Selling Smoked Turkeys for the Holidays

RedPig said:

Never spatched a turkey. How is it?

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That's how I do mine and have always come out better. No cavity to worry about, the bird has an even thickness to it so I think it cooks more even.:thumb:

Wanna make real money during the holidays? Prime Rib. With a proven recipe, you can corner your local market. Try and get $200 for a turkey.

That must be a dam tasty turkey. Wow/

We do turkeys 40 plus the price of the turkey.Got a few customers who want free range 45 dollars for the bird. So for a 15 lb bird we get 60 free range 85.

I am going to do some smoked turkeys this weekend and experiment with cooling and reheating ... I have a few ideas... I'll post my research when I am finished.

Philly-QueMaster said:

TN what kind of reheating in instructions did you provide? Did you slice it up for them?

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They get the birds intact. I do not slice em.

The idea with reheating a bird is to keep it moist. I tell them to either
1. cover w foil n put in a low oven with a little liquid
2. cover with a damp towel n microwave (my preferred method)

Lots of folks are reluctant to try the microwave method. The key is to wrap/cover in a damp towel. Works really well.

If I had a steam pan, that'd probably be even better.

RedPig said:

Never spatched a turkey. How is it?

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Great

KnucklHed BBQ said:

I haven't done turkeys for sale, seems like it could be a lot of stress, I can't imagine having a whole bunch of birds in the cooker and possibly screwing up so many meals at once!

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Yes. That would suck. Just pay attention (good news is turkeys don't take but a couple (2-3) hours in the smoker). Brining helps flavor the bird and helps keep it moist (larger margin of error). Besides that, just like with REAL BBQ...most folks are so used to eating bad bird that when they get one that's halfway good they rant n rave (ain't saying I'm the stud of turkeys anymore than I'd claim to be the kind of BBQ, but I think most folks have grown accustomed to poorly prepared BBQ n turkeys and it doesn't usually take much to impress them)

TN bbq what temp do u smoke at, seems fast to get a 12 pound bird done in 2-3 hours. I was told to smoke at 220 for 1 hour a pound? Let me know what you think :thumb:

KnucklHed BBQ said:

I haven't done turkeys for sale, seems like it could be a lot of stress, I can't imagine having a whole bunch of birds in the cooker and possibly screwing up so many meals at once!

That said, I know that most smoked turkeys from the store or from local processors are cured in a TQ type brine and then smoked, cooled and vac'd - while the turkey comes out more hammy, moisture for reheats is not really an issue...

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I agree. I'm not going to put myself under that pressure for such a small profit, especially rousting up early and having to work on Thanksgiving. Just not worth it to me.:blabla:

I smoke mine at 275 and normally take 3 1/2 to 4 1/2hours to reach temp. depending on size.