So I'm smoking a turkey for the first time, and I've seen that if it is already brined then you probably wouldn't want to brine it again. But what about injection? i have some creole and butter injection i thought about giving a whirl, but would it be too much or too salty? I've had my smoker for a year and always just do things by trial and error but i don"t want to screw up thanksgiving :) Any tips or step by step of what you do for your thanksgiving smoking tradition
Thanks!
Certainly you can inject it. I don't inject much of anything anymore as I didn't find the flavor to be imparted equally through whatever I was injecting.
Awesome, also i wondered is there any rule of thumb on time per lb? i know a 165 internal breast temp is what i'm looking for but i'm trying to plan a time to get up early and start it so it's done around the time everyone is ready. I think my Turkey is like 16 lbs or so. Also will the original Bradley do a 16Lb turkey as long as it fits?
As long as the turkey fits(don't allow the turkey to touch the side walls or back wall of the tower), the Bradley will cook a 16 lb turkey. I'm not sure about the minutes per pound but it will take some time because the Bradley is only cooking with 500 watts. An alternative to that is to smoke the bird in the Bradley for however long you want to apply smoke and then transfer the bird to your house oven set at 325 and cook according to the instructions found on the wrapper of the turkey.
Ky o'l buddy
You gots a deeegreee & ph-n-d on brining and injecting.
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Yep. For that size, I'd hit it with a couple/three hours of smoke, and then pop in the house oven.
Quote from: squirtthecat on November 20, 2012, 08:48:48 AM
Yep. For that size, I'd hit it with a couple/three hours of smoke, and then pop in the house oven.
To clarify what STC and I said, you still want to have the Bradley set at 250 or so for the smoking process even if you intend to move the bird to your house oven. I wouldn't chance cold smoking poultry.
Quote from: KyNola on November 20, 2012, 10:24:41 AM
Quote from: squirtthecat on November 20, 2012, 08:48:48 AM
Yep. For that size, I'd hit it with a couple/three hours of smoke, and then pop in the house oven.
To clarify what STC and I said, you still want to have the Bradley set at 250 or so for the smoking process even if you intend to move the bird to your house oven. I wouldn't chance cold smoking poultry.
What he said!
All good advice.... only thing I might add, heading back to the OP... is that injecting an "enhanced" bird.... you might wanna avoid anything salty... so go for it with unsalted butter and whatever else... I'd be curious of the result. I'm a true blue briner myself, but given Meathead's recent research (http://amazingribs.com/recipes/chicken_turkey_duck/ultimate_smoked_turkey.html) I'm starting to look to other methods such as injection for my birds... not tried it yet...
You may want to measure the temperature from the thickess part of the inner thigh, and bring that up to 165°F, if you are cooking it in a Bradley. If you are going to finish in the oven at a higher temperature such as 350°F, you can take it out of the oven around 160°F.