9 Turkey's for Thanksgiving. (Heavy Qview)

[tom37]

Great work !! 

They only got two days left to make it. Around here they would have to be served sliced and pulled since they would all have to be sampled.

 Just a little bit.

 

[rbranstner]

Great work !! 

They only got two days left to make it. Around here they would have to be served sliced and pulled since they would all have to be sampled.

 Just a little bit.

Yea we sampled a little of one just to make sure it was up to standards. haha

 

[wylie]

Man I'm glad I smoked them yesterday and not today. Its a blizzard out there. We have almost a foot of snow since last night and it doesn't look like its stopping anytime soon. The nice thing about this time of year is I now have a walk in cooler. My garage. haha

Your lucky you smoked them ahead of time. I live in Moorhead and with the next storm coming through the parents just postponed Thanksgiving dinner until Sunday so that everyone could make it. I can't sit home Thursday and not have turkey. So, it looks like I will be smoking a bird in the winter storm. Might make for some interesting Q-view though!
 

 

[rbranstner]

Man I'm glad I smoked them yesterday and not today. Its a blizzard out there. We have almost a foot of snow since last night and it doesn't look like its stopping anytime soon. The nice thing about this time of year is I now have a walk in cooler. My garage. haha

Your lucky you smoked them ahead of time. I live in Moorhead and with the next storm coming through the parents just postponed Thanksgiving dinner until Sunday so that everyone could make it. I can't sit home Thursday and not have turkey. So, it looks like I will be smoking a bird in the winter storm. Might make for some interesting Q-view though!
 

Well yea you have to eat turkey on Thanksgiving so I guess you will have to put on the warm cloths and get the smoker fired up. I love smoking in the winter.

 

[wylie]

One more thing rbranster, I like your smoker setup. We have one similar to that, we use it for smoking deer sausage. We keep it at my brother's place so I don't get to use it for much else (he lives about an hour and a half away). Wish I had one at my place! Now you've got me thinking that I need one here. I doubt the wife will agree though!

 

[beer-b-q]

Nice looking turkeys...

 

[rbranstner]

One more thing rbranster, I like your smoker setup. We have one similar to that, we use it for smoking deer sausage. We keep it at my brother's place so I don't get to use it for much else (he lives about an hour and a half away). Wish I had one at my place! Now you've got me thinking that I need one here. I doubt the wife will agree though!

 You should look into building one of the plywood smokers that several other members have made in the past years or so. They fit a ton of meat and don't have to take up too much room.
 

 

[bonedadddy]

Wow...that is what I call smoking!!! I absolutely love that smoke shack! Do you have the plans, and could I get them from you!!! 

Great Qview! nice to see you take it from start to finish! I bet the birds are going to taste great!!!

 

[rbranstner]

Wow...that is what I call smoking!!! I absolutely love that smoke shack! Do you have the plans, and could I get them from you!!! 

No sorry there aren't any plans. What I did is take a big crate we got in at work and turned it into a smoker. If I were to do it again I wouldn't have used the crate I would just stud it out with 2x4's and make the dimensions I wanted.

 

[rbranstner]

But I can answer any questions you may have about how I built it. Just PM me if you have any questions. 

 

[rw willy]

nice birds!

I can't find the recipe for your brine.  can you post a link or the recipe?  Thanks  It looks great.

 

[flyfishjeep]

Great looking birds!  If this new brine works well for you and the other neighbors find out, you may have to build a bigger smoker!

 

[rbranstner]

nice birds!

I can't find the recipe for your brine.  can you post a link or the recipe?  Thanks  It looks great.

Here is the brine recipe.

1 cup brown sugar
1 cup coarse salt
20 cups water
A few orange slices
Some bay leaves
Onions
Garlic

I had to make 10 gallons worth of brine.

 

[sumosmoke]

Not only am I digging that smoking rig of yours, but the birds look like they came out incredible. Thanks for sharing the pics, love to see those pretty things all lined up and ready for smoke!

 

[rbranstner]

The birds were so juicy everyone loved them! I was told I definately have to do this again next  year. I said OK. Hope everyone had  a great Thanksgiving!

 

[boykjo]

Nice job on those birds. even if they went a little higher on the temp than you wanted, pre brining will hold the moisture. Brine for 1-2 days before cooking is a must.

Looking at your smokehouse I am curious about the burner. I am building a freezer smoker and seen your burner before but not as good as those pics. Do you have a vent below anywhere to allow oxygen to get to the burner area so it wont go out or no vent and dont have any problems with the burner going out. I have been undecided to go with a burner like yours or make my freezer with a fire box to make it a real wood smoker.

 

[rbranstner]

I talked to all 5 people I smoked birds for and they all loved them and they all stayed nice and juicy. After hearing that I know for sure that I will be asked to make more for them next year. ha ha It was really nice to have my bird presmoked and all you had to worry about was heating it up that day. With company over and it being cold as heck outside (-8) and windy (-20+ windchill) it was nice not having to deal with smoking it that day. I was worried they may dry out but being they didn't this will be my preferred way of doing them for Thanksgiving from now on. 

 

[Bearcarver]

First I saw this, since you were talking about it:

Awesome Job RB!!!

I knew it would be!

They look GREAT!

I like the way you have them all lined up in the one picture.

They look like a bunch of chorus girls lined up, or maybe the Vikings' offensive line.

Can't believe you made that many Turkeys---Great job!

I guess the wild Turkeys fly a little higher over your house these days!!!

Bear

 

[wntrlnd]

Wow, that's a great Q view, Rbranstner!

I have to agree with Bear, those birds reminded me of the Rockettes all lined up like that!  Beautiful shot!

And I also have to say, your smokehouse rocks supreme!  I can't believe you made it out of a shipping crate!  GENIUS!!!!!

Yeah, I know you said if you had to do it over again you'd just frame it out to your desired size, but, still, GENIUS!!!!!

Awesome set up, fantastic Q view, thanks for sharing the brine recipe, and congrats on such a successful smoke!  Great to read everyone loved their bird!

Hope you had a truly wonderful Thanksgiving!

 

[northern greenhorn]

Nice job on the birds, 

for sure, I like the smoker too