First Smoked Turkey (QVIEW)

[thebig1]

We did our Thanksgiving today since the whole family won't be together on Thursday. The wife requested that I smoke our turkey. Who am I to say no?

So after searching and finding a thread that I liked, thank you BD, I gave it a try.

The 12lb turkey was seasoned, stuffed with chunks of lemon, lime, apple, and oranges and was then placed in the fridge overnight. Now it's draped in bacon and ready for the smoker.
http://s844.photobucket.com/user/cstrickland4/media/20161119_114726_zpsbgn7xomd.jpg.html]

There's plenty of room left on the smoker, might as well throw a batch of Gary's world famous baked beans. I kind of combined Gary's and Dutch's beans on this one. The family says that this is the best yet. So this is definitely the one. I used Gary's recipe, but actually added the jalapeños this time. The family always said that they were too hot. BUT, this time, I also added crushed pineapple to offset the jalapeños and give the beans a sweet/hot taste.
http://s844.photobucket.com/user/cstrickland4/media/20161119_114741_zpsfetbarxy.jpg.html]

After 1 hour.
http://s844.photobucket.com/user/cstrickland4/media/20161119_125622_zpsbe8a898d.jpg.html]

Two hours in.
http://s844.photobucket.com/user/cstrickland4/media/20161119_140330_zpskjm4u3wg.jpg.html]

When the IT hit 165° I made sure to pull it and place it under a foil tent. This is the final product after a 4 hour smoke and a 1 hour rest.
http://s844.photobucket.com/user/cstrickland4/media/20161119_170853_zpsww4tvcom.jpg.html]

Yes, I did the lemon booby thing for my 7 year old daughter. Lol
http://s844.photobucket.com/user/cstrickland4/media/20161119_170846_zpscfoag8tv.jpg.html]

This was one of the moist birds that I've ever made. The entire family loved it. Thank you to BD, Gary, Dutch, and everyone else who asked questions in various threads to which the answers also helped in this production.

 

[bdskelly]

Happy all enjoyed it! b

 

[donegotfat]

Happy holidays, looks like you and your family had a great feast

 

[Rafter H BBQ]

That all looks great, nice smoke ! Thumbs Up

 

[SmokinAl]

For a first try I'd say you did real good!

Your turkey looks delicious!

Nice job!

Point!

Al

 

[thebig1]

Thanks fellas, I truly appreciate it.

Please, by all means, if there are any criticisms or advice to achieve an even better result, I would love to hear them.

Chad

 

[stantheman]

I was considering wrapping mine in bacon. but was afraid it would make the skin soggy, How did the skin turn out on yours? 

 

[thebig1]

 
I was considering wrapping mine in bacon. but was afraid it would make the skin soggy, How did the skin turn out on yours? 

With this being my first turkey I was scared of it not being moist.  So I used BD's suggesting of stuffing the cavity with pieces of fruit but then I'd also seen another post where the person wrapped theirs in a nice bacon weave.  Obviously I didn't go to that extent but I did drape it in bacon.  The bacon added another layer of fluid retention.  As far as the skin, on the breast was the only place that it was, I guess, soggy for the lack of a better adjective.   It wasn't completely soggy but it wasn't crisp either.

I'd like to say that the skin was soft, but not soggy.  And yet it wasn't crispy, if any of that makes sense.  You can see in the bottom picture on the breast how the skin was.  The bacon was inedible so I just threw it away.  Perhaps taking the bacon off for the last hour would crisp it up a little bit.  I might try that the next time.

I normally don't eat the skin anyways, I go for a more moist meat instead.  But it was edible.  I'd say give it a try and see for yourself as to how you like it. 

Personally, I'm wondering how brown it would be without the bacon.  As you can see, there are parts where the bacon wasn't completely on the skin and it really darkened up.  I wonder if that'd dry it out.

Chad

 

[connieskarda]

Your turkey looks delish!  We;re going to smoke our 10 lb. turkey, too.  So 165 degrees is done?  It took 4 hrs to get your 12 pounder to 165?  I'm just trying to figure how much time it will take.

I was just going to salt it really good over night and put some spice rub on it.   Did the lemon, apple, etc. you put inside it help flavor it, keep it moist or both?  Is bacon on top the way to go?  

Any advice is welcome!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Connie & Jim

Dallas, Tx.

 

[thebig1]

Your turkey looks delish!  We;re going to smoke our 10 lb. turkey, too.  So 165 degrees is done?  It took 4 hrs to get your 12 pounder to 165?  I'm just trying to figure how much time it will take.

I was just going to salt it really good over night and put some spice rub on it.   Did the lemon, apple, etc. you put inside it help flavor it, keep it moist or both?  Is bacon on top the way to go?  

Any advice is welcome!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Connie & Jim
Dallas, Tx.

No problem. I use an offset smoker that burns wood for heat and smoke, not an electric smoker. My smoker likes to run around 300°. I know that when the temp starts dipping below that, that it's time to add wood. And when I open up the firebox I'm right, it's just red coals.

So to answer your question, yes, it took my 12lb turkey 4 hours to reach an internal temp of 165° which is done. While it smoked we prepared all of the other dishes and set them aside. When the turkey came out of the smoker, I covered it with foil for 45 minutes to 1 hour. That's when we began to cook the rest of our dishes.

As for the fruit, I strongly believe that BD was absolutely right in his thread about using fruit for flavor and moisture, although I couldn't really taste the added flavor. The moisture is another story. Like BD said, be sure to pull it at an IT of 165° and tent it with foil.

As for the bacon, no flavor was added but I do believe that it also helped with moisture.

I hope that this helped. Any other questions please don't hesitate to ask. Also, here is a link to Brian's (BD) thread. He's a wealth of information.

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/171145/bds-pre-holiday-smoked-turkey-a-foamheart-request

Chad

 

[disco]

Beautiful bird!

Disco