Turkey help, please

[Workaholic]

I smoked one turkey for Thanksgiving, and another yesterday for today's dinner. Ran into the same issues with both, and I can't figure out where the issue is. So here is what I know. 22.5" WSM, Blues Hog Hog Logs. All vents wide open. Smoker was running at about 260 for the most part. Yesterday was about 75 out, and in the 30s on Thanksgiving. Empty water pan. Probably would have been better without the water pan, but have never ran it without, so don't know what temp I'd see that way. 24 pounder on Thanksgiving, 18 pounder yesterday.

So, here's my problem. Temps on thermometer were right, matter of fact I let it run a bit long, just in case. Let the temps hit 180 in both thigh and breast before pulling them. Skin was nice and crispy, too. But, I had a hard time believing that that they would be done in 4 hours. And I was right, went to carve it and found blood in the thigh joint, as well as near the bone.

Almost forgot, I kept both in the fridge for about 7 days to thaw before I pulled them out to season.

So, where did I miss something?

 

[chopsaw]

It happens . I've been doing whole turkeys on Weber kettles for a lot of years . In the old days , NEVER used a therm , and never had this issue .
Now I use a therm , and it can be a crap shoot .

, I had a hard time believing that that they would be done in 4 hours.

That's because you know what you're doing . More than once I had the same gut feeling . Went by the therm and had blood in the thigh joint .
You can't get 2 therms to read the same 2 times in a row .
I'll use one to give me an idea where things are at , then check with an instant read when it " says " it's done . From there I go with a poke test to see how firm the meat is , and check how loose the joints are .
I let it rest 15 or 20 minutes after I take it off .

 

[Fueling Around]

Been there done that. Not much worse than overcooked breast and undercooked thigh.
Solution?
I spatchcock my poultry. I'm not a turkey fan, but an 8# is my usual chicken size for whole bird.
It levels the playing field so to speak for cook temps and time.
I prefer my thigh and leg at 180° and the breast only 165°

 

[Workaholic]

I had my thermometer alarm set for 175 in the thigh, and 165 in the breast. Because of the temp it was running, and how fast it was supposedly done, I wanted to run it a bit longer to be on the safe side. I reckon it was just coincidence that once the thigh hit 150ish, the breast started to catch up, and they stayed within a degree of each other the rest of the cook.

Spatchcocking may be where I want to go, next. Never tried it. Also thinking about something like one of the DigiQ air handlers. That way I can make sure I'm getting up to temp for hot and fast cooks. Haven't made a decision on which brand or model to get, and am thinking on posting on that too.

 

[chopsaw]

Here's what I did this last Thanksgiving . 2 Breast . One I completely boned out and rolled , the other I tied on the bone . In Pop's brine for 2 days , no injection .
Had the boned out one for Turkey day , the other one was frozen , and it's going in the SV for tomorrow .
The boned and rolled one was some of the best turkey I've ever had .


I know you're talking whole birds , but this was really good . I do whole chickens at the 8 lb. size like said above , but I like them whole . Not a big fan of spatchcock , but I do it sometimes , and it works .

 

[pineywoods]

The USDA says not to smoke turkeys over 12 lbs. The way most people get around that is to either spatchcock the turkey or run the smoker around 325-350

 

[Workaholic]

The USDA says not to smoke turkeys over 12 lbs. The way most people get around that is to either spatchcock the turkey or run the smoker around 325-350

That was part of the problem. Couldn't get it up to that temp. 325 was my goal. It's why I'm looking into forced air.

 

[normanaj]

Once I started doing birds vertically I never had issues with overdone breast or underdone thighs. But I'm also smoking in 14.5" WSM and MES 30 so my birds are on the smaller side.

 

[Workaholic]

Almost forgot the obligatory pics. Sorry guys. I also tried the weber charcoal lighting cubes. I definitely did not like the black smoke rolling off of them, but I can't deny the results they produced.

 

[chopsaw]

That looks great ! Nailed the color .
Something that will help you doing whole birds , is to tie them .
This is a chicken , but same idea . Really evens out your cook temps .

 

[Workaholic]

That looks great ! Nailed the color .
Something that will help you doing whole birds , is to tie them .
This is a chicken , but same idea . Really evens out your cook temps .
View attachment 520203

That's a good looking chicken. I'll have to look for some cooking string or twine. Looks like I have 2 items to try for the next poultry smoke, tying it and removing the water pan. Thinking about things, the smoker had settledin around 260 with just one vent open. I had opened the other two to try for higher temps.

 

[Brokenhandle]

Another thing to keep in mind... somewhere here on the forum I remember daveomak posting about having pink in the bones/joints of poultry even when properly cooked to temp. I believe it has to do with how they are raised so quickly but can't remember the reasoning of it. Hopefully he will chime in... for all the food safety posts he does he will know.

Ryan

 

[Workaholic]

Another thing to keep in mind... somewhere here on the forum I remember daveomak posting about having pink in the bones/joints of poultry even when properly cooked to temp. I believe it has to do with how they are raised so quickly but can't remember the reasoning of it. Hopefully he will chime in... for all the food safety posts he does he will know.

Ryan

Appreciate it. I look forward to hearing his wisdom on this. This has been a head scratcher for me.

Rich

 

[Brokenhandle]

Appreciate it. I look forward to hearing his wisdom on this. This has been a head scratcher for me.

Rich

Tagged you in that post. Give it a look.

Ryan

 

[1MoreFord]

Here's the discussion of "bloody poultry".

Why are my chicken legs bloody?

Hello All, I tried some chicken legs on my PG500 pellet grill for the first time. I cooked them indirect for about 30 minutes at 300 degrees and then moved them over to the charbroiler. I check their temp when I moved them over to the charbroil and they were at 135 degrees. I thought I...

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