Smoked Turkey Advice

[Nate1787]

I am hoping to get some advice in preparation for turkey day. My first smoked Turkey was last year. Wet brine, based hourly with butter and bourbon and cooked at 275 in a customized Masterbuilt 30. I've removed all electronics and replaced with an external PID controller, and use an A-Maze-N pellet tray. The bird was smoked using 50/50 Apple / Pecan pellets.

First issue.. when using the external PID controller, placing thermal probe above or below the bird makes a big difference... And I am not sure which is right. Thoughts?

Second issue is by the time the internal temp hit 160, the skin was going from nice golden to kinda of striated black. Skin was tough and inedible..I ended up just removing it completely. What should I modify to improve coloration / edibility of the skin? (I suspect increasing temp is going to be the answer, but wanted to take the opportunity to put some eyeballs on the actual picture just in case). One pic is mid smoke when I was basting, other is final product. The actual meat turned out great, but I think there's room for improvement.

Appreciate any advice you can throw at me!

 

[whistlepig]

I do my best to keep the probe at the same level as whatever I am smoking. Never had any luck getting crispy skin on poultry under 325 degrees.

 

[babydocsmoke]

Keep the probe at grate level. Right at the level of your protein.

What did you rub on the bird before you smoked it?

 

[DougE]

If you want crispy skin, pull it a little early and chuck it under the broiler.

 

[912smoker]

^^^^^And remove the pop up indicator in the bird.

Keith

 

[Nate1787]

Fair point on the pop up indicator having a probe in the bird. Turkey was brined with onion, clove, peppercorn, bay leaves and bourbon, then it's simply basted with butter and bourbon hourly including before it goes in. Nothing else added to the skin otherwise.

 

[Nate1787]

I will rig up something to get the probe at the right level as well. Thanks for all of the recommendations so far. From what I'm hearing.. skin was cooked too slow basically so run either higher temp, or broiler.. basically it wasn't done enough I suppose?

 

[whistlepig]

I cook my turkeys @ 275 because the lower temp gives good smoke flavor. I don't need crispy skin on turkey but do like crispy skin on chicken. If internal was 160 it was done. Any hotter and the turkey gets dry.

 

[BigW.]

To add a couple things not mentioned yet. Leave bird uncovered in the fridge over night. I try and pull the skin away from the breast with my fingers. Broiler or gas grill will be your friend. I'd also spatchcock the bird for even cooking and browning of the skin after smoking.

 

[zwiller]

Leave bird uncovered in the fridge over night.

+1. Lose the basting too.

 

[schlotz]

Yeah, we all want to smoke a turkey but if you want an all-over golden brown, crispy skin, moist bird you need the right tool set. Enter the rotisserie and grill. For smoke, depending on grill type that would be wood chunks (ex-weber kettle) or smoker tube(s). The Roto bastes the bird perfectly in its own juices, allows the higher temp to get the skin crispy all while keep the meat moist. Been doing it for years.

FYI: NEVER STUFF a bird if using a rotisserie, big food safety issue.

 

[MJB05615]

I've never been able to get crispy skin out of the Turkeys. Been smoking them for 7-8 years now. Love the flavor, but also remove the skin. This year I'm going to leave uncovered in Fridge for 24 hours as mentioned above. Cover the breast with foil for a bit. Also considering smoke til almost done then put on a hot Grill. I do not want to over cook it either.

 

[babydocsmoke]

Fair point on the pop up indicator having a probe in the bird. Turkey was brined with onion, clove, peppercorn, bay leaves and bourbon, then it's simply basted with butter and bourbon hourly including before it goes in. Nothing else added to the skin otherwise.

The brine is great! I'd recommend nothing else on the bird before smoking except for a dry rub. No oil/fat solutions for sure. Let the bird sit in the fridge for a day after taking it out of the brine to let it dry. Make sure nothing dripping from the top of the smoker too.

If crispy skin is a big goal...you can go hot and fast at the BEGINING of the cook, to melt the fat under the skin quickly and crisp up the skin (hot and fast being 450-500F for about 30 min)...but understand that this will make the skin a bit of a barrier for smoke penetration and you'll get less smoke flavor.

Crisp skin comes out great from the oven doing the above, but crisp skin and good smoke flavor is a bit of a unicorn. Its possible that it exists, but most of us have a hard time finding it...

 

[redjoes]

The brine is great! I'd recommend nothing else on the bird before smoking except for a dry rub. No oil/fat solutions for sure. Let the bird sit in the fridge for a day after taking it out of the brine to let it dry. Make sure nothing dripping from the top of the smoker too.

If crispy skin is a big goal...you can go hot and fast at the BEGINING of the cook, to melt the fat under the skin quickly and crisp up the skin (hot and fast being 450-500F for about 30 min)...but understand that this will make the skin a bit of a barrier for smoke penetration and you'll get less smoke flavor.

Crisp skin comes out great from the oven doing the above, but crisp skin and good smoke flavor is a bit of a unicorn. Its possible that it exists, but most of us have a hard time finding it...

Solid turkey roasting tips! Thanks for this.

 

[Nate1787]

Thanks for all the tips everyone. Based on all the recommendations.. crisp skin isn't so much of a must as to sacrifice smoke flavor in the meat so.. based on that I am thinking 325 cooked to ~157-160 internal, rest the bird for a day post brine, loosen the skin, and adjust thermal probe. I forgot to mention, the bird is also injected with the same bourbon / butter mix so probably keep that, drop the basting... Which is a pain anyways. Will probably proceed with something along those lines and see how it goes before making more adjustments... Also adjusting when I'm smoking for immediate family is safer than doing it on the bird I'm feeding 15 people with!

 

[Nate1787]

Wanted to post back after turkey day with results. Turkey cooked about twice as fast as previously due to no basting which means no opening the smoker door. I think the results were very good. Skin still wasn't edible but I blame that on having to open the smoker door to manage the pellet tray a few times. I think I need to do the mailbox mod on this thing so I can leave the smoker door closed through the entire smoke, and honestly, even with that, I don't know that the heating element is powerful enough to get this thing to be a consistent 325. I'm smoking a second turkey as I write this and the smoker hasn't gotten above 290 because it's 40 degrees outside. All in all, I'm happy with the results, and have some ideas on how to keep improving. Thanks for all the advice!