Help with how long to smoke spatchcocked 25lb turkey

[Bigheaded]

The roommates daughter wanted to be helpful so she bought the turkey, very nice of her. It's 25lb, this is going to be a small gathering so it's probably double what we needed, but I digress. I need some assistance on the cook. I did Google, but basically, I read 3 completely different things. 1st I have a few general questions.

I was asked yesterday morning if I could make the turkey which I had no idea until then. I was unable to get it in a wet brine until about 10 last night. I would have liked to 24 hour brine and 24 hours in the fridge on a tray. Can't happen so would it be better to leave it in the brine longer, or pull it out about 6 tonight to put it back in the fridge for 6'ish hours to dry out. Not sure if with a turkey that big 6 hours on a tray in a fridge would even make a difference.

Also, regarding cooking times, they want it done at noon tomorrow. I looked it up on Google and saw "12-15 minutes a lb" "20 minutes an lb" 12 and 20's a big gap for a 25lb bird. I don't want to have it done 2 hours early but I don't want to have it not ready by noon. I've never spatchcocked a turkey before and maybe unfortunately for them I decided to not only try that for the 1st time, but I also gave wet brining a try (2 gal water 1.5 cups fine sea salt, 2tbsp garlic, 1/4 cup W sauce, 1/3rd cup brown sugar, 2tsp black pepper) The brine recipes I found online didn't make mention of bird size. 25lb's really big so if anything I didn't use enough salt, but I errored on the side of caution here since I've never done it and there will be no ham or any other main dish.


I know this post is last minute but if anyone can give assistance here I'd love any help

 

[noboundaries]

I've gone from brine to oven/smoker/grill with no problems. I love big birds so very familiar with the timing.

Dry thoroughly with paper towels, then season/rub. You haven't said if you are using a smoker, grill, or the oven. Temp makes a huge difference in time.

Oven: 450°F for 30 mins to dry skin. Then drop to 350°F until breast reads 158°-160°F, dark meat 175°F. Timing will be around 3 hours once put in the oven.

Smoker/grill: 275°F min temp. Hotter is better and will result in a faster cook. Point the breast AWAY from the heat source. At 275°F you're looking at 4.5 to 5 hours.

If using a smoker/grill, be sure you have clean smoke. Gray or white is bad. Thin blue is good.

Make sure the bird is completely thawed. Partially frozen bird adds time, like 25-50% longer.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Ray

 

[Bigheaded]

I've gone from brine to oven/smoker/grill with no problems. I love big birds so very familiar with the timing.

Dry thoroughly with paper towels, then season/rub. You haven't said if you are using a smoker, grill, or the oven. Temp makes a huge difference in time.

Oven: 450°F for 30 mins to dry skin. Then drop to 350°F until breast reads 158°-160°F, dark meat 175°F. Timing will be around 3 hours once put in the oven.

Smoker/grill: 275°F min temp. Hotter is better and will result in a faster cook. Point the breast AWAY from the heat source. At 275°F you're looking at 4.5 to 5 hours.

If using a smoker/grill, be sure you have clean smoke. Gray or white is bad. Thin blue is good.

Make sure the bird is completely thawed. Partially frozen bird adds time, like 25-50% longer.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Ray

Thanks for the reply, my plan was 275f in my Gravity 560 with kingsford charcoal and some chunks of pecan. I have an Inkbird so I'll stick a probe in the thigh and breast. Since I'm spatchcocking it I shouldn't need both probes, but I want to be safer here. And I'm winging it using the Three Little Pigs touch of cherry rub, I don't have anything else and this should be better than anything I can get at the local supermarkets.

I never pay attention to the smoke color so I'll definitely be mindful of that, I usually fire it up and let it roll for half an hour before I throw the meat on. I do know it tends to produce a ton of smoke at first and dies down if I wait. 5 hours is MUCH shorter than what I was finding on Google. I was planning on 8-10.

I appreciate your post, anything else I'm good cooking, but I don't cook turkey so I'm a little paranoid here lol. One last question, you said in the smoker hotter's better, and 275 min. So should I do 450f for 30 mins to dry the skin then drop it to 300? I'm thinking your 5 hour timing might not be at 275.

 

[tallbm]

The roommates daughter wanted to be helpful so she bought the turkey, very nice of her. It's 25lb, this is going to be a small gathering so it's probably double what we needed, but I digress. I need some assistance on the cook. I did Google, but basically, I read 3 completely different things. 1st I have a few general questions.

I was asked yesterday morning if I could make the turkey which I had no idea until then. I was unable to get it in a wet brine until about 10 last night. I would have liked to 24 hour brine and 24 hours in the fridge on a tray. Can't happen so would it be better to leave it in the brine longer, or pull it out about 6 tonight to put it back in the fridge for 6'ish hours to dry out. Not sure if with a turkey that big 6 hours on a tray in a fridge would even make a difference.

