Smoking a Turkey in an Offset

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Green Hornet

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I've done a couple. I usually do mine like chicken on a can. I use a can of Fosters beer. Perfect size for most Turkey. Cook at about 300* to about 170* inside and enjoy! :P
 
Size aint real important. Cook it at the temp you will find wrote on the bag..should be about 340 or so. Cook it breastes down the entire time and dont spill the juice which will accumulate on top of the inside of the breastes. Might have to prop in place with some spoons or beer cans..lot of them turkey lurkeys have a real fat breastes which make it like to roll over on its side. Ignore the pop up timer (but leave it in place). Pull when the temp in the thick part of the thigh hits 175. Dont poke no holes in the breastes. Wrap in foil and let it sweat in the hot for a few hours. Squirt it with butter flavor PAM last hour or so gives it a nice color. You can even flip it about then to make the breastes purty as can be expected from getting cooked face down. Make sure you get a nice pumped turkey like a Honey Suckle White..Butterball etc. Try to get some rub under the skin while you prepping it. Simple huh?

bigwheel
 
I am different than most people when it comes to cooking turkeys. I cook my turkeys low and slow and some will certainly disagree, but I do what has been working for me from the beginning. My preference is to buy fresh "unenhanced" turkeys or turkey breasts and brine them myself. However, enhanced turkeys will work just as well without having to brine them yourself. But do not brine an enhanced turkey.

I smoke turkeys in a WSM with a dome temp in the 245*-260* range WSM Turkey, WSM Turkey Breast, and on an offset with a grate temp of 225*-235* range, Gator Pit Birds.

Cook them breast side up and pull when the breast reads 160-163* and the thigh is between 170-175*, cover with foil and let rest about 30-60 minutes and allow to cool before slicing. Smoked turkeys are best if you cook a day ahead of time and slice cold.

Bigwheel is correct, do not go by the pop up timer that is included with the turkey, they are set to go off at 180* and if you pull the turkey when the breast is 180* you will have a nice plate of turkey jerky. If you cook it breast up, go ahead and leave the pop up timer in, however if you decide to go the upside down route I would remove it for fear of it melting on the grate. Good luck!
 
If you are doing a whole bird depending on the size of the pipe off your offset you might get a little scorch on the highest part of the bird...
 
We smoked a turkey breast a while back using Tony Cachere's Creole butter. We injected the breast with it and cooked it low and slow along with some butts on the offset. We don't have a grate thermometer yet but we've learned to keep the one on top of the Brinkman at about 250-300 for the best results. We just cooked it right on the grate. So far, we haven't cooked a whole turkey but plan to very soon.

Best of luck!
 
Larry Wolfe said:
I am different than most people when it comes to cooking turkeys. I cook my turkeys low and slow and some will certainly disagree, but I do what has been working for me from the beginning. My preference is to buy fresh "unenhanced" turkeys or turkey breasts and brine them myself. However, enhanced turkeys will work just as well without having to brine them yourself. But do not brine an enhanced turkey.

I smoke turkeys in a WSM with a dome temp in the 245*-260* range WSM Turkey, WSM Turkey Breast, and on an offset with a grate temp of 225*-235* range, Gator Pit Birds.


Cook them breast side up and pull when the breast reads 160-163* and the thigh is between 170-175*, cover with foil and let rest about 30-60 minutes and allow to cool before slicing. Smoked turkeys are best if you cook a day ahead of time and slice cold.

Bigwheel is correct, do not go by the pop up timer that is included with the turkey, they are set to go off at 180* and if you pull the turkey when the breast is 180* you will have a nice plate of turkey jerky. If you cook it breast up, go ahead and leave the pop up timer in, however if you decide to go the upside down route I would remove it for fear of it melting on the grate. Good luck!


I have no personal experience here on Turks, but did read a ton of stuff these last few months trying to come up to speed on Q. One thing I came across is to cook whole turks (or chickens) at higher temps so the inside of the cavity does not stay in the temp danger zone as long. Larger birds make the problem worse.
Then again you are still alive and bitching, so that must mean you haven't crossed the danger line. My 2 cents (sorry, don't have a cents key) :D
 
Rag said:
Larry Wolfe said:
I am different than most people when it comes to cooking turkeys. I cook my turkeys low and slow and some will certainly disagree, but I do what has been working for me from the beginning. My preference is to buy fresh "unenhanced" turkeys or turkey breasts and brine them myself. However, enhanced turkeys will work just as well without having to brine them yourself. But do not brine an enhanced turkey.

I smoke turkeys in a WSM with a dome temp in the 245*-260* range WSM Turkey, WSM Turkey Breast, and on an offset with a grate temp of 225*-235* range, Gator Pit Birds.


Cook them breast side up and pull when the breast reads 160-163* and the thigh is between 170-175*, cover with foil and let rest about 30-60 minutes and allow to cool before slicing. Smoked turkeys are best if you cook a day ahead of time and slice cold.

