Cruised the meat section yesterday even though I wasn't shopping for meat. Found a fresh (never frozen) 12 pound turkey marked down to 69 cents a pound. Around here that means I got a $20 turkey for under $10. The "catch" was it had to be frozen or used by today.
So.... ok!
I did not brine this one. No water in the pan, but a couple of foil-wrapped bricks in there to absorb the shock of sticking a cold bird in the smoker.
Rubbed garlic and sage butter under the skin and on the outside and shoved a cut up lemon and apple where the sun don't shine. Will be smoking with apple. Turkey is in a foil pan sitting on a bed of potatoes, carrots and onions. This one is going hot and fast. 350 to 375. I've cooked 'em hotter, but I still get good smoke flavor if I keep it down to this range. And I still get the crispy skin. I recently did a chicken at 375 and the skin was crunchy like a potato chip but not burnt at all. Just a nice mahogany brown. We shall see.
My wife calls these "quick and dirty" smokes because there's not a lot of prep and you're not waiting 16 or 18 hours (or more) for a pork butt. hehehe
Not sure where the "dirty" part comes from... maybe cause I use a lot of dishes? (I'm anal about contamination... I get several clean dishes and trays out just in case I need to use them. Don't want to be rummaging through dishes with fresh chicken juices on my hands)
Not even gonna probe it for about 2 hours.
We shall see what we shall see. :)
So.... ok!
I did not brine this one. No water in the pan, but a couple of foil-wrapped bricks in there to absorb the shock of sticking a cold bird in the smoker.
Rubbed garlic and sage butter under the skin and on the outside and shoved a cut up lemon and apple where the sun don't shine. Will be smoking with apple. Turkey is in a foil pan sitting on a bed of potatoes, carrots and onions. This one is going hot and fast. 350 to 375. I've cooked 'em hotter, but I still get good smoke flavor if I keep it down to this range. And I still get the crispy skin. I recently did a chicken at 375 and the skin was crunchy like a potato chip but not burnt at all. Just a nice mahogany brown. We shall see.
My wife calls these "quick and dirty" smokes because there's not a lot of prep and you're not waiting 16 or 18 hours (or more) for a pork butt. hehehe
Not sure where the "dirty" part comes from... maybe cause I use a lot of dishes? (I'm anal about contamination... I get several clean dishes and trays out just in case I need to use them. Don't want to be rummaging through dishes with fresh chicken juices on my hands)
Not even gonna probe it for about 2 hours.
We shall see what we shall see. :)
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