Also, regarding cooking times, they want it done at noon tomorrow. I looked it up on Google and saw "12-15 minutes a lb" "20 minutes an lb" 12 and 20's a big gap for a 25lb bird. I don't want to have it done 2 hours early but I don't want to have it not ready by noon. I've never spatchcocked a turkey before and maybe unfortunately for them I decided to not only try that for the 1st time, but I also gave wet brining a try (2 gal water 1.5 cups fine sea salt, 2tbsp garlic, 1/4 cup W sauce, 1/3rd cup brown sugar, 2tsp black pepper) The brine recipes I found online didn't make mention of bird size. 25lb's really big so if anything I didn't use enough salt, but I errored on the side of caution here since I've never done it and there will be no ham or any other main dish.


I know this post is last minute but if anyone can give assistance here I'd love any help

Man noboundaries came through with a TON of great info!

As for your brine, you have plenty of salt in it. Too much salt if you leave it in for a couple of days.
1.65% salt for your water and bird weight is 267gm. You have roughly 410gm of salt being used.

Salt penetrates at like 1/4 inch every 24hrs. I have no idea the concentration of salt penetration you have going in your time period of brining. If worried there won't be enough salt update you can take a meat injector syringe and inject some of that brine into the breast and other parts. I wouldn't inject into the small parts like wings and drums.

Wish I had more info for you but that's all I got. Do with it what you can :)

 

[tallbm]

Thanks for the reply, my plan was 275f in my Gravity 560 with kingsford charcoal and some chunks of pecan. I have an Inkbird so I'll stick a probe in the thigh and breast. Since I'm spatchcocking it I shouldn't need both probes, but I want to be safer here. And I'm winging it using the Three Little Pigs touch of cherry rub, I don't have anything else and this should be better than anything I can get at the local supermarkets.

I never pay attention to the smoke color so I'll definitely be mindful of that, I usually fire it up and let it roll for half an hour before I throw the meat on. I do know it tends to produce a ton of smoke at first and dies down if I wait. 5 hours is MUCH shorter than what I was finding on Google. I was planning on 8-10.

I appreciate your post, anything else I'm good cooking, but I don't cook turkey so I'm a little paranoid here lol. One last question, you said in the smoker hotter's better, and 275 min. So should I do 450f for 30 mins to dry the skin then drop it to 300? I'm thinking your 5 hour timing might not be at 275.

If you do 275F you may not get edible skin (rubbery/leathery skin). If you do 325F the entire time you should have edible skin and it is likely going to have some crispiness to it.

I would err on the side of hotter and if you notice it get to 140F internal temp really fast then cut down your smoker temp to make it last longer but I wouldnt start low and go high, i would start high and switch to lower.

 

[Bigheaded]

Man noboundaries came through with a TON of great info!

As for your brine, you have plenty of salt in it. Too much salt if you leave it in for a couple of days.
1.65% salt for your water and bird weight is 267gm. You have roughly 410gm of salt being used.

Salt penetrates at like 1/4 inch every 24hrs. I have no idea the concentration of salt penetration you have going in your time period of brining. If worried there won't be enough salt update you can take a meat injector syringe and inject some of that brine into the breast and other parts. I wouldn't inject into the small parts like wings and drums.

Wish I had more info for you but that's all I got. Do with it what you can :)

I definitely don't think the brining will be long enough, but it'll still be worlds better than a turkey that hadn't been brined. The meat injector idea's a good one, I don't own one. And unfortunately for Thanksgiving a lot of people who barely cook want to become a chef. So things I could normally just go buy like brining bags and injectors are all sold out.

But thanks to the info I got in this thread, I'm not going to take it out after 18 hours to dry in the fridge. And I'm not going to be cooking it for 10 hours. So I'll have about 30 hours to brine it now. And I think I'll slather some Irish butter on the skin for the last 30 minutes to help the skin crisp up even more.

If I hadn't posted this, I would have cooked at 275 I'm sure, and the thought of rubbery skin that tallbm mentioned would have totally deflated the meal, nobody wants that. It's extra crucial because I'm hyping up to people this will be the "best and juiciest turkey you've ever had" I'm imagining having served it with super soft and rubbery skin lol.

And thanks for the math tidbits, sounds like I way oversalted it lol.

 

[noboundaries]

One last question, you said in the smoker hotter's better, and 275 min. So should I do 450f for 30 mins to dry the skin then drop it to 300?

If you can do 450F in your smoker, then just treat your smoker like a smoky oven and follow the oven directions above.

