.
The rack insert sits approximately an inch up so it should keep the bird out of the stock during the reheat.
I'll update with info on the reheat(for anyone interested) with sliced pics once it's done.
See ya this evening.
So this afternoon I took the turkey out of the fridge and placed it on the roasting rack/pan set from wally world. I poured a can of chicken stock in the bottom of the pan. The roasting rack kept the bird elevated above the liquid to avoid soggy meat.
I probed the turkey and then covered the turkey and pan in aluminum foil creating a nice steam bath for the bird. I placed in the oven at 250 degrees. In 2 1/2 hours the bird was at 144 IT. I suppose I could've let the temp climb to 160/165 but I had already smoked it to 165 the night before. I was just reheating.
I pulled at 146 and after a short rest I carved it up. You can see that it was still moister than some turkeys on their first cook. I swear by the EVOO injections for a moist delicious turkey.
Soooooo juicy! Its hard to believe this is the second round of heat for this bird.
All sliced and ready for hot sammies.
Hope this helps anyone faced with cooking ahead and reheating questions.
I decided to do a test run and post the results of the reheat for any that are curious. I'll be updating until the turkey is reheated and sliced with plenty of pics.
Started out with the AMNPS full of hickory. I want a heavy smoke flavor that won't be slowed down by the turkeys skin. I lit both ends to maximize the smoke.
Went back inside and took the bird out of the fridge. It's been thawing for a couple days. This bird was not brined, just injected, rubbed and into the smoke. The weight of the bird is 9.6 lbs. I'm going with a whole breast since we're not big on dark meat plus I don't have to worry about the thighs temp catching up.
Im injecting with a mix of EVOO and a mesquite seasoning I buy at costco. Since the seasoning tends to get clogged in the injector, I run it through my spice grinder first to powder it up a bit.
makes quite a difference.
I pull the skin back in order to inject and to make sure i get the rub applied really well. Here the bird is getting injected.
Looks like it's wearing bikini bottoms
rubbed with EVOO and the same seasoning as the inside without going through the grinder.
Skin pulled back over to cover rub and keep in moisture. I "pin" the skin back in place with a few toothpicks.
There's different opinions on this but I start with the breast down for the first 2 hours. I've heard it suggested that this may help keep the juices running into the breast. Who knows if there's any truth to it but it works for me.
The bird went into the smoker at 8:15 pm
At 2 hours into the smoke I "flipped the bird"
At 11:19pm 1 side had cleared the danger zone. At 11:22pm the other side cleared. so for the guys that like to calculate time, for a whole breast it took just over 3 hours to clear the DZ. At this point I rotated the bird to keep it cooking evenly.
At 12:12am 1 side was at 165 IT, the other side reached 165 at 12:18am. Just a hair over 4 hours from start to finish.
I wrapped the bird in foil and after it cooled it went in the fridge for the night. This afternoon I will take it out and place it on this roasting rack I got at walmart for under $5. I will go with rbransters suggestion and pour some chicken stock in the bottom and probably cook at 250 for 2-3 hours until it comes back up to temp.
The rack insert sits approximately an inch up so it should keep the bird out of the stock during the reheat.
I'll update with info on the reheat(for anyone interested) with sliced pics once it's done.
See ya this evening.
So this afternoon I took the turkey out of the fridge and placed it on the roasting rack/pan set from wally world. I poured a can of chicken stock in the bottom of the pan. The roasting rack kept the bird elevated above the liquid to avoid soggy meat.
I probed the turkey and then covered the turkey and pan in aluminum foil creating a nice steam bath for the bird. I placed in the oven at 250 degrees. In 2 1/2 hours the bird was at 144 IT. I suppose I could've let the temp climb to 160/165 but I had already smoked it to 165 the night before. I was just reheating.
I pulled at 146 and after a short rest I carved it up. You can see that it was still moister than some turkeys on their first cook. I swear by the EVOO injections for a moist delicious turkey.
Soooooo juicy! Its hard to believe this is the second round of heat for this bird.
All sliced and ready for hot sammies.
Hope this helps anyone faced with cooking ahead and reheating questions.
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