first smoked turkey

rjm240 · October 08, 2014, 01:39:28 PM

Been reading up for a whole smoked turkey this weekend. So far the plan is...

1. Thaw in fridge for 3 days for a 15lb bird. Package says may contain 6% moisture and most of the family is very salt sensitive, so no brine.
2. Remove from plastic, rinse and air dry in fridge overnight friday to saturday morning around 6am. Planning to eat around 12pm to 1pm.
3. Rub with olive oil and apply jans rub inside and out. This is the step I'm not confident with. Do you lose the 'pellicle' effect by adding olive oil and rub?
4. Smoke with apple for 2 hours using a vertical roasting rack. I have a beer can rack that has a pretty wide base and sturdy insert. I was going to put lemon juice, thyme, sage, bay and rosemary in the cut can to help keep it moist.
5. Transfer to roasting pan, breast side up and into the oven at 350 until it hits 165F, then 425 for another 45 to crisp up the skin. I'm guessing 3 to 4 hours in the oven total? Should I baste with anything? Butter or chicken stock maybe?
6. Rest on the counter and make gravy out of drippings. Another one I'm not sure of. Some say yes to this and I'm hoping it won't be ashy tasting.

Any help or comments are appreciated!

Ka Honu · October 08, 2014, 03:14:17 PM

Quote from: rjm240 on October 08, 2014, 01:39:28 PM
... and into the oven at 350 until it hits 165F, then 425 for another 45 to crisp up the skin...

Two-three hours of smoke and then into the oven until 165-170^oIT should be enough (and the skin should be fairly crisp); another 45 minutes at 425^o will probably give you a pretty dry bird that's totally black on the outside.

Habanero Smoker · October 09, 2014, 02:01:42 AM

Hi rjm240;

Welcome to the forum.

I'm not sure if the application of oil will impeded the formation of the pellicle. The pellicle is a chemical reaction on the surface of the meat caused by salt breaking down proteins, but the evaporation of water at the surface is also important. The salt is generally added to the meat during the brining period. You didn't mention whether or not that added moisture contained any salt. I often see some organic chickens that are labeled 3% - 5% water added; with no salt or sodium phosphates added. If salt is lacking, a pellicle may not form, but you will dry the skin, which will help in crisping it up. If the turkey is not already brined, an application of the rub prior to air drying; which has salt in it could be beneficial.

rjm240 · October 09, 2014, 08:44:06 AM

Two-three hours of smoke and then into the oven until 165-170^oIT should be enough (and the skin should be fairly crisp); another 45 minutes at 425^o will probably give you a pretty dry bird that's totally black on the outside.
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thanks for the tip. I'll skip the last step at 425!

rjm240 · October 09, 2014, 08:51:51 AM

Quote from: Habanero Smoker on October 09, 2014, 02:01:42 AM
Hi rjm240;

Welcome to the forum.

I'm not sure if the application of oil will impeded the formation of the pellicle. The pellicle is a chemical reaction on the surface of the meat caused by salt breaking down proteins, but the evaporation of water at the surface is also important. The salt is generally added to the meat during the brining period. You didn't mention whether or not that added moisture contained any salt. I often see some organic chickens that are labeled 3% - 5% water added; with no salt or sodium phosphates added. If salt is lacking, a pellicle may not form, but you will dry the skin, which will help in crisping it up. If the turkey is not already brined, an application of the rub prior to air drying; which has salt in it could be beneficial.

The packaging just says 'contains up to 5% moisture' and no other info. I would prefer to brine, but I have some pretty fussy eaters that avoid salt like it'll kill them. I'm pretty sure its not organic as mom just picked it up at the local supermarket on the cheap, 95 cents per pound. I've been able to convince most of them that I will lightly rub and they don't have to eat the skin.

So are you suggesting to just apply rub to the bird without oil and let it sit overnight uncovered in the fridge?

Habanero Smoker · October 09, 2014, 01:07:58 PM

Applying the rub without oil, and letting it air dry overnight in the fridge; would be the best way to go, since I'm not sure if the oil will impede on the formation of the pellicle.

If there are no ingredients listed, and if it was labeled correctly, the added moisture is probably plain water. During processing most manufactures us a water chill bath that the chicken soaks in. Cook's Illustrated states during this part of the processing a chicken can absorb up to 13% water in weight. Cook's Illustrated also stated in a different article, that both non-brined and brined chicken lose the same amount of moisture during cooking. Because a brined chicken has more moisture to begin with, it ends up being juicer. If the article is accurate, your turkey has 6% moisture added it should remain moist after cooking.

rjm240 · October 10, 2014, 07:00:34 AM

Does anyone have any comments on making gravy? I've heard that gathering drippings in the oven should be ok?

rjm240 · October 13, 2014, 01:06:01 PM

Well, slight modifications to the plan. Decided against the vertical roaster, a bit smaller than I was comfortable with and didn't use a lot of rub, again trying to avoid the salty complaints from my picky eaters.

And I was way off on the time to cook. Got up at 5am to start the smoker preheating and let the bird warm up a bit, then put the turkey in at 6am with apple smoke, took it out at 830am and into the oven at 350F and it was up to 180F by 10am! So, turned the oven down to 250F then 210F to eat by 1230pm. It was a bit dry, but the flavour was spectacular. Now that I've got a better idea on times, the next one should go much better.

Gravy turned out really well too, no ashy taste at all :)

Posting pics below, lets see if this works...

Just going into the smoker...

Just before carving...

Habanero Smoker · October 14, 2014, 01:54:48 AM

Glad to hear you first turkey was a good cook, and one that you can build on.

When you are cooking at 350°F, and your turkey is done 2 hours ahead of schedule, it might be better just to loosely tent the turkey, place it back in the oven, and turn off the heat. The oven temperature as it cools down should maintain a food safe temperature for those two hours. Another method, would be to use the FTC method; wrap it tightly with Foil, then a Towel (several layers of newspaper can be used instead), and place it in a dry Cooler. It will hold your turkey at a safe temperature for a good amount of time, and although it will continue to cook for a slight period of time, it would be better then holding it in a 250° - 210°F oven. It would be best to place a probe inside the cooler to monitor the air temperature, so if the air temperature gets around 160°F, you can then place it in a 180°F - 200°F oven, and finish holding it there.

I generally will cook my poultry to an internal temperature of 165°F, measured at the thickest part of the thigh.

rjm240 · October 14, 2014, 06:33:11 AM

Thanks for the advice Hab, always appreciated.

It really did surprise me, time wise. I'd always heard from mom to go 15mins per pound which would have been about 4 hours with my 15-16lb bird. I thought I'd lose time in the smoker, So I added an hour for that and an extra hour just to be ready a bit before and time to rest for a total time of 6 hours. I could have slept in an extra two hours and still had lots of time for letting it rest after cooking.

Habanero Smoker · October 15, 2014, 01:56:47 AM

The cook time seemed a little fast. Cooking in the Bradley during the smoking period, should have added some additional time. It may be a good idea to check your meat probe for accuracy.
Testing Thermometers For Accuracy