Turkey Smoke help

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energyzer

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Planning my first turkey smoke. My plan is to use PatioDaddio's simple brine and then yardbird rub. I will be doing this on my UDS. I will be spatchcocking the bird and have read where you cut the breast part away from the hind quarters so you can take each part off at the correct tempature for each. In the breast there is always that plastic pop up indicator. One place I read, they said to remove that. I had planned to use that for my indicator for the breast and my digital thermo for the thighs. Why couldn't I use the plastic pop up indicator?

Any help and tips will be appreciated. My turkey is a frozen turkey with an 8% enhancement. Should I cut back on the salt in the brine? I had planned on leaving it in the brine solution for 20 hours or so.

Comments, tips?
 
Those plastic pop-ups are junk, they're inaccurate at best. A good chunk of the time
they never even pop up. Toss it...if you want to seal the hole, use an olive, pearly
onion, garlic clove, etc.

Yep, you should cut down the salt in your brine just to be safe. Now there is a
school of thought that says that you don't need to cut down the salt..that
everything will reach equilibrium. I don't know. Never tried (never buy enhanced birds). It would seem that if that were true then there would be little reason to
brine. In any case, too much salt will wreck the finished product, while not
enough won't be a deal breaker.

Just my $.02.
 
Those little "pop-up" things are just a piece of plastic that melts and sort of indicates it has been warmed. Absolute junk and definitely best to ignore. Best practice is to use an instant read or an insertable of some kind that will provide an actual temperature reading.
 
Those probes are designed to work around 175 to 180. That's way high for where they put them, in the breast. If they put them in the thigh, it would help.

I'm with the guys, throw away the pop-up.

Put the probe in the white meat, it will likely be done first, pull at 160. Put it into the dark meat and take that higher 170/175.

Russ
 
SmokinOkie said:
Those probes are designed to work around 175 to 180. That's way high for where they put them, in the breast. If they put them in the thigh, it would help.

I'm with the guys, throw away the pop-up.

Put the probe in the white meat, it will likely be done first, pull at 160. Put it into the dark meat and take that higher 170/175.

Russ
Click to expand...

Rus,
I'm using your spatch cock guide, and your turkey 101 also. Great documents. Very helpful. Thank you for writing them.
 
ibait2fish said:
Those plastic pop-ups are junk, they're inaccurate at best. A good chunk of the time
they never even pop up. Toss it...if you want to seal the hole, use an olive, pearly
onion, garlic clove, etc.

Yep, you should cut down the salt in your brine just to be safe. Now there is a
school of thought that says that you don't need to cut down the salt..that
everything will reach equilibrium. I don't know. Never tried (never buy enhanced birds). It would seem that if that were true then there would be little reason to
brine. In any case, too much salt will wreck the finished product, while not
enough won't be a deal breaker.

Just my $.02.
Click to expand...

Well, I cut my salt down from 1.5 cups to just 1 cup, using PatioDaddio's simple brine. Everything else, I followed to the letter. What would be the benefit to plugging the hole? When I unwrapped the bird, it wasn't even stuck in. It was laying flat against the bird. There may have been a hole there, I did't look that close.

I had planned to coat the turkey with EVOO before rubbing. I plan on separating the skin from the meat and rubbing under the skin and also on the skin. Should I put any oil under the skin?

comments?
 
So we want to cook our turkey to about 160ish in the breasts and about 175-180 in the thighs.

Have we talked smoking temp - low and slow or hot and fast?
Have we talked timing yet? (depending on temp)

I plan on cooking between 325-350, and I've read anywhere between 12-25 minutes a pound. At 18 lbs, that's a difference of 234 minutes - or nearly 4 hours! Ahhh, I better have a plan.

I'm going to estimate about 17 minutes per pound and try to get it done 45 minutes before serving time. This will allow me some extra time if needed and I don't mind holding it in a warm cooler for an hour if need be. It can always be put in the oven for 10 minutes or so for a pick me up if it starts looking soggy from holding.
 
KC_Bobby said:
So we want to cook our turkey to about 160ish in the breasts and about 175-180 in the thighs.

