The oldest daughter, her husband, and 3 of the grandchildren came down for Thanksgiving. The wife wanted a big bird, like 25#, and I told her why not do 2-3 smaller instead. Then I talked her into me smoking them, to save room in the oven. So off she goes, with my instructions: we want them tall, not wide, so I can get them on the top shelf of the smoker. I was expecting 2 12-14# birds. She came back with 3, all 8-9#. Ok, so we have the right weight. And off I go to put them away.
Wait a minute... something looked funny on the label. Oh.... they're breasts. Bone in, skin on breasts. I believe they are sometimes called "hotel turkeys".
So, after a bunch of research, since I hadn't done a turkey on the WSM before, I decide I'm going to run hot & fast. Planned temp: 325-350.
Thawed them in the fridge. Last night I unwrapped them, drained off the solution & blood, and stuck them back in the fridge to air dry the skin. Got the smoker out where it needed to be, too.
This morning started off good, except I might as well be in a refrigerator when I'm outside. Damp and a balmy 34 out. Got out there to light things off about 9:30 or so. Still had left over lump from the last smoke sitting in the coal ring, so decided to leave it, and throw the lit coals on top. Lit off two weber chimneys of RO. Took forever to get it lit. Wasn't the charcoal, I dont think. It was a brand new bag, that had been in the house, since it was bought. So either I had bad paper for lighting it, or the weather was playing a bigger factor than I thought. Finally got them lit and in the ring. Threw almost half a bag more on top, and waited for it to settle in, with all 3 intakes wide open. The lump burned off fairly quickly, with me seeing temps at 420+. Seemed to settle in at about 320. So I go in and prep the turkeys, already flustered by things so far. Get the turkeys all wiped down with melted butter. Throw the rub on. Toss some rub on the cavity, too. And onto the smoker it went... temp didn't stay where I expected. Then it finally settled in... at 255. What did I do wrong? Was my thought. Nothing that I could come up with. And then I realized I hadn't put any wood on it. Rush in, grab my new bad of cherry, and throw some on. Kept the door open for a bit until the cherry started to take off, to try to keep the bad smoke from the meat.
Fought with the darn thing a bit longer. Lit another chimney and put it on. Up to 270. And 29 minutes later, back to 255. Lit another 2 chimneys. ( Did I mention they are taking forever to light?) By this time I'm out of RO regular, and onto Kroger brand, but verified it was made by RO. After the last 2 chimneys, it settled in at about 265. I decided that was good enough. I was tired of fighting the charcoal, trying to get a temp that wasn't going to happen today. With all the fighting I did with things, the thought of what else can go wrong today?
1 probe read almost 20 degrees higher than the other 2. I figure I just got it in the wrong place. And what else went wrong? I remembered, once I had them up to 120, that I had forgotten to inject.
Next post, the pictures I remembered to take
Wait a minute... something looked funny on the label. Oh.... they're breasts. Bone in, skin on breasts. I believe they are sometimes called "hotel turkeys".
So, after a bunch of research, since I hadn't done a turkey on the WSM before, I decide I'm going to run hot & fast. Planned temp: 325-350.
Thawed them in the fridge. Last night I unwrapped them, drained off the solution & blood, and stuck them back in the fridge to air dry the skin. Got the smoker out where it needed to be, too.
This morning started off good, except I might as well be in a refrigerator when I'm outside. Damp and a balmy 34 out. Got out there to light things off about 9:30 or so. Still had left over lump from the last smoke sitting in the coal ring, so decided to leave it, and throw the lit coals on top. Lit off two weber chimneys of RO. Took forever to get it lit. Wasn't the charcoal, I dont think. It was a brand new bag, that had been in the house, since it was bought. So either I had bad paper for lighting it, or the weather was playing a bigger factor than I thought. Finally got them lit and in the ring. Threw almost half a bag more on top, and waited for it to settle in, with all 3 intakes wide open. The lump burned off fairly quickly, with me seeing temps at 420+. Seemed to settle in at about 320. So I go in and prep the turkeys, already flustered by things so far. Get the turkeys all wiped down with melted butter. Throw the rub on. Toss some rub on the cavity, too. And onto the smoker it went... temp didn't stay where I expected. Then it finally settled in... at 255. What did I do wrong? Was my thought. Nothing that I could come up with. And then I realized I hadn't put any wood on it. Rush in, grab my new bad of cherry, and throw some on. Kept the door open for a bit until the cherry started to take off, to try to keep the bad smoke from the meat.
Fought with the darn thing a bit longer. Lit another chimney and put it on. Up to 270. And 29 minutes later, back to 255. Lit another 2 chimneys. ( Did I mention they are taking forever to light?) By this time I'm out of RO regular, and onto Kroger brand, but verified it was made by RO. After the last 2 chimneys, it settled in at about 265. I decided that was good enough. I was tired of fighting the charcoal, trying to get a temp that wasn't going to happen today. With all the fighting I did with things, the thought of what else can go wrong today?
1 probe read almost 20 degrees higher than the other 2. I figure I just got it in the wrong place. And what else went wrong? I remembered, once I had them up to 120, that I had forgotten to inject.
Next post, the pictures I remembered to take