4 Turkeys and 2 10lb. fresh Hams for Thanksgiving

mrdennisg · November 19, 2005, 06:08:17 PM

I have 4 turkeys aproximatly 12 lbs. each and 2 8 lb. fresh hams going in for Thanksgiving.[:D]

I made 2 batches of the Apple Cider recipe brine for the turkeys,

Hams are trimmed and netted and using the Souvlakia Marinade injected,

I have hickory for smoke...
For placement in smoker I was wondering if I should use bacon or not?
and where would I put it ? above both types of meats?

2 8# fresh hams and Apple cider brine for turkeys.
I plan on using my maverick thermometor to monitor both meats top shelf and bottom shelf .

Should the Turkeys go above the Ham?
Since my unit has a good convection fan temperature swing is not going to be an issue.

So if anyone could get back to me with a suggestion I would realy apreciate it.
[?]

Thunder Fish · November 19, 2005, 07:35:42 PM

I would think for saftey sake ,Ham above the bird? ? ? ? ?

JJC · November 20, 2005, 01:15:14 AM

Except for Thunder Fish's comments, I would have put the turkey above the bacon and the ham below the bacon for taste reasons.

TF, I seem to be missing the boat on the safety issue. Can you please clue me in? Thanks!

John
Newton MA

jaeger · November 20, 2005, 03:31:52 AM

JJC,
It's great to see you are posting again. Sounds like you are smoking a bunch!!!
I think TF probably suggested the ham above the turkey because the turkey has a higher IT target. If the ham is done first, you have a turkey that is not fully cooked dripping onto the ham.

Let us know how they turn out mrdennisg![;)]

Doug

mrdennisg · November 21, 2005, 08:36:11 PM

4 turkeys ready for smoke.....what a time for my maveric temp probe to die... goin shoppin for a temporary one today.
Called Gadjet source and she sent me a new one out today ,FREE no charge even after I told them I cut the end off in desperation to atemp a repair with anothe probe....

I ordered anothe maverick duel probe and 3 extra probs now I will be able to monitor temperature in 3 items at once and box temp or 4 items after the box comes up to temp.

Later.........[8D]

mrdennisg · November 22, 2005, 04:16:24 AM

yoporch · November 22, 2005, 09:08:36 PM

Those turkey's look great. I'm just getting into the game and have an original smoker. I wanted to smoke an 11# Bird for Thanksgiving and was hoping you might be able to give me the recipe you used. I'm such a novice but am starting to get the hang of things. How long would I expect it to take. thanks.

[?]

hockeybh · November 23, 2005, 01:25:12 AM

Turkeys look great, I also would like that recipe, and temps, time for cooking. Thanks Brandon

JJC · November 23, 2005, 02:15:31 AM

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by jaeger
 JJC,
It's great to see you are posting again. Sounds like you are smoking a bunch!!!
I think TF probably suggested the ham above the turkey because the turkey has a higher IT target. If the ham is done first, you have a turkey that is not fully cooked dripping onto the ham.

Let us know how they turn out mrdennisg![;)]

Doug

<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
NOW I get it . . . thanks!
John
Newton MA

JJC · November 23, 2005, 02:29:52 AM

Welcome to the Forum, Yo and Hockey! Glad you're here . . .

When I do turkey, the one thing I always do is smoke it for about 4 hours at 150-160F. At that point, I do one of two things: either crank up the BS temp to high and cook the bird until it's almost done, or remove it and put it in a 325F oven until its done. If I do the BS thing, I still often put it in the oven for the last 30 min or so at 375F to crisp up the skin if someone has expressed interest in eating the skin. I know some people on the Forum will suggest keeping the turkey in the BS at a temp of 190-200, which I'm sure is delicious, but probably takes a long, long time.

I also do something that others on the Forum are skeptical about, but it works well for me: If I'm going to keep the turkey in the BS until its almost done, I remove the water bowl after the 4 hr of smoking and place a small amount of water and an equal amount of apple juice along with a quartered onion in the drip pan. The drippings from the turkey collect in the drip pan and I use them to make a delicious smoked gravy. The other trick in this is that I use Bubba Pucks. At the end of the cooking time, I place an apple puck on top of the Bubba Puck that is on the end of the ramp. The aluminum is the same temp as the heating element, therefore the puck smolders but does not drop into drip pan and spoil the gravy, but it does add a great smoke flavor to it! BTW, don't expect the same amount of drippings if you keep the turkey in the BS as if it was in the oven--there's much less since a lot more of the moisture stays in the bird.

John
Newton MA