And remember this point, too. Fire up your smoker, let it stabilize at your target temp, get clean smoke, then load the meat. The chamber temp may plunge, but NOT because the smoker is running cooler. The cold bird is soaking up heat like a sponge. The chamber temp will rise as the meat warms.

 

[912smoker]

I usually juice them up with Tony C creole butter and it comes with a an injector.
WM and most grocery stores carry it.
Good luck and remember to post up some pics !

Keith

 

[Bigheaded]

Thanks again to everyone who helped, I don't like Turkey but it came out pretty decent.

450f for 30 minutes, then dropped to 325 for a few hours then upped to 350 for about 45 minutes then down to 325. Skin came out super chewy and rubbery which sucks. I dried it super well after brining, and I basted a little melted butter every hour (saw in a Malcom Reed video) I stupidly forgot to rinse it after pulling it out the brine, but if anything it could have used more salt, go figure lol. The 1st bite I had when I was cutting it up was 9.5, skin was good and the flavor from the rub was perfect. But when I sat down to eat the rest I had was far less flavorful and the skin was meh. Maybe I'll buy a sous vide propane gun and torch it next time. No mushy skin after that.

People here liked it, but that's not saying a whole lot. 3 years ago they made instant mashed potatoes for Thanksgiving and loved them lol. Even without me not liking turkey I feel I need to try this again with a longer brine and maybe 350 the entire time with a bit longer at 450. I'm determined to make one with crispy skin.

The Three Little Pigs touch of cherry rub was really good on it that's a keeper.

 

[noboundaries]

I read back through the posts to see if I missed your intentions to baste. I didn't see it mentioned.

I stopped basting birds long ago because basting is for flavor profile and PREVENTING a dry exterior, not making crispy skin. I only baste skinless poultry to KEEP the exterior layer of the skinless meat from drying.

Skin gets crispy because all the fat is rendered out of it and the collagen is melted completely out of the connective tissue of the skin. Basting kinda defeats that purpose. It also releases needed heat every time you open the smoker.

Personally, I think the basting effort is an anachronism of old times when folks anecdotally believed basting would keep the meat moist on 10-12 hour overnight cooks. My mom always basted on those cooks. The skin was chewy and the white meat like chalk.

And don't get me started on YouTube cooks, no matter how experienced. What makes good video isn't necessarily what make a great result. I read the Malcolm Reed recipe for turkey. Guess what a very sharp knife will easily slice for pictures: chewy, rubbery skin.

 

[SecondHandSmoker]

Even tenting a resting bird with foil will soften the skin.

 

[Bigheaded]

I read back through the posts to see if I missed your intentions to baste. I didn't see it mentioned.

I stopped basting birds long ago because basting is for flavor profile and PREVENTING a dry exterior, not making crispy skin. I only baste skinless poultry to KEEP the exterior layer of the skinless meat from drying.

Skin gets crispy because all the fat is rendered out of it and the collagen is melted completely out of the connective tissue of the skin. Basting kinda defeats that purpose. It also releases needed heat every time you open the smoker.

Personally, I think the basting effort is an anachronism of old times when folks anecdotally believed basting would keep the meat moist on 10-12 hour overnight cooks. My mom always basted on those cooks. The skin was chewy and the white meat like chalk.

And don't get me started on YouTube cooks, no matter how experienced. What makes good video isn't necessarily what make a great result. I read the Malcolm Reed recipe for turkey. Guess what a very sharp knife will easily slice for pictures: chewy, rubbery skin.

I didn't mention it because I didn't see his video until I was just about to put the bird on. I generally trust Malcom as he's a southerner, a BBQ legend and a big boy. All good signs they know what they're doing when it comes to BBQ lol. I think he said it will make it taste good and help crisp up the skin some. But maybe I'm remembering wrong.

I think maybe I overbasted it, next attempt I'll use no butter.

 

[tallbm]

I second the no basting. Not even with butter.
I also second to avoid tenting the bird. This has rehydrated crispy skin and even made soft edible skin try to be more rubbery in my experience.

The thing that seems to work is hot dry skin. Anything that interferes or does the opposite to the skin is a no no in my book.

I keep trying to get my mother to NOT use an oven bake bag on her oven turkey but she can't seem to bring herself to do it hahaha. NO biggy the skin is not crispy on her oven birds but is edible and good.

I did teach her to brine turkeys and inject the brine a few years ago and she is hooked on it. She sees how amazing it makes the flavor.
This is a woman who is a cooking machine BUT Turkey was never one of those things that her or anyone before her mastered and was only once a year so didnt matter to much. It's mastered now :D

Next bird let's talk a proper brine and injection of the brine and your flavor will be excellent inside. I think you can work the skin thing out with no basting, no wrapping, no foiling, and while cooking at a high temp the whole time.
You are close, just a few things to tweak to get it dialed in and amazing :)