Lets Smoke this Turkey and then... Travel for 6 hours???

[SuperHolyCow]

Greetings everyone!

This is my first post here and I did a little research around the forum before posting this question. Seems that to have good smoke flavor i should have the temperature at 225 for about 2 hours and then crank it up to fully cook. But before I crank it up, let me tell you I plan to take these bird to Salt Lake City for a family gathering. Anyone else smoked, pre smoked, half cooked, fully cooked? a bird and then traveled quite a bit?

I read this post about prime rib and it seems doable with that http://smokingmeatforums.com/index....-later-searing-ok-or-not.233113/#post-1450738

However, I was wondering if I should completely cook the whole entire bird, cold crash the bird (read that on these forums), put it in the fridge, travel with it on ice, and then when I get to the family dinner... heat it up again? Temp?

Or would you guys only smoke the turkey to an internal temperature of (??), cold crash the bird, put it in the fridge, travel with it on ice, and then when I get to the family dinner... and finish cooking it? Temp?

Lastly, how long do you think you could keep these birds on ice if it is acceptable? 24-36 hours?

 

[tallbm]

Hi there and welcome!

The major thing to think of is safety. There is a safety rule that you shouldn't have uncured meat between then temps of 40-140F for 4 hours or more or else you are in the danger zone.

So with that said I would imagine you take any approach that does not violate the rule.

An alternative is to inject and/or brine the bird in a brine containing cure#1. In this case I imagine you could smoke it completely, wrap in foil, then in towels, then in a cooler to try and keep warm and then heat it up when you finish the 6 hour trip. I imagine this would be the safest route and cured turkey meat is AWESOME!!!

Best of luck! :)

 

[uncle eddie]

I would cook/smoke it until done. Slice it up. Package it up for the trip. Travel and reheat it.

Smoked turkey reheats well.

 

[dward51]

IMO cure #1 would not be necessary if you were coolering the finished bird. The cure is for before the meat is brought to a safe temp. Smoking it at the lower temp of 225* is not necessary for turkey as you don't want to over smoke the meat either. I run mine at 325-350* and a 12 to 14 pound bird (unstuffed) should reach 160-165 in the breast and 170-175 in the thigh in about 2 1/2 to 3 hours. At that point the meat is cooked and safe. You are "hot smoking" and the bird is outside the 140* mark well short of the 4 hour limit, so no need for cure like with sausages that are smoked at lower temps for hours.

The question would be.....

If you wrap the turkey in foil as soon as it comes out of the smoker, and place the wrapped bird in a ice chest or cooler and fill the voids around the wrapped turkey with towels (extra insulation), will it stay above 140* over a 6 hour trip? I think that depends on how insulated the cooler is for one, and how quick you can get the hot bird into the sealed cooler to preserve every ounce of heat possible.

I have held pork butts like this for up to 8 hours, but they were at 205* when wrapped. I never took a temp when taking them out later (usually 2 to 4 hours), but at 6 hours they were steaming when pulled and could not be pulled by hand they were still so hot inside. Now keep in mind I have commercial grade "ice chests" and a couple of military grade food boxes as well (keeps food hot for days). The question is the turkey is 40* lower to start with as compared to pork butts and will it hold that temp in a ice chest/cooler?

I have concerns that 6 hours is pushing it with the turkey due to the lower starting temp into the cooler. You might could squeeze out a little more time by pre-heating the interior of the cooler with some very hot (just shy of boiling) water for a few minutes before putting the bird and towels in. A few more degrees might be preserved by taking the towels out of a hot clothes dryer, but every second that turkey is not in the cooler with the lid on, you are loosing heat to the room.

I would cook/smoke it until done. Slice it up. Package it up for the trip. Travel and reheat it.

Smoked turkey reheats well.

Bingo!!!!!

A better choice would be to smoke the turkey before the needed date, break it down into pieces and refrigerate. You could keep the refrigerated turkey cool in an ice chest with ice for days and then reheat it in covered disposable aluminum pans just before serving. Just make sure to keep as much juice (or buy some chicken broth) to moisten the meat before reheating and keep it covered with foil or a disposable pan lid when reheating to retain as much moisture as possible.

But either way, IMO there is no need to inject with cure #1 solution.

You would want to brine the turkey to help with moisture retention (and flavor). But that depends on is it brined before packing? Most are unless you pay premium bucks for an unprocessed natural turkey. If you want to brine it, a simple brine of water, salt and a sugar works great. Brine for 6 to 8 hours, pat dry and then smoke.

 

[SuperHolyCow]

Hi there and welcome!

The major thing to think of is safety. There is a safety rule that you shouldn't have uncured meat between then temps of 40-140F for 4 hours or more or else you are in the danger zone.

So with that said I would imagine you take any approach that does not violate the rule.

An alternative is to inject and/or brine the bird in a brine containing cure#1. In this case I imagine you could smoke it completely, wrap in foil, then in towels, then in a cooler to try and keep warm and then heat it up when you finish the 6 hour trip. I imagine this would be the safest route and cured turkey meat is AWESOME!!!

Best of luck! :)

I was planning on Brining which is great that it essentially cures the meat. What if I brined it, Kept it to as close to under 40 degrees (lots of ice!) and then finished cooking for 3 - 4 hours? If I did go this route, how long of smoking/what internal temperature do you guys suggest to max out at before wrapping in foil and towels and traveling?

 

[SuperHolyCow]

I like the better choice option as well. Just cook the bird all the way through. I’m a little hesitant to slice the bird into pieces (as another fine gentlemen suggested) as I feel you loose a lot of the juice when slicing. I wonder if keeping the bird in full, crash cold it in ice, refrigerate, and then reheat it completely in a sous vide or in the oven. Thoughts?

