Need recipie to smoke a whole turkey

[Shasta bob]

Looking to smoke a whole turkey any help?

[FLBentRider]

I would not select a bird bigger than 16/18 pounds. Any bigger than that and you are going to have trouble fitting it on the rack.

I brine my turkeys using this brine:

1 gallon hot water
1 pound kosher salt
2 quarts vegetable broth
1 pound honey
1 (7-pound) bag of ice

Combine the hot water and the salt in a 54-quart cooler. Stir until the salt dissolves. Stir in the vegetable broth and the honey. Add the ice and stir. Place the turkey in the brine, breast side up, and cover with cooler lid.. Brine overnight, up to 12 hours.

Remove the turkey from the brine and dry thoroughly. Rub the bird thoroughly with the oil.

I smoke with 3 or four hours of smoke @250F until the IT is 160F in the thickest part of the breast.

The skin will not be all that appealing using this method. If you like to eat the skin, then I would pull it out of the smoker after the smoke is done and put it in a 325F oven until the desired IT is reached.

Note: this is an Alton Brown recipie adapted the to Bradley. I have done this several times, head to head with oven roasted turkeys, and mine always dissapears first.

[classicrockgriller]

You don't have to brine, But I am sure that is better.

You can season your Turkey with spices you like and put
on to smoke at 220 with (pecan,apple,etc). Smoke 2 to 4 hrs.
Continue cooking till you reach IT of 165. You can baste the
turkey with juices from the cavity every two hrs or spritz with
apple juice. Or transfer to oven like FBR said and finish it there.

[watchdog56]

How long does it usually take to do a bird that big? Either by smoking it the whole way or smoke and then in oven? I will be doing one for Thanksgiving and just wondering.

[FLBentRider]

It gets done sooner that you think...

I want to say five or six hours.

IMHO, there is not a huge need for "low and slow" with poultry, since there is not a large amount of connective tissue to break down into gelatin (like pork butts or brisket)

You want to cook it but not dry it out.

[Smokin Soon]

My Doctor is an old College bud and would knock me out if I put 1 pound of salt in anything. Is that really necessary?

[FLBentRider]

Brining works by the process of osmosis.

You make the it saltier on the outside which draws (some of the ) salt, along with moisture and the flavorings, into the meat.

You don't _have_ to brine a turkey to smoke it, but it adds flavor and keeps it moist.

I've not done one without it, but I'm sure you could.

I don't really have a way to measure how much salt gets into the meat. It doesn't taste salty by any means.

[justpete]

After the brine do you rinse or just simple pat dry?

[FLBentRider]

pat dry

[Roadking]

Looking to smoke a whole turkey any help?

The word "Smoke" is used very loosely on this forum. Do you want to smoke a turkey or do you want a turkey that is roasted with a crispy skin and a smokey flavor. I say this as I used to smoke fish commercially and smoking anything is low and slow to preserve the product.

If you go to smoke it low and slow (cabinet temperature 170 degrees and under) you will have to brine with cure #1 in the brine. Under a 25 lb. turkey brine to 3 days, if you inject 10% of the turkeys body weight with the brine you can cut the brining time down to 46-48 hours. While brining keep the brine at 38-40 degrees. You'll be able to get a 25 pounder in the Bradley if you use a netting to hang the turkey off of a dowel.

After turkey is cured, wash very well with cold water and place into a preheated smoker at 130 degrees smoke at this temp for at least an hour with the damper wide open. Close damper to1/4 open and apply smoke for 5 hours at 130 degrees; raise temp to 140 and hold for 4 hours. Finally, raise temp to 165 F and hold until an internal temp. of 152 F is obtained at the ball-n-socket joint of the thigh. Let the turkey cool to 100 degrees F before putting into frig.
The dark meat will have a pink color to it.
Here's a photo of one I did this way: http://www.thebrunofamilysite.com/Site/photo_albums/smokehouse_albums/smokehouse_photos_1_files/Photos/smokedturkey%20(web).jpg

[Roadking]

My Doctor is an old College bud and would knock me out if I put 1 pound of salt in anything. Is that really necessary?

No, If you want to have a roasted turkey with a smoked flavor and don't want to use all that salt. Make up a brine of water and liquid smoke and inject the bird with it. Let stand for a few hour in the frig. and roast as usual. It's not giving a smoke flavor from a smoker but you'll still have the flavor.