Smoking Flavor Depth

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joseph73

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Nov 9, 2018
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1
Nw Wa
I was wondering about how deep the smoke flavor should reach in a turkey. Should it go all the way to the meat on the bone if done properly?

I smoked a turkey last night that was done faster than I anticipated. While the outside of the breast was lightly smoked, the inner part, while juicy, was not. Would a slower smoking time bring more of that flavor?

I spatchcocked the turkey, brined and injected as well. Not sure how many of those variables play into this.
 
Myself, I prefer a light smoke (or none at all) for turkey for dinner. If you want a real smokey turkey, cure it and smoke low temps for a long time. Check out Pops brine and technique. Might be too rich for dinner though...
 
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also, i was wondering about this~I only added wood chips at the beginning and then about 20 minutes later. It continued to produce a lot of smoke. Is this normal?
 
Ideally you want TBS the entire smoke. Not my clip but a great example.



Never even used chips in MES, I run AMNPS. I highly recommend it. TBS for as long as you load it. IIRC you want to load a little bit of chips every 30m or so if running stock.
 
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It probably goes without saying, it depends on what you are after. You could get a lot more smoke on a turkey smoked at 200' (then cranked up at the end to finish) than you would one cooked at 275 or higher (which would produce better skin).

A cured and smoked bird is really something special and completely different than what you want to serve as a meal as Sam pointed out.

100% agreed on the AMNPS. But if you are going to use chips, put WAY less in the chip loader than you think you need to. You will see and get a feel for how much they have burnt down if you check them in the tray.
 
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I was wondering about how deep the smoke flavor should reach in a turkey. Should it go all the way to the meat on the bone if done properly?

I smoked a turkey last night that was done faster than I anticipated. While the outside of the breast was lightly smoked, the inner part, while juicy, was not. Would a slower smoking time bring more of that flavor?

I spatchcocked the turkey, brined and injected as well. Not sure how many of those variables play into this.


Smoke is a funny thing, most people think the longer you smoke it penetrates deeper into the meat.
it does not. Now meats are different the heaver density of the meat the harder for the smoke to penetrate.
Fish is not dense and absorbs smoke deeper and can get smokey quick. There is a bunch of scientific stuff to confirm this but I wont bore you with that. Fact is most of the smoke and flavor is in the bark or and surface of the meat.
When you take a bite your taste buds trick you into thinking that the whole bite is smokey.
So you were correct in you observation. You can further add smoky flavor by catching the drippings or when you foil wrap
all that goodness will have a smoke flavor. When I do Pork butts I pull and mix all the pork and pour the juices back in.
I smoke a lot of chicken and always Turkey at Thanksgiving and Christmas and for me, my family and guest it is always just right, some smoke but not overpowering.
Hope this helps ----- I have a friend who has a PHD in this stuff so when I am in doubt I run it by him

Gary
 
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Ideally you want TBS the entire smoke. Not my clip but a great example.



Never even used chips in MES, I run AMNPS. I highly recommend it. TBS for as long as you load it. IIRC you want to load a little bit of chips every 30m or so if running stock.

I did order an AMNPS, but i think the delivery guy must have know what was in the box. It was marked as delivered, but not to me! I will be contacting Amazon tomorrow.

I had a nice smoke like in the video for awhile, and then it just was white and a little more dense than in the video. Is that normal for smoke to continue even when you haven't added any more chips/pellets?
 
Yes. In an MES it can be like that when using chips. You are relying on the heating element to get the chips smoldering at the right amount. But the element is either on or off to maintain heat setting. It knows nothing of what smoke level its putting out. Sometimes the chips wont continue to smolder when the element is off or conversely the element lights off too much of the chips or even catch fire all together! That's why most of us use the tray. Its way more predictable and controlled.
 
I was wondering about how deep the smoke flavor should reach in a turkey. Should it go all the way to the meat on the bone if done properly?

I smoked a turkey last night that was done faster than I anticipated. While the outside of the breast was lightly smoked, the inner part, while juicy, was not. Would a slower smoking time bring more of that flavor?

I spatchcocked the turkey, brined and injected as well. Not sure how many of those variables play into this.


If you look at the two Poultry Smokes below, you will see that I use a lower Smoker temp to give the meat more time to absorb Light Smoke. Then near the end, I jack it up to my Max "275°" to crisp up the skin.
Hickory Smoked Turkey Breast
Chicken Thighs (Hickory Smoked)

I'm a firm believer that:
Light to Medium density smoke for a long time is Great.
However Heavy "Dense" smoke can be bad, even for a short time.

Bear
 
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I was wondering about how deep the smoke flavor should reach in a turkey. Should it go all the way to the meat on the bone if done properly?

I smoked a turkey last night that was done faster than I anticipated. While the outside of the breast was lightly smoked, the inner part, while juicy, was not. Would a slower smoking time bring more of that flavor?

I spatchcocked the turkey, brined and injected as well. Not sure how many of those variables play into this.

Hi there and welcome!

I find that on smokes of 5 hours or less I tend to like to burn 2 rows at the same time on my AMNPS. This seems to do the trick for me. Even with 2 rows burning I don't thick white smoke. I get something more like 2 times TBS which is a more visible smoke but definitely not thick and white.
Everyone's smoke preference is different and here in TX I think we like a bit more boldness and flavor than in many other parts of the country. Getting to travel around the country for years, I often observed the seasoning and flavor differenced based on which state I was in :)
 
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