Newbie needs advice for first smoke (Turkey)

SmokinPappa · January 28, 2015, 04:41:15 PM

So all this will be my first smoke. I have gone thru the seasoning process on my new OBS 4 rack with Auber PID dual. I want to smoke two turkey's for Superbowl (one @ 17 lbs and one @ 16 lbs). My question is can I smoke them both at the same time or is that to much to ask of the OBS? Also is apple a good choice to go with turkey and how much/long should I smoke to get a medium flavor, don't want anything too overpowering. Thanks all and I know you will get me on the right track.

SmokinPappa

tskeeter · January 28, 2015, 05:08:37 PM

Pappa, a couple of quick things and then I'll get back to you with more info after I get home and can get at my smoking plan for turkey.

Apple works good. That's what I use because I tend to prefer a lighter, rather than heavy, smoke flavor. If you think you might want something a bit more robust than straight apple, use a couple of apple pucks, then a hickory, then apple until you are done smoking.

What you are planning is a lot of meat for a Bradley to cook at one time. Especially if you have a stock heating element configuration. What I suggest is that you plan to apply smoke to the turkey, then transfer the turkey to the house oven to finish cooking. This works well. When I used that approach on a turkey breast I did for a neighborhood pot luck, one of the neighbors told me it was the best smoked turkey I had done. I suspect that because the oven has significantly more heating capacity than a smoker, the turkey cooked more quickly and may have retained a little more moisture (although I don't know how you could tell; smoked turkey is always nicely moist). Another advantage of using the oven is that you can run it hot enough to crisp the skin on the turkey. Poultry cooked at the lower temperature of the smoker tends to have flabby, rubbery skin. No at all crisp and pleasant to eat.

Gafala · January 28, 2015, 05:26:27 PM

The last Turkey I did was a 18lb, I used a upright wire beer can rack wired to one of one of the Bradley racks, smoked with apple for two hours and finished in the house oven. Used a butter and spice inject it came out just right.

tskeeter · January 29, 2015, 07:00:31 PM

Poppa, sorry for the delay. Ran a few errands on the way home and then I had a brain cramp and didn't get back to you.

When I smoke turkey there are a few things I do.

Set the turkey on the counter for a couple of hours. This allows the turkey to dry and pellicle to form.

I smoke at 250F for three hours with apple.

I like to smoke to a finished internal temperature of 170F.

For a 9 pound turkey breast, I plan for about 5 hours of smoking/cooking time. if I move the turkey to the oven, the time will be reduced by a half hour or so.

KyNola · January 30, 2015, 07:44:17 AM

Pappa, apple is fine for poultry. As for how long to apply smoke you mentioned you don't want anything overpowering. I would go 2 hours. Poultry is a smoke sponge, readily absorbing smoke. One more thing, regardless of whether you try to smoke them both at the same time or individually, make sure you have your vent 100% open as poultry holds a lot of moisture that you want to get out of the tower as soon as possible. Otherwise, the trapped moisture will hold your cooking temps down. As tskeeter said, I smoke/cook poultry at 250 in order to get out of the danger zone as quickly as possible.

TedEbear · January 30, 2015, 09:18:57 AM

Quote from: SmokinPappa on January 28, 2015, 04:41:15 PMI want to smoke two turkey's for Superbowl (one @ 17 lbs and one @ 16 lbs). My question is can I smoke them both at the same time or is that to much to ask of the OBS?

You will not be able to fit two turkeys of those sizes in the OBS at the same time. You could smoke one and transfer it to your house oven to finish cooking and then smoke the other one entirely in the Bradley.

SmokinPappa · February 08, 2015, 10:23:20 AM

Thanks for all your help guys, I am happy to say my first smoke turned out awesome. I did run into a few issues but nothing that actually affected the turkeys. One issue i am still having is trying to post a couple pics of the finished product. I have searched for instructions on the forum on "How to post an image" and came up with nada. I did find some instructions while browsing by Orion and TedEbear but I cannot seem to make them work for me, so if anyone might have some help tips that would be great. I have posted my pics to Photobucket and there they still reside.

TedEbear · February 08, 2015, 10:58:28 AM

Quote from: SmokinPappa on February 08, 2015, 10:23:20 AMI have posted my pics to Photobucket and there they still reside.

It's fairly simple after that.

1. On Photobucket, double click on the pic you want to post. It will open up to a larger image.
2. Look for the "IMG" box to the right and left click anywhere in it. The contents wil automatically be copied onto your clipboard.
3. Paste those contents into a message on here.

Here's the Photobucket IMG box that you left click in:

SmokinPappa · February 08, 2015, 11:28:40 AM

Thanks for the pic/help as you see it was kind of a no brainer, guess I was overthinking it.

jebjr · March 28, 2015, 11:37:06 PM

Something I don't understand is no one smokes a turkey for 8 hours. I've been doing it for 20 years and the last several years with my Bradley which is so much easier!

TedEbear · March 29, 2015, 04:18:14 AM

Quote from: jebjr on March 28, 2015, 11:37:06 PM
Something I don't understand is no one smokes a turkey for 8 hours. I've been doing it for 20 years and the last several years with my Bradley which is so much easier!

Probably because the FDA says you only have 4 hours to get through the danger zone of 40-140*F when cooking poultry. After you get past 140, it doesn't take too much more time for the IT to reach the 165*F done temp of 165.