Turkey vs. Chicken Skin

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az_redneck

Smoking Fanatic
Original poster
OTBS Member
Sep 8, 2006
347
11
Casa Grande, AZ
I have never smoked a turkey and I want to. My wife doesn't like chicken off the smoker because the skin turns into leather. Does the same thing happen with turkey? I offered to smoke the turkey this year rather than having the fire department show up because of my deep frying it, but she said no..

I'm going to do one anyway.. She's not my boss!
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(You realize I'm a dead man if she reads this..
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lol)
 
All factors being equal chicken and turkey skin will turn out about the same. The turkey will be slightly more rubbery due to thickness and a longer cook time IMO.

I see you list a GOSM in your signature. Are you not able to run at a higher temperature or turn up the heat at the end to get a crispier skin? It is pretty hard to get a good crisp skin on poultry all the time. The only thing I have ever been able to consistently get a good skin w/ is more of a roasting type cook on the Performer or directly over the coals in the BDS.

It would be a lot more work, but I wonder how smoking about 2/3-3/4 done then finishing in a turkey fryer would turn out?
 
That's an interesting idea Chad. The one downside that I see is if you have injected the bird with marinade, all those little injection sites might let the liquid seep out while in the smoker...?

When I prep a bird for the fryer, I inject the night before and let it sit in the fridge overnight. I inject the bird everywhere... lots of holes! When it hits the hot oil, the sites are "seared" shut, sealing all that fine juice inside.

Just a thought...
 
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