Have we talked smoking temp - low and slow or hot and fast?
Have we talked timing yet? (depending on temp)

I plan on cooking between 325-350, and I've read anywhere between 12-25 minutes a pound. At 18 lbs, that's a difference of 234 minutes - or nearly 4 hours! Ahhh, I better have a plan.

I'm going to estimate about 17 minutes per pound and try to get it done 45 minutes before serving time. This will allow me some extra time if needed and I don't mind holding it in a warm cooler for an hour if need be. It can always be put in the oven for 10 minutes or so for a pick me up if it starts looking soggy from holding.
Click to expand...

This will be my first turkey, but my plan is the same as yours. Cooking between 325 and 350*. I will spatchcock the bird and separate the hind quarters from the breast section. I only have one temp probe so I'll start with that in the breast, as it should be done before the thighs. When the breast is done, move my probe over to a thigh. I have a 12 pound bird, and am planning (from what I have read on here) to have it done in 4 hours.
 
I cook mine whole (either brine or injected with some Cajun Injector Creole Butter) around 300-325. When breast hits 155 I usually pull them and let sit and rest for at least 30 minutes....temps will rise to 165 by the time I carve
 
gtsum said:
I cook mine whole (either brine or injected with some Cajun Injector Creole Butter) around 300-325. When breast hits 155 I usually pull them and let sit and rest for at least 30 minutes....temps will rise to 165 by the time I carve
Click to expand...

Do you tent the bird with foil or anything, or just let it sit on the tray when it is resting?
 
I spatchcocked mine kind of and cooked it at 300. As I was laying on the drum the legs fell away from the breast. I cut the skin and had 3 pieces. The breast was ready in 2 hours and dark meat in a little under 2 1/2
 
energyzer said:
Do you tent the bird with foil or anything, or just let it sit on the tray when it is resting?
Click to expand...

what up fellow husker? Tomorrow is going to be a good game I think...I am looking for some success passing against the porous aggie pass d

I usually tent it loosely with foil when resting. This tend to soften the skin up a bit, but I have always done it out of habit I guess??
 
gtsum said:
what up fellow husker? Tomorrow is going to be a good game I think...I am looking for some success passing against the porous aggie pass d

I usually tent it loosely with foil when resting. This tend to soften the skin up a bit, but I have always done it out of habit I guess??
Click to expand...

Yeah, the key will be what shape Martinez is in. I agree, we should be able to pass on these guys. Should be a good game!
 
Louisiana Smoker said:
I spatchcocked mine kind of and cooked it at 300. As I was laying on the drum the legs fell away from the breast. I cut the skin and had 3 pieces. The breast was ready in 2 hours and dark meat in a little under 2 1/2
Click to expand...

Well, now I'm starting to wonder if I am going to get it on the UDS a little too soon. I was planning on having it on the UDS at 7:30AM so it would be done at 11:30, rest for 30 minutes and eat at 12. Is my turkey going to be done way to soon if I go on at 7:30?
 
Louisiana Smoker said:
I spatchcocked mine kind of and cooked it at 300. As I was laying on the drum the legs fell away from the breast. I cut the skin and had 3 pieces. The breast was ready in 2 hours and dark meat in a little under 2 1/2
Click to expand...


I had the exact same experienced and times last weekend with my 13lb turkey.
 
I would say yes. If you don't care about the skin being crisp, you can always hold the meat in a cooler. You can also ice the breast down for 20-30 mins before you cook and it all be done around the same time.
 
Turkey is on and cookin'. UDS is wanting to run around 350. Seems like it is cooking pretty fast. I put it on at 8:50AM and the breast is already up to 105. Trying to get the drum temp down to slow it a bit.

Will this fast of smoke make the bird take on less smoke flavor?
 
compared to a low and slow 225 - 250 yes, but I do my poultry at 325 -350 and it's good for me.
 
Well, just had the famous temp DROP that my drum is known for. Shook the drum good, but the temp is down to 266. Grrr, now I have to battle to get it back up.
 
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