store bought chicken/turkeys?

[bpnclark]

I keep reading different views on smoking chicken/turkeys and need some more advice. Some books say not to smoke chicken/turkeys (because you don't know how "fresh" they are), others say you just need to add pink salt to the brine, and others say its fine.

I have smoked pheasants in a large charcoal barrel smoker and never got sick...but I guess they were always fresh.

What do you guys think?

[KyNola]

They are perfectly safe to smoke, brined or not.  Pink salt is not required in the brine either.  It is my recommendation that you smoke them at a higher temp such as 250 so the poultry doesn't stay in the danger zone temp wise any longer than necessary.  Another alternative I have done many times is to use the Bradley to apply the smoke and then finish the poultry in your house oven at a higher temp, say 350.  That helps the skin to crisp up as the Bradley is known to make poultry skin rubbery.

One piece of advice when using the Bradley for any type of poultry.  Make sure your vent is 100% open as poultry contains a ton of moisture that you want to escape.  Otherwise it will force smoke to back up into your generator effectively destroying the generator.  It will also form condensation that will run out of the bottom of your smoker and on to your food.  It is some nasty black stuff that you don't want to have to deal with.  Finally, condensation build up inside the tower will prevent your temp from rising as quickly too.  One other thing, check the recipe website. www.susanminor.org  Many good poultry recipes there.

KyNola

[sodak]

Done both...very good!  I used #1 on the Turkey this Thanksgiving, brining for a few days, then smoking.  Wow!