Opinion on deconstructing turkey before smoking

[kgressler]

Was thinking about doing a trial run this weekend and instead of doing a whole 14-16lb turkey just deconstruct it so I have two boneless breasted and then the leg/thigh quarters and wings separate.

First thought is it should cut down the time of the cook and then I can pull the white and dark off when each is done instead of all at once. If I can cut done the time this saves room in the smoker for other things like ABT's mac & cheese etc.

[dadsr4]

So long as you don't have a time line that you have to meet, I'd say go for it. Playing with food can be fun.
Myself, I'd spatchcock the bird, things end up being done at the same time that way, and it's less fuss.

[jasonjax]

I guess the obvious? question is will you do this when you cook the "real" bird?

IE: did you want to test time etc. for cooking a whole bird or is this how you might cook on the big day?

[BillN]

For the last couple of years I have been deboning the thighs, season then roll and tie. Makes for a nice carveable hunk of meat that cooks at the same rate of the breast.

[dadsr4]

By the way, I think you are on the right track. The best way to learn about these things is to do it.
I worked for over 30 years on nights. I would stop at the 24 hour grocery store and pick up things that were marked down and go home. Once I woke up, I would have to figure out how to cook the things I found.
This forced me to learn how to cook lean beef roasts, beef short ribs, blobs of beef that I ended up using for stew, tri tips, turkey legs and thighs, and pork back ribs, just from what occurs to me at the moment.
You are quite wise to choose to risk failure when no one is watching. Failures alway make good chili and soup.

[thirdeye]

White and dark meat are two totally different types of meat... and I certainly wasn't the first to butcher a bird so I can cook the white meat and dark meat separately... but it's my favorite method as each half gets pulled off the smoker at the perfect doneness which is 165° for the breast and closer to 180° for the dark half.



It's simple to do, and just takes a minute.



In this picture I separated the wings for snacks, but you can get the gist of this method.

[The_Kapn]

I am with Thirdeye on this.

Here is an article from Thermoworks that delves into the subject.

http://blog.thermoworks.com/2016/10/...ing-Methods-cs

TIM

[Mikhail]

That's the only way I will do it, and I skin and bone the breast, and I usually skin the thighs. But then I never loved the whole bird thing anyway, so I suppose I am biased. It is my least favorite meal to cook.

I follow the Aaron Franklin videos on it.

[jasonjax]

I will likely spritz the breast meat at some point with room temp chicken broth towards the end of the cook after the skin has setup to try and achieve a higher temp on the dark meat.

[kgressler]

Originally Posted by Mikhail

That's the only way I will do it, and I skin and bone the breast, and I usually skin the thighs. But then I never loved the whole bird thing anyway, so I suppose I am biased. It is my least favorite meal to cook.

I follow the Aaron Franklin videos on it.

I thought I would skin the breast but never thought about taking the skin off the thigh and legs. I may do one leg and thigh with and one without to see how it turns out just as practice.

I dont eat the skin anyway just thought it would help keep the meat moist perhaps??? BUt taking it off will allow me to get more rub in there.

[dadsr4]

Originally Posted by kgressler

I thought I would skin the breast but never thought about taking the skin off the thigh and legs. I may do one leg and thigh with and one without to see how it turns out just as practice.

I dont eat the skin anyway just thought it would help keep the meat moist perhaps??? BUt taking it off will allow me to get more rub in there.

I'm doing some turkey legs today. I always pul the skin down, apply the rub to the meat, then pull the skin back up so the fat bastes the meat. I do the same thing with a spatchcocked bird.

Then pin it with toothpicks.

[Mikhail]

Originally Posted by kgressler

I thought I would skin the breast but never thought about taking the skin off the thigh and legs. I may do one leg and thigh with and one without to see how it turns out just as practice.

I dont eat the skin anyway just thought it would help keep the meat moist perhaps??? BUt taking it off will allow me to get more rub in there.

The meat takes a lot more smoke flavor without the skin. I've never been able to get it crisp anyway, and it is awful when rubbery.

[kgressler]

After doing this last year and it working out great. I plan on doing the same thing again this year.
Last year I did 2 whole turkeys and one turkey breast. split the breasts in to 2 separate pieces and quartered the thighs and legs. I only have a 18' WSM so I bought a *gasp* electric smoker. so I could cook all of them and also use the smoker as a holding cabinet for other dished during thanksgiving.
I picked up a Masterbuilt 30' inch. Its fine for what it is and works well for the purposes I use it for like Thanksgiving and things like sausage or burgers.

I could tell the different in the turkeys cooked in the different smokers visually but for the most part taste was comparable. But the best thing about having all the room in the Masterbuilt smoker is being able to keep mashed potatoes or macaroni etc warm while other things were being prepared.

This year I have 3 whole turkeys I plan on doing. And again I plan on deconstructing them. Makes for a big time saver having to carve three turkeys while guests are waiting to eat. Also make for easier/quicker clean up during the stress of getting everything out on the table for the meal.