First Whole Wild Turkey and Whold Breast

[bobjr21w]

I plan on Smoking a full Wild Turkey and a few full breasts and legs in a few weeks.  I expect to use it for lunch meat and just snacking on hunting and fishing adventures. If anyone has and Brines, Cures or Recipes they would like to share I would appreciate it.  Also any tips or tricks would also be helpful.  I will be using my home made smoker so I can hang them or put them on racks.  Thanks for any help.  

 

[sauced]

I have smoked whole 20 lb.+ turkeys, whole. Did not brine them, but did inject them , brushed with olive oil, then applied the rub. Simply DELICIOUS!!!!! The turkey took about 4 hours (not stuffed) at 275 degrees. I used apple wood.

 

[tallbm]

Poultry skin very very often comes out leathery if cooked at a smoker temp under 325F.  Just keep that in mind when selecting a smoking temp.

You can go as fancy or as simple as you like with a brine.  I simply do salt and water for chicken breast and whole chickens when I do mine, that's as simple as it comes.  I brine for 24 hours, pull them out, pat dry and then season them with my other dry seasonings MINUS any additional salt.

I did 2 whole chickens for a total of 11 pounds the other day in my new big brining bucket setup.  I threw them into the large brining bucket and did 1/2 a cup of salt blended in 16 floz of water (in my magic bullet blender) poured it in and then added water to the bucket until it covered the chickens.  

I've never used that brine bucket before and never did 11 pounds of whole chicken's before so it was my first test run in that setup.  I brined for 24 hours.  The chicken's came out fine but I would probably do 2/3 cup of salt due to the volume of water that bucket holds to cover two 5.5 pound chickens.

Best of luck on the turkeys, let us know how they come out :)

 

[bobjr21w]

Thanks I figured the brine would be the same as most anything else.  I am concerned about the skin on the whole bird. I had that problem with some pheasant legs I did last fall.  Is it the dryness or is the smoke temp that causes it to leather like that? 

 

[nate07]

I smoked a whole turkey for this past thanksgiving. I never have injected but I use a brine
1/2 Gallon Apple Juice
1C. Kosher Salt
1/2 C. Light Brown Sugar
1/4 C. Molasses
1 Gallon of Water
Brined for 10-12 hours
Removed from brine and paper towel dry.
I agree with Sauced on the time, temp, and wood.

 

[tallbm]

 
Thanks I figured the brine would be the same as most anything else.  I am concerned about the skin on the whole bird. I had that problem with some pheasant legs I did last fall.  Is it the dryness or is the smoke temp that causes it to leather like that? 

Well I don't have any definite scientific answer to whether it's the dryness or the temp that makes leathery poultry skin. 

All I can say is that I get edible skin out of the smoker when the temp is 325F the entire time.  After pulling leathery skin chicken out of the smoker I've tried to blast chicken in the oven on broil for 10 minutes but that didnt work, I've tried a propane torch and that didn't work.

May report that they grill on a hot grill (like 600F) and char the skin up some and that works for them.

Also some like Foamheart put their chicken under a fan until a pellicle forms and that works for them so dryness can factor in.  Others have reported using cornstarch on the skin to dry it up before smoking.  I have not tried either approach so I can't tell you anything about them other then people mention them.

So I guess from my experience I can say that the smoker temp will definitely affect the poultry skin texture and I have edible skin at 325F and with my convection fan mod in my MES I've even had crispy skin occur.  Smoke at 325F or higher and I think you will be ok.

Let us know how things turn out :)

 

[bobjr21w]

 
Well I don't have any definite scientific answer to whether it's the dryness or the temp that makes leathery poultry skin. 

All I can say is that I get edible skin out of the smoker when the temp is 325F the entire time.  After pulling leathery skin chicken out of the smoker I've tried to blast chicken in the oven on broil for 10 minutes but that didnt work, I've tried a propane torch and that didn't work.

May report that they grill on a hot grill (like 600F) and char the skin up some and that works for them.

Also some like Foamheart put their chicken under a fan until a pellicle forms and that works for them so dryness can factor in.  Others have reported using cornstarch on the skin to dry it up before smoking.  I have not tried either approach so I can't tell you anything about them other then people mention them.

So I guess from my experience I can say that the smoker temp will definitely affect the poultry skin texture and I have edible skin at 325F and with my convection fan mod in my MES I've even had crispy skin occur.  Smoke at 325F or higher and I think you will be ok.

Let us know how things turn out :)

​Thanks this makes more sense now.  It never crossed my mind to smoke at that Temp.  Then again I've never done poultry.  

 

[r2 builders]

I smoke my chickens and turkeys between 325 degrees and 350.
I get a nice brown bird with crispy skin.
I picked that method up off of this site.

r2

 

[oldschoolbbq]

Sounds fowl, huh?
Yep. 325*, watch it , this temp. is (in my mind),is only for birds...I'm a low and slow man . Give me red meat and taters!!
Have fun and . . .

 

[Belo]

I know this is an older thread but I shot a nice 24 pound Tom (not dressed) and I want to smoke him. He’s plucked and cleaned and sitting in the fridge (plan to smoke Saturday). I very successfully smoked a domestic on Easter, but I know this is not the same. Appreciate any additional advice.

 

[Jonok]

I would strongly advise a different method.

I fried my first wild bird 15 years ago, and, while I love to smoke domestics, I will never go back on wild turkey meat.

Injected with seasoned butter, a Tom with spurs longer than he had any right to be alive with came out like a butterball...
Every wild bird in the interim as been the same.

I have not once
resorted to a slow cooker since.

Blow the extra 20 minutes to pluck and de-down the bird, and do yourself a big favor.