SMOKED TURKEY

[smokerlover]

Brand new to smoking. I have an electric smoker and I want to do a turkey for the Superbowl. I have 2 questions: How do I get more wood chips in the smoker without taking everything out, and How long should I keep smoke on it since I only have Hickory and Mesquite available to me and which of the 2 would be better?

Thanks in advance

 

[illini]

Welcome to the SMF smokelover
Introduce yourself in the "roll call" area sometime so others can get to know you

The first thing that I would do is get to a store and buy a sack of apple wood chips.....Especially on your first tries the hickory and mesquite can be too strong a smoke flavoring for turkey or chicken....try very hard to keep the smoke down to not much at all coming out of the smoker...We call that the "thin blue smoke"....Most folks with little experience to smoking really overdo the smoke and turn the bird toward the black side in color and you can ruin it all with a bad creosote taste if you have lots of white smoke all over the place.

If you possibly can...use a meat probe thermometer (remote reading with a cable) in the breast or well placed in the thigh area.....when the internal temp indication on the probe gets to 140* stop adding smoke and finish the cook with just heat

There are a lot of other things and advice if you will read posts in the poultry area :roll:

Keep the smoking chamber...where the bird is...at 225* minimum and preferably up to 250*...if you take to long to cook the bird the bad bugs on the bird can make you ill...

Not knowing what smoker you have...no advice on adding wood chips....maybe someone else will be able to advise you

Good Luck :!:
Hope this helps a little

Edit...really concerned if you can keep the smoker temps where they must be to safely smoke this bird....sounds like you have a verticle bullet smoker and if its cold outside getting that bird cooked in a timely fashion will be very hard to do....unless you are certain you can sustain the smokers internal temps maybe consider abandoning this project

 

[smokerlover]

Thanks for the help. I registered in roll call.
I have a Char Broil smoker w/ a water pail. There are no stores around here that carry apple chips because smoking is not real big here. How much chips should I use and should I wrap them in foil?

Thnaks again

 

[illini]

smokelover
I edited my last post to you please read again :!:

Being in PA and with the weather we are having set the smoker outside, add a little water to the pan and turn it on with a thermometer on one of the cooking racks.....it the temp never gets to at LEAST 225* then give it up till summer when you will be able to reach those temps

Not familiar with your unit...cant advise on how to add the wood

 

[smokerlover]

Thanks again for the help. I really appreciate your time in trying to help me. I am going to try doing it in my garage. It's not heated but there's no wind either. I just have a heating element at the bottom of the cooker, ( which is vertical). My normal reaction is "the more the better" on everything. That's why I was curious, on a general note, how much chips is a good starting point. I did use this once to try jerky. I put 2 handfuls of soaked chips underneath the element, on the tray that it comes with. I thought I needed much smoke.

 

[gunslinger]

Are there no apple orchards near you? Since you have an electric, you can just get a couple of logs and basically slice it with a table saw or circular saw. A couple logs would last you forever.

 

[zardnok]

I would not use Mesquite for poultry, even hickory might be to strong of a smoke. Oak, Pecan, or Apple would be my suggestions, but I use Oak and Pecan for nearly everything. What can I say, I use what I like!

As for how to add more chips, I do not know on an electric. Keep in mind though that past a certain point, adding more wood chips will not necesarily add more flavor.

Edit: Yes I think you should wrap your chips in foil and poke a couple holes in it with a toothpick or something.

 

[smokerlover]

At what temp (of the bird) should I quit adding chips?

 

[smokerlover]

At what temp (of the bird) should I quit adding chips?

 

[illini]

Common among the members is to stop adding smoke when the internal temp of the turkey reaches 140*

 

[smokerlover]

Thank you.
I'm new to this and I greatly appreciate all the help I have received from everyone. Now if it turns out good I'll try to post pics, if no pics you'll know why.

 

[cajunsmoker]

Don't worry, it'll be fine. Post pics either way 8) .

 

[shellbellc]

So I wonder how the turkey went??!! I suprised nobody suggested brining! Injecting is good, but I swear by brining any poultry...

 

[smokerlover]

The turkey turned out great!! I used a brine recipe from here and it was great. I was concerned about using hickory chips but it was perfect. I got some pics I'll have to get posted.

 

[cheech]

Please include pictures of your smoker so that we can figure out how to add more chips