Turkey question.

[stevo133080]

Ok guys,  This has probrably been answered on here before,  but I couldnt find it in a search.   We are planning on having turkey day dinner early on Thanksgiving day,  like around noonish.  I am wondering,  would I be ok putting the bird in the smoker wed night, smoking for 3-4 hours and then finishing it in the oven with it finishing probrably somewhere around midnight or so,  and then refrigerating it until the next day then re-heat turkey,  Or am I better off just waking up early (3am ish) and starting the bird early Thanksgiving morning?  Not sure what would be better,  A freshly cooked bird or one that has been cooked,  cooled and then re-heated. 

Thanks for any info.  I am planning on doing the brine with orange and apple juice,  and then injecting it.  I would think it should keep the moisture pretty well.


Also,  do any of you guys know how big of a turkey  (lb wise) will fit into a OBS?  I guess I could take a tape measure to the smoker and then to the store,  but I would assume you guys have a good idea on the max size. ;D

[tskeeter]

I'd probably get up and start the turkey in the wee hours of the morning.  There are a couple of reasons for taking this approach.

Cooking, cooling, and reheating an entire turkey will probably have the bird in the 40F - 140F danger zone where bacteria multiply for pretty close to the four hour limit.  Considering that it is very common for commercially processed poultry to have salmonella contamination, doing everything in one shot would minimize the risk of making your guests sick.

Second, cooling and reheating the cooked bird increases the risk that the bird will be dry by the time it is reheated.

To minimize my out of the rack time, I'd consider setting up and starting the smoker before I went to bed.  That way the smoker will be preheated and ready to go when it's time to put in the turkey.  Grab the bird, slam it in the smoker, and back in the rack before it cools down.  I'd use my Maverick, with alarms set, to monitor temps while I slept, the same way we do over night pork shoulder smokes.  And I'd take the possibility of a fire into account.  I think the probability is low, but you don't want the house smoke alarm waking you up, so having the smoker far enough away from the house to minimize any consequences would be prudent.   

[beefmann]

agrees with tskeeter, what i  would do is smoke the  bird the day  before and transfer to the  oven  both smoker and  oven at 225 ... plan  an hour to hour and 15 minutes a  pound,,, may be hour and half at the  longest  per  lb.. you  can  always FTC till needed

[stevo133080]

Thanks for the info guys. I am thinking I would also be best to put it in the early morning.  I was thinking it would dry it out if re-heated.   I just picked up a 15 lb bird.  Hopefully it will smoke up well.  I checked that it would fit on a rack,  but that's a lot of meat.   I will plan on smoking for 3-4 hours and finish in the oven at a lower temp (225-250 ish) and then bump up the temp to crisp up the skin a bit.

[Saber 4]

You might want to double up your racks to hold the extra weight on that sized bird.

[KyNola]

In my meek, amateur, know nothing opinion, if you smoke and fully cook the turkey the night before and then properly refrigerate it, I don't believe you have any increased risk of bacteria by reheating it the next morning.  Were that the case, none of us could eat a hot leftover turkey sandwich the day after Thanksgiving.

I will agree that cooking it the night before and reheating may have a tendency to dry the meat but I don't believe there is a health risk.

[STLstyle]

Stevo,
What time are you putting it in the smoker???

[pondee]

In my meek, amateur, know nothing opinion, if you smoke and fully cook the turkey the night before and then properly refrigerate it, I don't believe you have any increased risk of bacteria by reheating it the next morning.  Were that the case, none of us could eat a hot leftover turkey sandwich the day after Thanksgiving.

I will agree that cooking it the night before and reheating may have a tendency to dry the meat but I don't believe there is a health risk.

I have to agree.  A fully cooked bird properly refrigerated thereafter would be fine the next day reheated or not.  Leftover sandwiches, hot or cold, are a staple of many an American household.

[stevo133080]

Stevo,
What time are you putting it in the smoker???

I was thinking about waking up at about 3,  having the smoker ready for the bird by 4,  go back to sleep until 7 while it smokes and then take from smoker and finish in the oven from 7:30ish to about 10:30ish,   taking from oven,  FTC for an hour and then slice it up to be ready by noon.

[Habanero Smoker]

When I finish in the oven, I use a oven temperature of 350°F. Poultry does not have to be done low & slow. There is also not reason to FTC poultry unless you get done early and need to hold it for awhile, but foiling it and keeping it in a 200°F oven will also work well.