After requests from my family, I decided to cook the Thanksgiving turkey this year- on the smoker, of course. This was not only my first smoked turkey but my first whole bird. No pressure! Anyways, after much research in these forums, I decided that a spatchcock was the way to go.
First off, my mother bought the bird. It was 21 pounds and frozen. Since the turkey was pre-injected, I didn't bother with a brine.
Thawed for a few days in the fridge, it was time for the big day. A quick spatchcock and it was ready for seasoning. I worked pats of butter under the skin, then brushed the top of the skin with melted butter so the spices would have something to stick to. I used salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder and McCormick Poultry Seasoning (thyme, sage, marjoram, rosemary, nutmeg and black pepper).
Into the smoker it went at 8:00am. I have an Old Country BBQ Pits Over and Under. I ran it at 275° with a mixture of pecan, cherry and hickory. Once it reached an IT of 120° I wrapped the wings and the ends of the legs in foil to keep them from burning. After 5 hours, it was at 160° when I pulled the bird out of the smoker and let it rest for 30 minutes. It was 166° in the breast and 174° in the thighs when I started carving it. The meat was so juicy and every bite had a nice smoke flavor. The family raved about it, even the ones that "don't like turkey that much". I'll definitely do my turkey this way again, especially since i have another 19 pounder in the deep freezer.
This was just as I was pulling the turkey off. The ham was a double smoked ham. It was store bought so I can't claim it. I just warmed it up in the smoker since the oven was occupied (I guess that makes it triple smoked? -lol).
First off, my mother bought the bird. It was 21 pounds and frozen. Since the turkey was pre-injected, I didn't bother with a brine.
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