smoking turkey in MES 40 with new Amaze-n-pellet smoker

[billhilla]

I am going to use SMF's buttermilk brine recipe and I have an AMNPS on the way with 5 lbs of their blended pellets coming also.  I have a fresh 20 lb turkey that I will will put into the brine on Tuesday night and then smoke him Thursday morning. 

First of all, what is the best temp to smoke the bird at and how long do I need?

Secondly, do you put the pellet smoker in right away or do you wait for some time?

 

[toby bryant]

Be very careful smoking a bird that large. The turkey must go from 41° to 140° in less than 4 hours to keep salmonella from growing. The MES has a max temperature of 275°, which may not get a bird that large to temp fast enough. Also, the skin will not crisp at 275° which may or may not be important to you. When I smoke whole chickens in my MES 30, I take them out after 2 hours and finish in a 350° oven to crisp the skin.

You might want to start the bird in the MES for an hour to impart some smoke and then move to a hot oven to finish. There are a lot of folks on this sight that know way more than me, so hopefully they will weigh in. But please be mindful of the 4 hour rule.

Sent from my Xoom using Tapatalk 2

 

[billhilla]

I wasn't aware of the salmonella issue, thanks for the input.

I am going to cut the backbone out and then remove the breastbone to halve the bird, so this should help him cook faster.