IMO cure #1 would not be necessary if you were coolering the finished bird. The cure is for before the meat is brought to a safe temp. Smoking it at the lower temp of 225* is not necessary for turkey as you don't want to over smoke the meat either. I run mine at 325-350* and a 12 to 14 pound bird (unstuffed) should reach 160-165 in the breast and 170-175 in the thigh in about 2 1/2 to 3 hours. At that point the meat is cooked and safe. You are "hot smoking" and the bird is outside the 140* mark well short of the 4 hour limit, so no need for cure like with sausages that are smoked at lower temps for hours.

The question would be.....

If you wrap the turkey in foil as soon as it comes out of the smoker, and place the wrapped bird in a ice chest or cooler and fill the voids around the wrapped turkey with towels (extra insulation), will it stay above 140* over a 6 hour trip? I think that depends on how insulated the cooler is for one, and how quick you can get the hot bird into the sealed cooler to preserve every ounce of heat possible.

I have held pork butts like this for up to 8 hours, but they were at 205* when wrapped. I never took a temp when taking them out later (usually 2 to 4 hours), but at 6 hours they were steaming when pulled and could not be pulled by hand they were still so hot inside. Now keep in mind I have commercial grade "ice chests" and a couple of military grade food boxes as well (keeps food hot for days). The question is the turkey is 40* lower to start with as compared to pork butts and will it hold that temp in a ice chest/cooler?

I have concerns that 6 hours is pushing it with the turkey due to the lower starting temp into the cooler. You might could squeeze out a little more time by pre-heating the interior of the cooler with some very hot (just shy of boiling) water for a few minutes before putting the bird and towels in. A few more degrees might be preserved by taking the towels out of a hot clothes dryer, but every second that turkey is not in the cooler with the lid on, you are loosing heat to the room.



Bingo!!!!!

A better choice would be to smoke the turkey before the needed date, break it down into pieces and refrigerate. You could keep the refrigerated turkey cool in an ice chest with ice for days and then reheat it in covered disposable aluminum pans just before serving. Just make sure to keep as much juice (or buy some chicken broth) to moisten the meat before reheating and keep it covered with foil or a disposable pan lid when reheating to retain as much moisture as possible.

But either way, IMO there is no need to inject with cure #1 solution.

You would want to brine the turkey to help with moisture retention (and flavor). But that depends on is it brined before packing? Most are unless you pay premium bucks for an unprocessed natural turkey. If you want to brine it, a simple brine of water, salt and a sugar works great. Brine for 6 to 8 hours, pat dry and then smoke.

 

[dward51]

I like the better choice option as well. Just cook the bird all the way through. I’m a little hesitant to slice the bird into pieces (as another fine gentlemen suggested) as I feel you loose a lot of the juice when slicing. I wonder if keeping the bird in full, crash cold it in ice, refrigerate, and then reheat it completely in a sous vide or in the oven. Thoughts?

If you have sous vide as an option YES USE THAT!!!!. I would break the cooked bird down into it's major pieces (breasts, legs, thighs, etc....) as those will sous vide much better as it will be impossible to get the heated water into the inner cavity of a whole bird. You also retain as much natural moisture as possible going sous vide. Plus it gives you more control on holding the heated bird at your destination. It's already cooked at that point and you are just reheating it and sous vide can hold it a long time at the service temp.

 

[tallbm]

I was planning on Brining which is great that it essentially cures the meat. What if I brined it, Kept it to as close to under 40 degrees (lots of ice!) and then finished cooking for 3 - 4 hours? If I did go this route, how long of smoking/what internal temperature do you guys suggest to max out at before wrapping in foil and towels and traveling?

If not using cure#1 your brine wouldn't really be curing it to protect from bacteria and such.
I think dward51 made a good point that the cure may not really do much for you after it is cooked for your trip. I think the other suggestion is probably better.

I like the better choice option as well. Just cook the bird all the way through. I’m a little hesitant to slice the bird into pieces (as another fine gentlemen suggested) as I feel you loose a lot of the juice when slicing. I wonder if keeping the bird in full, crash cold it in ice, refrigerate, and then reheat it completely in a sous vide or in the oven. Thoughts?

I think this approach of fully cooking and then just wrapping and cooling in ice or in the fridge would be the best bet.
You would cook to an IT of like 165F in the breast since you plan to immediately cool it down.
You then put it on ice and then warm it up when you arrive at your destination.

If you could vac seal the bird that would be awesome. I don't know of a bag that large but the 15" wide bag rolls may do the trick. You may need to cut the back out of the bird for it to fit in a 15" bag to then vac seal.
In any case if you have a way to pack the bird up then roll with it and heat it back up after pull it out of the ice cooler when you arrive at your destination :)

 

[catiecooks]

I'm planning on smoking a 15 lb turkey to 150 in the breast on my MES tomorrow (Friday)and then refrigerating it until the next day on Saturday ( we do our family Thanksgiving always on Saturday). Then hopefully crisping up the skin in the oven the next day to 165. Does that sound like a good plan? I'm concerned about drying out the bird.

 

[tallbm]

I'm planning on smoking a 15 lb turkey to 150 in the breast on my MES tomorrow (Friday)and then refrigerating it until the next day on Saturday ( we do our family Thanksgiving always on Saturday). Then hopefully crisping up the skin in the oven the next day to 165. Does that sound like a good plan? I'm concerned about drying out the bird.

Hi there and welcome!

I think you may have some drying out BUT if you catch all the drippings in a pan under the turkey and save those drippings you can baste the turkey with them when you warm it back up. Best of luck! :)