Smoking Meat -- Tips, Opinions, Recipes

Once you smoke or bbq a turkey you’ll never go back.

I’ve never brined. I spatchcock and cook indirect with a pan of apple juice/beer and spices bellow the bird catching all the drippings.

Frees up the oven. Plus it gives me an out to escape the chaos and have a drink “be right back gotta check on the bird”.

As with any poultry. Easy on the smoke. They soak it up like a sponge. I tend to put in less than a handful of soaked apple wood chips and it’s about right. Always a hit.
 
MTG said:
Who is smoking their Thanksgiving Day turkey?

To free up some oven space, I am thinking about smoking ours. We do whole chickens all the time, but never a turkey.

To brine or not to brine? That is the question.

I've never brined a turkey (when roasting it) and I don't really feel like starting now. I've read both on the internet...how can they both be true? :thinking:

What say you ol' purveyors of smoked deliciousness?
Click to expand...

I brined mine 2 years ago... didn’t like it. Felt it ruined the flavor.... I would inject with chicken broth and smoke right on the grates. Thats just my opinion... curious what others think as well...
 
HighwayTrout said:
Once you smoke or bbq a turkey you’ll never go back.

I’ve never brined. I spatchcock and cook indirect with a pan of apple juice/beer and spices bellow the bird catching all the drippings.

Frees up the oven. Plus it gives me an out to escape the chaos and have a drink “be right back gotta check on the bird”.

As with any poultry. Easy on the smoke. They soak it up like a sponge. I tend to put in less than a handful of soaked apple wood chips and it’s about right. Always a hit.
Click to expand...

TrailHunter said:
I brined mine 2 years ago... didn’t like it. Felt it ruined the flavor.... I would inject with chicken broth and smoke right on the grates. Thats just my opinion... curious what others think as well...
Click to expand...

Thanks!

Right now I'm thinking 1) no brine, 2) a butter compound (butter, garlic, rosemary, salt, pepper) spread under the skin, 3) more of the butter rubbed on the outside, 4) season the outside, 5) throw some onions, lemons or oranges, herbs in the cavity, 6) smoke at 180ish for 1-2 hours, and then crank it up to 300 to 350 until it hits 165.

I was actually contemplating putting it on a roasting pan with rack in order to catch all the drippings to make gravy.

Been so busy at work, I thought I actually had my wife convinced to get catered mexican food instead...but she changed her mind. LOL!
 
MTG said:
Thanks!

Right now I'm thinking 1) no brine, 2) a butter compound (butter, garlic, rosemary, salt, pepper) spread under the skin, 3) more of the butter rubbed on the outside, 4) season the outside, 5) throw some onions, lemons or oranges, herbs in the cavity, 6) smoke at 180ish for 1-2 hours, and then crank it up to 300 to 350 until it hits 165.

I was actually contemplating putting it on a roasting pan with rack in order to catch all the drippings to make gravy.

Been so busy at work, I thought I actually had my wife convinced to get catered mexican food instead...but she changed her mind. LOL!
Click to expand...

Man that sounds awesome. We thought about smoking ours but traveling to the family's now. Can't wait to hear about it!


Sent from my iPhone using WAYALIFE mobile app
 
MTG said:
Who is smoking their Thanksgiving Day turkey?

To free up some oven space, I am thinking about smoking ours. We do whole chickens all the time, but never a turkey.

To brine or not to brine? That is the question.

I've never brined a turkey (when roasting it) and I don't really feel like starting now. I've read both on the internet...how can they both be true? :thinking:

What say you ol' purveyors of smoked deliciousness?
Click to expand...

Did you buy it already brined? A lot come pre done.

How big is the turkey? Probably not the best idea to smoke it the entire time if it’s like 15+ pounds. It won’t get to temp in time.


Sent from my iPhone using WAYALIFE mobile app
 
OverlanderJK said:
Did you buy it already brined? A lot come pre done.

How big is the turkey? Probably not the best idea to smoke it the entire time if it’s like 15+ pounds. It won’t get to temp in time.
Click to expand...

Wife bought it, I've been living in the office. :grayno: 12 pounds...doesn't say its brined.

I was thinking smoking it at 180 for an hour or two and then cranking it up to 300 for 2 hours until it is done.
 
MTG said:
Wife bought it, I've been living in the office. :grayno: 12 pounds...doesn't say its brined.

I was thinking smoking it at 180 for an hour or two and then cranking it up to 300 for 2 hours until it is done.
Click to expand...

Could do low and slow with that size.

I’ve wanted to try doing one in the smoker that is stuffed but not sure how well that would come out and it would mess with internal temp too.


Sent from my iPhone using WAYALIFE mobile app
 
OverlanderJK said:
Could do low and slow with that size.

I’ve wanted to try doing one in the smoker that is stuffed but not sure how well that would come out and it would mess with internal temp too.
Click to expand...

I think it would fully cook in under 3 hours at 300. I'm too tired to try to figure out how to time doing a long smoke. The 1-2 hour low smoke will hopefully allow it to get good smokey flavor.

I like my stuffing crisp...that's going in the oven.
 
I am not sure if this counts or not... but there is liquid smoke haha.

20171210_132140.jpg

Got this as an early Christmas present. Cabelas 60L dehydrator! First batch of jerkey is in!
 
SDG said:
I am not sure if this counts or not... but there is liquid smoke haha.



Got this as an early Christmas present. Cabelas 60L dehydrator! First batch of jerkey is in!
Click to expand...

Hope it works out. Dehydrators are great but take a long time. We have one we used a few times and enjoyed it.
 
We got a camp chef pellet grill this fall, so far we have done brisket, chicken, turkey and ribs. All have turned out superb if you haven’t tried a pellet grill they are the bomb!


Sent from my iPad using WAYALIFE mobile app
 
WJCO said:
Hope it works out. Dehydrators are great but take a long time. We have one we used a few times and enjoyed it.
Click to expand...
Yeah it's a slow process for sure. This one seems super steady at 160 degrees, so I will report in on how the batch turns out. From all the research I did this model was ranked among the top of the pile, so fingers crossed! It takes so long that it's nice you can do 10 to 15lbs at a time and then save it haha. Just need to find a solid recipe I like.
 
SDG said:
Yeah it's a slow process for sure. This one seems super steady at 160 degrees, so I will report in on how the batch turns out. From all the research I did this model was ranked among the top of the pile, so fingers crossed! It takes so long that it's nice you can do 10 to 15lbs at a time and then save it haha. Just need to find a solid recipe I like.
Click to expand...

Do you have a slicer or are you cutting it by hand? Teriyaki is the easiest flavor to make from what I found I just get bored of that.


Sent from my iPhone using WAYALIFE mobile app
 
OverlanderJK said:
Do you have a slicer or are you cutting it by hand? Teriyaki is the easiest flavor to make from what I found I just get bored of that.


Sent from my iPhone using WAYALIFE mobile app
Click to expand...
Did this batch by hand. Didn't take too long to cut, did an 1/8 cut. This recipe is sort or a teriyaki hybrid, has cayenne, red chili flake, and a bunch of pepper... so sorta the beat of all worlds haha.
 
SDG said:
Did this batch by hand. Didn't take too long to cut, did an 1/8 cut. This recipe is sort or a teriyaki hybrid, has cayenne, red chili flake, and a bunch of pepper... so sorta the beat of all worlds haha.
Click to expand...

Yeah I’ve done it by hand it’s just a pain in the ass because if they aren’t exactly the same thickness they dry at different rates. But the flip side of that is a quality sliver that will hold up is stupid expensive just to use for jerky lol


Sent from my iPhone using WAYALIFE mobile app
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom