I had a turkey in the freezer that I picked up thanksgiving week. I ended up traveling to visit my uncle for thanksgiving to pick up a truck I bought from someone he knew. So, I did not cook the turkey then. I pulled it out last weekend to thaw. Tuesday night, I stuffed the bird with apple, orange, lemon and lime. I've stuffed a turkey with apples before-never done the apple, orange, lemon, and lime a la @bdskelly soooooooo....it looked good and I figured I would give it a shot.
Fruit cut up ready to stuff..
Thought I snapped a pick of the seasoned, stuffed bird....guess not. This was a honeysuckle that already had a 9.5% brine injection of salt, sugar, broth, and phosphates. I did not fell like I needed to brine the bird so I skipped it.
I did put pats of butter under the skin on the breast then seasoned the bird with cajun and poultry seasoning. I stuck it in the meat fridge for 2 days to get a very dry skin. I feel like this helped out tremendously for getting a crispy skin. And a really great color on the bird.
Here is the bird in the smokehouse after 6 hours of smoke. I have a pan under the bird to make chef jj's smokey Au Jus...
Oh- and I snipped the wing tips. they are in the pan along with the gibblets and neck to make the gravy.
I pulled the Au Jus pan when the bird hit 155*. I strained the Au Jus in a pot to simmer and reduce a little prior to thickening with corn starch. Washed the pan to pull the bird from the smokehouse...
Sorry, no plate pics..... Had dinner @ a friends house for mutual friends of ours that were in town visiting. They were all starving when I arrived with the bird, no chance for plate pics.!!! LOL!!
It was a very good bird. I did inject with cajun injector roasted garlic and herb prior to smoking the bird. Cooked @230* for about 7 hours until the breast registered 165*. I like the citrus and the apple stuffing and will continue cooking turkeys this way. Everyone else enjoyed the bird as well...rave reviews. Thanks bdskelly for posting how you do your turkeys.
Fruit cut up ready to stuff..
Thought I snapped a pick of the seasoned, stuffed bird....guess not. This was a honeysuckle that already had a 9.5% brine injection of salt, sugar, broth, and phosphates. I did not fell like I needed to brine the bird so I skipped it.
I did put pats of butter under the skin on the breast then seasoned the bird with cajun and poultry seasoning. I stuck it in the meat fridge for 2 days to get a very dry skin. I feel like this helped out tremendously for getting a crispy skin. And a really great color on the bird.
Here is the bird in the smokehouse after 6 hours of smoke. I have a pan under the bird to make chef jj's smokey Au Jus...
Oh- and I snipped the wing tips. they are in the pan along with the gibblets and neck to make the gravy.
I pulled the Au Jus pan when the bird hit 155*. I strained the Au Jus in a pot to simmer and reduce a little prior to thickening with corn starch. Washed the pan to pull the bird from the smokehouse...
Sorry, no plate pics..... Had dinner @ a friends house for mutual friends of ours that were in town visiting. They were all starving when I arrived with the bird, no chance for plate pics.!!! LOL!!
It was a very good bird. I did inject with cajun injector roasted garlic and herb prior to smoking the bird. Cooked @230* for about 7 hours until the breast registered 165*. I like the citrus and the apple stuffing and will continue cooking turkeys this way. Everyone else enjoyed the bird as well...rave reviews. Thanks bdskelly for posting how you do your turkeys.
