Thanksgiving Whole Turkey Practice

  • Some of the links on this forum allow SMF, at no cost to you, to earn a small commission when you click through and make a purchase. Let me know if you have any questions about this.
SmokingMeatForums.com is reader supported and as an Amazon Associate, we may earn commissions from qualifying purchases.

bellevueduck

Fire Starter
Original poster
Aug 26, 2018
68
10
Hello All
Getting more experience on my Traeger Silverton.
Loving it so far... lots of successes.
Have gone over the forum posts for methods and techniques on turkey discussions
Today Whole Turkey 14 pounder
Smoking it today. Plan on injecting it with turkeybroth, garlic, lemon juice, whorcestershire

What is the best wood to do a light thanksgiving turkey type of smoke?
Is 300 the right temp for a light smoke?

Want to do it without a pan.. have a beer can chicken stand would like to use that and
smoke it straight up


2018-09-29_7-05-24.jpg
 
Fruit woods are a good choice, unless you have a separate generator the flavor will be whatever you are running the grill on. 300 to 325 is a good cooking temp, but pellet grills make very little smoke running at that temp. So simply cooking the bird at 300 is going to give just a hint of smoke flavor. If the stand is big enough for a turkey, it will be fine...JJ
 
I agree with the others fruit wood, cherry or apple preferably me personally

When it comes to temperature 300 should work fine. Whole turkeys take a little longer since it's a larger peice of meat so you should be able to get that perfect skin as well. If you want even more crispy, last 15 or so minutes crank it up 350 375
 
Thanks All fo your Answers.
Here's what I'm doing.

Whole Turkey 14 pounder...have to simulate Thanksgiving Day for the test
Cherry Wood Pellets
Gonna try to get the bird on the Beer Can Chicken Holder
Injection Broth..made some good stuff
Kosher Salted Turkey for 2 Hours in Fridge. Makes the Skin drier
Will put Traeger on Smoke mode for 1-2 Hours and then turn up to 300
and monitor the IT for Doneness.

I figure 4+hours..
Will send pictures
 
This is the finished product.
Nice light smoke flavor
2 hours smoked at 165 and then 2 hours at 300. IT got to 165 in the white meat
Dark meat IT was 145
Seems to have cooked unevenly on the beer can stand
The backside of the chicken and dark meat not done.
Could be because not trussed?
Had to finish in the oven.


2018-09-29_16-46-32.jpg



2018-09-29_16-46-32.jpg
 
Looks good from the picture.

Chris
 
I smoke a lot of turkeys, usually 4-6 a year, sometimes more.

Over the decades I've oven roasted them, gas grilled them, charcoal Kettled them, and WSM'd them. Every single appliance had little quirks that affects whether it cooks turkey evenly or unevenly.

I've learned in my WSM and Kettle that I have to put the dark meat toward the hottest natural heat flow thru the smoker. In my WSM, that's the side closest to the vent. My Kettle has too many configurations to mention.

Because your turkey cooked so unevenly, I suspect your white meat was closest to the hottest part of your Silverton's natural heat flow. In the Silverton, the heat is directed into the center of the Silverton, and the vents are in the back at the same level of the heat input, so you need to do some testing.

Fire it up to 300F, and move an oven thermometer around your grate to find the hot and cold spots. Leave it in each spot about 5-10 minutes. Then, once you know your hot/cold zones, the next time you do a turkey, load the bird with the dark meat toward the hottest part of the grate. That will even out the cooking whether you spatchcock, beer can, or just throw it on the grate.
 
SmokingMeatForums.com is reader supported and as an Amazon Associate, we may earn commissions from qualifying purchases.
Clicky