Welcome your advice on my Thanksgiving challenge...smoking 4 turkeys (and a ham) at once.
Details:
Offset smoker (no brand; custom). Has the capacity, but have never smoked at higher temps. Turkeys + ham will fit on cook surface with room for smoke.
Four 13+ lb birds. (13.2-13.4). Frozen w 9% solution, will be thawed by Tue afternoon. Plan to brine. Haven't dried before, but sounds like a good idea for crisper skin. Plan to rub and use butter/baste/spray.
Want smoke to be finished by about 1:00 Thur. Of course I want the birds to be moist, with a crisp skin, taste great. Would prefer them to have a nice color...in other words, perfect.
My key questions:
1) How much chaos should I expect with cook time with the full smoker?
2) What is the better strategy for cook temp? Have concerns with the birds that will be on the hot side of the cook surface if I cook at higher temp (300). (Will rotate at some point, but don't want to burn skin in meantime.) Concern with lower temp (240) is not only food safety but also leathery skin and drying the meat.
3) Will transport locally after the smoke, so rest time will automatically be hour or more. Want to make sure done in time, but concerned longer rest will cause skin to degrade. (E.g., if they all get to temp 3 hours ahead of time.) Is this a valid concern, and how should I rest them to preserve their perfect-ness coming off the smoke?
4) Re: Ham. It's a warming to 140 / flavoring of a sprial cut. Will do it in coolest part and just try to keep it from messing up the turkeys. Least of my concerns, but it's a detail.
So, I'm more after techniques than recipes. I look forward to all of your thoughts. THANK YOU for your time.
Details:
Offset smoker (no brand; custom). Has the capacity, but have never smoked at higher temps. Turkeys + ham will fit on cook surface with room for smoke.
Four 13+ lb birds. (13.2-13.4). Frozen w 9% solution, will be thawed by Tue afternoon. Plan to brine. Haven't dried before, but sounds like a good idea for crisper skin. Plan to rub and use butter/baste/spray.
Want smoke to be finished by about 1:00 Thur. Of course I want the birds to be moist, with a crisp skin, taste great. Would prefer them to have a nice color...in other words, perfect.
My key questions:
1) How much chaos should I expect with cook time with the full smoker?
2) What is the better strategy for cook temp? Have concerns with the birds that will be on the hot side of the cook surface if I cook at higher temp (300). (Will rotate at some point, but don't want to burn skin in meantime.) Concern with lower temp (240) is not only food safety but also leathery skin and drying the meat.
3) Will transport locally after the smoke, so rest time will automatically be hour or more. Want to make sure done in time, but concerned longer rest will cause skin to degrade. (E.g., if they all get to temp 3 hours ahead of time.) Is this a valid concern, and how should I rest them to preserve their perfect-ness coming off the smoke?
4) Re: Ham. It's a warming to 140 / flavoring of a sprial cut. Will do it in coolest part and just try to keep it from messing up the turkeys. Least of my concerns, but it's a detail.
So, I'm more after techniques than recipes. I look forward to all of your thoughts. THANK YOU for your time.
