Turkey Plans: Any holes?

[lav25]

I'm going to try and smoke my first turkey this weekend for Thanksgiving (no Thanksgiving holiday here in Japan, so we have it when the family and  friends have a clear schedule).  I've been doing a lot of reading, smoked a chicken a couple weeks ago for practice which worked out...ok, I guess, but nothing special, so I figure I'll post up my plans as well as some questions for constructive critique and hopefully have a nice meal next week Sunday.

I'll be doing two turkeys actually, but one of them will be going into the oven in a cooking bag because I'm not yet sure enough of my smoking skills.  The one going into the smoker will be a 2 kilo (around 4.5lb) unprocessed turkey.  It arrives Wednesday, couple of days to thaw in the fridge, and then Friday night it'll be going into a bourbon brine. The oven turkey will be getting an apple brine, which I love, but I want to try something different with the smoker bird.

Saturday morning it'll come out of the brine, get all rinsed off, and here's my first question/decision point.  The oven turkey will be sitting uncovered in the fridge until Sunday morning to form a pellicle, but the smoked turkey will be getting a dry rub.  Is it best to let it sit for a while in the fridge, or should I dry rub it right off?  My next question is, I've got a good poultry and white meat rub I plan to use, but what's the best way to apply it?  I originally planned to use yellow mustard the way I do with ribs, but most of the threads I've read seem to recommend EVOO or butter.   Should the rub have a chance to sit on the skin for a few hours/overnight, or just go on right before it goes in the smoker?  Also, if the rub should sit on the skin for a while, should the bird be wrapped like ribs, or sitting uncovered in the fridge?  Thoughts? 

Butter and rub going under the skin, possible some onion and apple chunks getting stuffed into the cavity, not sure on that yet, it seems to be a way to add mass to have to heat up.  I have a fairly brand new modded ECB, I'm planning on adding some more bourbon to the water pan for a bit more of a kick (mixed with water, don't need an alcohol fire), and using probably cherry or apple "Smoke Wood," a Japanese product made of compressed sawdust.

I hope all of this makes sense, I've got a halfway decent idea where I'm going, but I know that I'm lacking a lot of experience, so if there are any gaping plot holes, please let me know.

-val

 

[pit 4 brains]

I think the plan is alright. Maybe a little over-complicated, but both should come out allright. The butter and rub combo under the skin is a good way to go. Leave the smoker bird un-rubbed and uncovered in the fridge while resting. With the brine and the seasoning under the skin, you'll have plenty of flavor added.

What temp do you plan on running the smoked bird at in the ECB?

 

[oldschoolbbq]

OK , LAV . Your plan sounds good as P4B says... and the resting times are right for in the Referidgerator . A temp. - I suggest 275° or above to 300° . You won't get a really 'chrunchy' skin on it , ( but you can work on that later on another cook) . The Rub can set on it overnight gathering flavor .

I suggest placing Apples  and Onions outside the cavity (  in an open  foil pan with Butter and S/P) , - safety factor - then add them inside later...at serving time.

 As long as it is at or below 40° it can sit uncovered in the Refridgerator .  Have Smoker to heat before introducing the Turkey into it , and use thermometers (probe type if you have them) to watch the temps.

Cook to 165° ( at least) in the deep part of the Breast and Thighs . You could 'Spatchcock' it and get a quicker cooking time while heating  evenly.

Remember...from the cold to the heat of the Smoker and heat from 40° to 140° within 4 hrs.

You should be good to go ,

Have fun and...

 

[lav25]

Thanks guys!  I wasn't planning on eating the vegetables stuffed inside, was under the impression that they might help to flavor it, but with safety at issue I'll just forgo them entirely.  The oven bird always gets stuffed, that'll have to do for now. 

With having the rub on overnight, would you recommend "gluing" it with EVOO or mustard?  I'm thinking that EVOO might give me a better chance of crisping, but I'm not sure.

As for the temps, when I smoked my chicken, the smoker started off around 315 and slowly dropped down to around 275, adding more charcoal got it back up, so I'll probably be working around there.  I'm slowly learning that, at least with my gear, cooking temperatures are a pretty broad target.  I use a Maverick wireless BBQ thermometer, and it seems as long as things don't flare up too high, or dip down into the "just warming" range, my food has been coming out tasting pretty good.  The only problem I had with the chicken is that it didn't really pick up much smoke flavor, but I think that's because it went straight from the supermarket onto the grill.

Thanks again to both of you for your help.

-val

 

[chef jimmyj]

Only addition I can make is let the Smoker Bird's skin Dry before rubbing, I like Rub mixed with Butter. The skin will be much Crispier and take the Butter/Rub better.

As far as this goes..." [color= rgb(24, 24, 24)]  I'm planning on adding some more bourbon to the water pan for a bit more of a kick (mixed with water, don't need an alcohol fire) "...Skip It!...You will gain little if anything and the Bourbon can be put to a better purpose in You! [/color]

Happy Thanksgiving...JJ