Need a reminder on how to smoke a turkey

[Crimson Ghost]

I have not used my smoker since last year - everyone raed about the smoked turkey so I will need to do it again....can you help me (again)  ?

I have a 14 pound turkey currently in a simple brine (same as last year) - I can't recall how long to smoke and cook for.  Is it 4 hours of smoke at 180 and another 4 hours with no smoke?  

Also, my wife has asked me to smoke and deep fry a bird again.  I have a 10 pound turkey that's ready to go - can I smoke it today and refridgerate it tonight for deep frying tomorrow?  If so, what do I do?  4 hours of smoke at 100 degrees?  or should this go fromthesmoke to the deep fryer?  If so I suppose I can't really do it since I will be smoking the 14 pounder.

[Ka Honu]

I've forgotten how to cook by "time;" I go till the IT  is where I want it. In the OBS, four hours of smoke is plenty, then continue without smoke till it's done.  You can always wrap it using the Foil-Towel-Cooler (FTC) method if it's done too early.

Most of us agree that when you start cooking poultry you should finish it before storing in the fridge or anywhere else.  I smoked a turkey last week to 125^o (about 3.5 hours) and then finished it in The Big Easy immediately thereafter.  You can do the same using a hot oil fryer, oven, or whatever, but I wouldn't store a half-cooked bird.

You might try smoking the 14-pounder first and then FTC it while you're doing the smaller one (or you could "cheat" on the smaller bird and give it a bit of smoke taste by adding Liquid Smoke to the brine and fry it without smoking).

[Oldman]

I have a 10 pound turkey that's ready to go - can I smoke it today and refridgerate it tonight for deep frying tomorrow?  If so, what do I do?  

My to 2-cent is if you need to go this way is to take a cold bird, put ice in your water boil and cold smoke it with the heat off.

Otherwise I have to agree with Ka Honu: "but I wouldn't store a half-cooked bird."

I've stopped Mother from stuffing a bird she is going to bake as the way birds are slaughtered are not with the care of yesterday.

Olds

[Crimson Ghost]

OK - but what about the smoked 14 pound bird?  is it 4 hours smoke and 8 hours of total heat?

[hal4uk]

Go by internal temp - not time - smoke/cook till done.

Don't expect the frying to "finish" cooking...
What the frying should do is crisp/"goldenize" the rubbery skin, and warm it back up inside.

If started frying cold and semi-cooked, you would fry the life out of it before it was "done".

Uncooked bird is scary.

[Crimson Ghost]

Thanks - I am asking about smoking only and not deep frying now.  If I smoke a 14 pound bird I need to roughly plan out the time -- otherwise its sort of difficult to plan.  The recipes on this web site state 6 hours and some people here say 12 hours -- so I am confused, roughly how long at what temp should I plan on....of course its done when its done.

[hal4uk]

Well.. that part has a lot to do with personal taste...

The longer you apply smoke - the smokier taste you will get.
Me?  probably about 4 hours of smoke, then just cook till done.

A turkey is BIG.  Needs more/longer smoke to penetrate than some things.
But, smoke, a very good thing, is kinda like whiskey...
A little's good.  More ain't necessarily better.
Case in point, review some of my stupid posts here ;-)

[Habanero Smoker]

There are just to many variables for an exact time. Everything depends on how fast your smoker comes up to your set temperature, which would ideally be 250°F for turkey. The ambient temperature, and wind will have the most impact. If time is a factor, just apply the smoke in the Bradley, and move it to a preheated oven, and finish by roasting in the oven at 350°F until the internal temperature in the deepest part of the thigh read 160°F, and the carryover during rest will bring it up to 165°F. If you don't have oven space, you can use your propane grill; indirect heat at 350°F.