smoking my turkey

[headgames]

I am smoking my fresh filleted wild turkey .  used a commercial brown suger brine . as I did last time ... any hints for keeping it moist .  awful  dry last time .  thanks

If ya go home hungry.........You were at the WRONG HOUSE !

[Oldman]

Wild turkey have a lot less fat on them as the run and fly. They will dry out much faster than a store purchased one. So we are already a little behind the 8-ball here.

Now I don't care for the big yard bird myself. However, I do like capon or chicken. If I was having a problem with the bird drying out below are a few things I might do.

1. Place some thin sliced butter up under the skin of bird.
2. Max box temp is <b>195-205 F</b> or below that of the point of boiling water. If the bird surface does not get as hot as boiling water it cannot give off its own juices.
3. After the smokin' period is over with I would place the bird in a boat made of foil and then tent the foil shut.  Make sure your boat is water tight.... you might have to place the bird on a cookie sheet and then tent the sheet as well. Place it back in the smoker and continue until the bird gets to 175 F.
4. Pre heat your oven to 175 F. Take bird out of smoker wrap it with the foil and pan in a heavy towel and place it into the oven. Once oven has returned to 175F turn off your oven. Leave it in the oven 60-90 minutes and your bird should get to 180F. For a wild bird I would not go lower than 180F.
5. Remove bird from oven but keep in wrapped in towel.
6. Turn on your oven's broiler leaving the oven door cracked open. Once the burner is bright red remove the bird from towel and foil. Place bird under the broiler with the oven door wide open. You only want to brown up and dry out the skin some. We do not want to continue with the cooking of the bird, so keep an eye on it.

If your bird was still to dry then the next time I would try Old's T-Shirt-A-Smokin' method.

My grandfather was a big turkey hunter when I was a boy. I know that a moist wild bird is do-able.


Good luck and do let me know how this turns out for you.


Olds

[headgames]

thanks oldman .  but there is no skin just bare breasts and hips (OH NO) LOL.......   we here in Wisconsin have a motto about our wild turkeys .  FILLET THE BREAST AND BURY THE REST .  legs are just way too stringy and tough .  so I have just breast and hip meat .  boneless and no skin .  I sprayed on a little olive oil in hopes of trying to seal in the juices like I do when I grill my venison steak . but I am not searing the meat by  no means   doing your 190-200 degree theory . thanks

If ya go home hungry.........You were at the WRONG HOUSE !

[Chez Bubba]

HG,

While I'm not really sure why you would dress your turkies that way, I can say we do the same with pheasants. Breast them out, or even whole, remove the skin. When I smoke them, I use the top shelf to hold a single layer of bacon (cheap) to drip & baste them. This will keep the skinless meat moist.

Kirk

http://www.chezbubba.com
Ya think next time I check into a hotel & they ask "Smoking or Non?" they would mind?

[bsolomon]

If you know in advance you are planning to smoke the breasts, then why not keep the skin intact when you fillet?  Then smoke and remove the skin.  This should help keep the moisture inside.  I woould also do as Chez stated - bacon in the top rack will baste for you and help keep it from drying out.

[SMOKEHOUSE ROB]

you can also smoke for a few hours, then wrap in foil with some bacon untill done the a quick toss on the grill to crisp up then on to the table, just a thought,