Turks n The Brine: Q/View Starts Wed.

[silverwolf636]

Thanksgiving 9# turkey is in the brine.
Wednesday night the turk gets the cajun (great on whole chickens) rub outside, inside and under the skin. Stuffing consists of fruits and honey.
Thursday mornin at around 6am I'm firing up the smoker to 275-300 then on the spit and in the smoker with wild cherry wood. After the first couple hours I'm taking the smoker up to 325 to finish it off. During the smoking I have an apple cider based spritz that I will be using every hour.

 

[scpatterson]

Man sounds like an awesome plan.....cant wait to see the queu view
smoke on brother

 

[mballi3011]

I'm with chris on this one too. You have a good plan and I'm sure you will pull it off with plenty of Qview right

 

[silverwolf636]

I was just wondering how apple, pineapple and honey stuffing would taste in that turkey?
My senses are telling me that would be good... But, my senses are over 50 years old.

 

[noobsmoke]

Hey, sounds like you're set for an amazing smoke. I usually smoke my turkey at 225 to 250 degrees, is there any particular reason you go hotter? I wouldn't mind going hotter if the extra heat wouldn't be a problem and it would cook faster :)

 

[mballi3011]

Are you planning to stuff the bird before you smoke it ???? I'm not sure that is a good thing maybe someone will stop in and say yea or nay to the stuffing. I have heard that it's not a good idea to stuff the bird. just my pennies.

 

[av8tor]

Not to speak for SilverWolf but usually the reason to go hotter is for safety. At the normal lower temps the meat is in a danger zone for bacteria for a longer period of time. Using the higher temp at least till the internal meat temp hits 140º is a safer way to go.

 

[silverwolf636]

I've been doing alot of reading on here. The route that I chose is a mixture of alot of the gangs theories and logic.
1. They say the danger zone is between 40 and 140. When it's smoked at the higher temps, it is in that danger zone for a shorter amount of time.
2. I smoked poultry at 225-250 before and and put up q/views and quite few of the gang here said that was too low for chicken/turkey. Too long in the danger zone.
3. I am on a time schedule: This has to be done by noon. I figured I'd get in the smoker by 6am. From what I under stand is that a 9# turkey should only take at the most 4 hours to do at 325. That's why I'm firing up my smoker to 275-300 for a couple of hours then take it up to 325+ until it's done. Spritzing it with an apple cider mixture too. Crispier skin too.

mballi3011:
I am stuffing it with fruits Wed. night, not your normal bread stuffing. It should be fine with only fruits. Unless, it ferments then I'll have a bunch of T-giving turkey drunks on my hands. :-P

Ray

 

[noobsmoke]

Thanks for the clarification. If I can get my smoker that high, I'll give it a shot tomorrow.

 

[silverwolf636]

Here's a couple of the Brine:


and Turk in Brine:

 

[raceyb]

That stock pot looks just like mine right now with ice floating in it. I'm going to dunk my bird at 10 pm.

I'm going to lightly stuff my bird with aromatics. a sliced apple, chopped celery, a bay leaf, a quartered onion, a quartered lemon and some sprigs of rosemary and thyme and some beer... Not a real stuffing, just looking to get some aromatics into the flavoring. I dump the stuff in the trash when the bird is done.

 

[silverwolf636]

Sounds alot like my stuffing: sliced apple, chopped celery, half lemon and some onion.
I'll send you a leg and I'm expecting the same. LOL

 

[silverwolf636]

Alright, now I'm bleep. I go to get my spritz bottle and the wife used it for cleaning fluid. Not a store open in sight.
I go and get the smoker ready and she comes out and says she's got the turkey tied up and ready for the spit. We put it on the spit and turn on the rotor and bingo, all the strings come off, she forgot to tie it in a not. All my stuffing falls out. I get more bleep. So I take it off the spit and just set it on the grate, after I hurry up and throw more apples, celery, lemon and honey into it. Can I say "Take my wife away?"
Is it Bud time yet?
The more I think about my header, the more serious I'm getting about it.

Ray

 

[rw willy]

Throw in the smoker and two long guns!
Do you have a bird dog also?
Good luck with your day.

 

[silverwolf636]

What started out as a well planned execution of a T-Giving Day turkey started with one thing after another goin wrong. I put the turk on the spit and the strings come undone and all the stuffing came out: the wife tide it up. So, I took it off the spit and set it on the grate back down and restuffed it. I went to get my spritz bottle to start spritzing, gone, the wifey used it as a cleaner spray bottle. I forgot to take pics of it before I started cutting.
The good part. There was nothing left to this turkey when it was time to leave. My sister still had half of hers and it was only one more pound bigger than mine. I hate to say it, and my wife did also, this was the tastiest, most moist turkey we have ever eaten.
Thanks gang for all your advise too.

Oh well. Here's what I have:

Stuffing (before it fell out):


Supposedly tied up tight with cajun rub:


Turkey after hacking at it:

 

[beer-b-q]

At Least it was a Success...