Pulled Turkey?

Started by AzJazz, October 05, 2014, 05:58:23 AM

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AzJazz

Hi, guys!

I've been using one of the standard Smoked Turkey recipes on the Bradley site for years.

I'd like to try something different now. I have a Butterball 12 lb bone-in turkey, and I'd like to make a pulled turkey with it. I've never done "pulled anything" before, so I'm looking for some great advice from the pros ...

Just cruising around on this forum it looks like I won't have to brine (since it's a Butterball, and it says something about a water solution on the label). So, I don't need to brine, right?

Beyond that, I have no idea what to do for pulled turkey. I'm looking for a very flavorful (but not spicy) rub, recommended pucks, smoke time/temp, and the techniques I need to follow for a moist and flavorful result.

All help would be appreciated!

Thanks,

AzJazz

KyNola

You're right.  No need to brine.  As for the Rub I would suggest Jan's Original Dry Rub. You can find the recipe on the recipe site, www.susanminor.org  It was originally developed for poultry.  If hickory is too strong for you I would suggest either apple or pecan wood.  For me personally, I would limit smoke time to no more than 2 hours and 40 minutes as poultry has a tendency to readily absorb smoke.  For smoking/cooking temp I would use 250 degrees in order to get the poultry up to temp as soon as possible.

Hope this helps.  Others will come along with good information as well.

AzJazz

#2
Thanks, KyNola for the recipe and advice!

I thought there is more involved for "pulling" than normal smoking in the Bradley. I would think that the meat would be to tough/cooked to pull off the bone.

AzJazz

Hi - I've been researching more, since I'll only get one shot at this ... Do I need to Foil / Towel / Cooler the turkey so it can be "pulled"?

Also, do I need to cut the turkey up before smoking?

AzJazz


Ka Honu

I've never made pulled turkey in a smoker but I've made the Hawaiian version (Kalua turkey) in both an imu (sort of an underground oven) and in the house oven. I guess if I wanted to do a traditional smoke and then be able to pull, I'd smoke the bird for a couple hours, cut it into halves  or quarters (just to make it easier to handle),  and finish in a slow cooker or foil wrapped in the smoker or oven.

Be careful that the white meat doesn't dry out before the dark is done (I usually do that by putting skin and dark/fatty parts on top and letting them "baste" the rest).

You might also Google "oven kalua turkey" for some ideas and equate your smoker to the oven.