Turkey Day Questions.

[abbiea]

Good Evening All.

My name is AbbieA.  I have a masterbuilt electric smoker that I have been LOVING for about a year.  I'm looking for some help with smoking my first two turkeys for Thanksgiving.

I have 2 birds - 1 self-basting 15 lb bird and a 19 lb none injected bird. 

Questions:

1 - to brine or inject?  i've read alot on both.

2 - I'm expecting weather below freezing on Thursday.  How much time should I add to deal with the weather?

3- my current wood of choice is hickory but I think that may be too strong?  Would apple be better?

4 - will i need to add time if i smoke both at the same time?

I appreciate the help.  I'm cooking for the in-laws so i am stressing!

 

[brew14me]

Welcome to the group. Not sure how much help this is but here goes.

1. I usually don't brine but almost always spatchcock poultry. Time is usually my biggest hurdle.

2. Can't help much on this one since it very rarely gets near freezing here (FL). Can tell you the cooler temps can affect cook time. How much? Someone else will have to answer.

3. Hickory and apple are both good. IMO poultry takes smoke very well so a little goes a long way. I prefer fruit woods but have done well with hickory and pecan.

4. Yes you will need to add time for 2 birds. I would definitely have temp probes on both or an instant read thermometer. IT of 165 on breast 170 on thighs leaves you with moist meat. I usually pull at 155-160 and let carryovers do the rest.

 

[zwiller]

Let me get this straight?  2 large birds/electric smoker/freezing temps/first smoke/in laws?  You can't be serious... 

If I were you, I'd roast the big bird in the oven and smoke the smaller one.  Hopefully you have a proven roasted turkey recipe so that pretty much guarantees you over 50% success that people will get fed and be happy.  Not everyone wants smoked turkey for the big dinner.  I don't.  I prefer to snack on mine, maybe the occasional sandwich.  The stress should begin to subside... 

I'd brine the smaller bird in Pop's lo salt brine if the sodium content is less than 200mg per 4oz.  Pops flavor is very classic.  Wood is not really critical.  I prefer apple but whatever you use don't overdo it, you want thin blue smoke/TBS.  Smoking in cold weather REALLY affects the process/temps.  Be sure to locate smoker out of the wind and consider spatchcocking since this reduces the cook time by half. 

 

[mdboatbum]

Hi Abbie and welcome aboard!
Since this is your first try st a turkey, I think easy is the best approach. I agree with zwiller on doing the big bird in the oven. My reasoning is that your Masterbuilt tops out at 275°, and a 19 pound bird is gonna take FOREVER at that temp. Secondly, wrangling 2 different sized birds in one smoker just complicates things. The smaller bird will be done way before the larger one, the smoker will take longer to get up to temp and recover after opening the door etc...
Since the smaller one is self basting, I'd just plop it in the smoker and let it roll. If you have the time, put it in the fridge uncovered the day before to let the skin dry out. It'll look awful, but the skin will be beautifully brown and tender after smoking.
Hickory can be a little overpowering on poultry in my opinion. Apple would be my choice, or cherry or pecan.
You're probably looking at 5-7 hours for the small bird at 275°.
For the bigger bird, I'd inject it with creole butter (the stuff in a bottle, comes with an injector) and just bake it at 325°. Again, we're shooting for the easy low stress approach here. The cooking time should be roughly the same as the smaller bird in the smoker.
And again, as zwiller pointed out, not everyone likes smoked turkey.
Good luck!! We're all rooting for you!! I'm sure you'll be fine. Don't forget to snap a few pics and let us know how it turned out.

 

[chef jimmyj]

You are getting good advice here. Two different size birds takes some juggling and experience with smoking Turkey. My family loves smoked meat but for Thanksgiving it's a Traditional Roast Turkey or I am in trouble...JJ

 

[abbiea]

Thank you All!  What i did was brine both birds for about 18 hours in the slaughter house brine from this site.  The I rinsed the birds and rubbed them down with veg oil and paprika and pepper.   I placed pats of butter under the skin on the back and breast and on the thighs.  I put the smoker on for 250 and used a combo of apple wood and hickory.  i filled the water pan with half apple juice and half water and threw the giblets into the water pan as well (great gravy!).  I smoked the 15 lb turkey for 11 hours and the 20 lb turkey for 15 hours.  I placed one bird breast down and one breast up.  I didn't see much a difference.  I got amazing smoke rings on both and an incredibly brown skin. 

 

[hardcookin]

Sounds like they turned out fantastic Thumbs Up