Bigwheel is correct, do not go by the pop up timer that is included with the turkey, they are set to go off at 180* and if you pull the turkey when the breast is 180* you will have a nice plate of turkey jerky. If you cook it breast up, go ahead and leave the pop up timer in, however if you decide to go the upside down route I would remove it for fear of it melting on the grate. Good luck!


I have no personal experience here on Turks, but did read a ton of stuff these last few months trying to come up to speed on Q. One thing I came across is to cook whole turks (or chickens) at higher temps so the inside of the cavity does not stay in the temp danger zone as long. Larger birds make the problem worse.
Then again you are still alive and bitching, so that must mean you haven't crossed the danger line. My 2 cents (sorry, don't have a cents key) :D

If we listened to everything we read, we'd all live pretty boring lives and eat very dry tasteless turkeys. Not to say this isn't a legitimate health issue you've brought up, but it's over exaggerated by the "Experts". They say to cook all poultry to 180* too, would I do that? NEVER. Most food related illnesses are caused by a lack of common sense. Sure slow smoking a turkey does keep it in the danger zone longer than cooking a turkey at a higher temperature. Does that mean the consumers are increasing the health risks? Not in my opinion. If the turkey is properly handled, thawed, prepped and cooked to a proper doneness and then carved on a properly santized area, then you have no more of a chance of getting a food bourne illness from a turkey that's been cooked at 250* than you do of one that has been cooked at 350*. There are alot of common sense steps that if not followed you can get sick no matter how the turkey is cooked.

For the record, I have been cooking turkeys this way for close to 15 years. I have no idea how many I have cooked, but it's been quite a few. I feed these to my family, I sell them to customers and I take them to work functions and I have NEVER once had any sort of health issue due to the turkeys I've cooked the way I described above.

If cooking the turkeys low and slow concerns anyone, by all means cook them however you feel is safe. But I will stand by and continue to cook turkeys the way I do, period.
 
wdroller said:
This is all good information.

I remember a thread in which a cheesecloth covering was discussed. I'm trying to find it. No one has addressed the use a shallow pan to collect juices, especially if the bird is raised above it on a roasting rack. I can't see how it would affect the turkey inasmuch as the back doesn't have that much meat that is served at the table.

Someone mentioned cold sliced turkey. I've had it and it was greatl. I may just do this a couple of days ahead and hold it in the fridge.

Using a raised rack or a pan underneath the grate will work, I would not smoke the bird in a pan though. It will make the bottom mushy and over smoked due to the drippings will have a stronger smoke flavor than the meat does.

Cold smoked turkey ROCKS!
 
Ain't never cooked one in a pan so would hate to perjur myself on offering advice on that issue:) I like to cook all birds fairly hot and fast not for any hygenic purposes but rather the fact that it helps conserve moisture whereas low and slow is good for drying them out under most circumstances. Will say there are lots of ways to skin a cat. Best turkey I ever ate was cooked low and slow direct over mesquite coals by a drunk Chezch down at Corpus. Took him all day and mopped it about once an hour with whut he called the Chezch version of Eyetalian Dressing which as far as I could make out was margarine..white vinegar...and chopped onyawns. HIs mama kept the mop hot on the stove in a saucepan in the house and would bring it out to him when it was time to mop. Swear a person would kill for a chunk of skin off that turkey. Leads me to believe there is surely more than one way to do it.

bigwheel


wdroller said:
bigwheel said:
Size aint real important. Cook it at the temp you will find wrote on the bag..should be about 340 or so. Cook it breastes down the entire time and dont spill the juice which will accumulate on top of the inside of the breastes. Might have to prop in place with some spoons or beer cans..lot of them turkey lurkeys have a real fat breastes which make it like to roll over on its side. Ignore the pop up timer (but leave it in place). Pull when the temp in the thick part of the thigh hits 175. Dont poke no holes in the breastes. Wrap in foil and let it sweat in the hot for a few hours. Squirt it with butter flavor PAM last hour or so gives it a nice color. You can even flip it about then to make the breastes purty as can be expected from getting cooked face down. Make sure you get a nice pumped turkey like a Honey Suckle White..Butterball etc. Try to get some rub under the skin while you prepping it. Simple huh?

bigwheel

Thanks, bigwheel.

Sounds like what I do in the oven, except I place the turkey on a rack which I then put in a roasting pan. I usually cook the turkey breast side down for an hour or so and then turn it up for the remainder of the cook. If I use the same roasting rack and place it in a shallow foil pan to catch the drippings, I should be OK, shouldn't I.
 
As long as the bird isn't in the juice you are good to go..and the top of the bird thing is just for apparence sake...
 
I do my turkeys Like said above... 225-250 degrees on a stand that I bought.. holds the turkey with the dark meat at the grate..



Bought mine from Cabela's only cost a few bucks and works good. The breast and thighs/legs were done at almost the same time.




I would defiantly brine the bird your fixing to cook..
 
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