Smoking a Turkey with the Bradley

[bozer]

What if you don't have a roaster like TBE or SRG?

Can you smoke a turkey then just finish it off in the oven or something?

[rigstar]

good morning bozer,

sorry don't have an answer for you,
don't want to hi-jack your thread, i just wanted to
keep track of this thread as i am in the same boat
and am very curious about an answer

[smoker pete]

What if you don't have a roaster like TBE or SRG?

Can you smoke a turkey then just finish it off in the oven or something?

Yes bozer you can finish it off in the oven.  I would pop it in the oven at 325º - 350ºF and pull it when the breast temperature hits 165ºF.

[Shasta bob]

This is my Turkey i smoked the turkey for 4 hours then finished it off with the bradley for a total time of 9 hours the bird was 12lbs.

[FLBentRider]

Yes you can smoke your turkey in the Bradley and then put it in the oven.

I use 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 your favorite rub, smoke @225-250F for up to four hours of smoke, then you can continue to cook in the Bradley or transfer to your house oven @325F

Using the house oven will result in a more appetizing skin on the bird.

As far as smoke, poultry takes smoke quite readily, you may not want 4 hours of Hickory, particularly if you are feeding guest that have not had smoked turkey before. You can serve a lightly smoked turkey to everyone, if you over do it there is no "undo" button.

[OldHickory]

Yes, as FLBR says.  You can smoke-cook in the Bradley, then crisp up the skin in a hot oven or in the BIG Easy.  Here are some pic's of one I did in the Bradley last year. Brine first 24 hr, rinse well and season overnight in refer.  I did not try to crisp up the skin.  I removed at IT if i62* and used FTC for over an hour until it was time to carve and serve.

[FLBentRider]

If you do need to transport the bird (say, to grandma's house) I would pull it at 158-160F and put in the oven when I get there to finish and crisp the skin.

If you take it to the final IT and use FTC to hold it until you serve, the moisture from the bird will soften that skin that you worked hard to get crisp.

If you do the whole cook in the Bradley, you will have rubbery skin anyways.

[FLBentRider]

The reason the skin is rubbery is that the heat in the smoker is not hot enough to render the fat out of the skin.

[Shasta bob]

I agree with the skin being rubbery, but either way you will have some fine eats!

[TedEbear]

I've been doing some extensive Google research on smoking a turkey and here's what I've learned and some methods I will be using.

After preparing the brine (Google search - there are dozens of recipes) let it sit for a day to distribute the flavor throughout the juice.  Then put the turkey in it and let it soak for up to 24 hours. Don't get a turkey that has already been seasoned or it will be too salty after brining.

After the brine wash the turkey completely, inside and out, and pat it dry.  Rub the turkey with olive or vegetable oil or melted butter and sprinkle your favorite rub on the outside as well as several tablespoons inside the cavity.  Carefully lift the skin and add some rub underneath.  I just received a shipment of Rub with Love Turkey Rub that had great reviews on several sites and I'll be using that. 

Smoke at 225-250*F using a fruit smoke.  They say heavy flavors such as hickory or mesquite are too strong for turkey.  Bring the turkey up to temp quickly rather than a long, slow smoke so there's less danger of food contamination.  A maximum size of 14 lbs for smoking is recommended.  Larger birds than that take longer to cook and risk a greater danger of contamination.

Smoke until the internal temp reaches at least 140*F.  At that point place it in the oven at 350*F and finish cooking until the coldest part of the meat reaches 165*F.  That will crisp the skin and avoid the rubbery skin effect that is common with smoking poultry. If the skin is getting too dark cover with a foil tent until it is done.

After removing it from the oven let it rest for 15 minutes before carving to distribute all the juices.  They say if you carve it too soon after cooking it will be dry.

That's all I have.  I might try smoking a test turkey this coming week to see how it turns out.

[bozer]

Thanks everyone. I'm going to try Ted's method posted above my reply here.

Ted, what are you using for the brine? I'm going to follow your steps exactly.

[bozer]

Also Ted, what about injecting? I guess brining it means you don't need to inject?

[TedEbear]

Ted, what are you using for the brine? I'm going to follow your steps exactly.

I'll be following the method I found here on How to Make Turkey Brine.  In the instructions they have a link for Turkey Brine Recipes.  I haven't decided on which one I'll try but I'm leaning toward the Apple and Spice brine, since I'll probably be using apple or cherry flavor pucks.

I don't use an injector.  I tried that once before I got into smoking meats and it tasted more like the marinade than turkey.  I probably used too much but from my Google smoking ideas I've been reading about this past week most of the people don't inject the turkey if they're going to brine and smoke it.

[bozer]

I noticed some people have their Turkey's hanging in their bradley in some sort of spiderman-like web. DO we need to do that because the Turkey won't fit on the tray? If so, how the hell do you rig that thing?

[bozer]

What's the biggest size turkey I can fit in the OBS without hanging it?