First time smoking a turkey

[ohcrap]

Hello!  I have a 40" masterbuilt electric smoker and a 12.5 pound jennio basted turkey that I'm hoping to eat for dinner tomorrow.  I was going to use hickory to smoke it with.  I've done some minor smoking (like a pizza, ham, and misc. other little things like a pineapple), but am still quite new.  My questions are:

Since the turkey basted, I take it I shouldn't brine it?

Can I put a rub on it?

How long and what temperature would work best to smoke it?

Thanks in advance!  

 

[ldrus]

Sorry u had to wait so long for a reply...to answer your questions... You can brine and or season your bird I reccomend it a good brine is

Slaughterhouse Poultry Brine
1 ½ Gal Water
½ C Salt - Kosher
½ C Dark Brown Sugar
2 tsp Garlic Powder
2 tsp Onion Powder
2 tsp Cajun Spice (Louisiana Cajun Seasoning)
2 tsp Celery Seed

Slaughterhouse Poultry Injection
½ Pkg Good Seasons Italian Dressing
2 tsp Garlic Powder
2 tsp Celery Seed
2 TBS melted Butter (non salted)
2 C Apple Cider

Slaughterhouse Spritz
8 oz Apple Cider
6 oz Water
4 oz Whiskey
2 oz Cider Vinegar

Brine overnight, rinse well an pat dry, inject, use some a your favorite rub on the outside an in the cavity.

Smoke at 300°F - 325°F to an internal temp a 170°F in the breast. Don't do much over a 12 - 14 pound bird, you want to get through the 40° - 140° zone in under 4 hours.

 

[stickyfingers]

Look for my recent post concerning smoking turkeys.

 

[fwismoker]

I need to find the brine recipe that i used for my last Thanks Giving turkey but it used vegetable stock....very good!

 

[jaked]

Ikrus instructions sound great to me. I also like to use about a cup of cider vinegar in my brine, and when you put the rub on the bird try to seperate some of the skin from the meat and get some rub inside the skin where you can like the breast and thighs. Celery sticks and an onion in the cavity adds some nice flavor too. Check the meat temp inside the thigh area too make sure it is at least 165 deg before you take it off the grill. Use plenty of smoke early. Smoked turkey is my favorite.

 

[ohcrap]

I didn't really do anything special to the turkey other than mild seasoning and smoking it, but my family ended up loving it!  I have another turkey I'll experiment with probably next month and use the recipe info. Thanks!