Here's the second q-view from my smoking venture for our Thanksgiving family feast. If you missed the first, it was an 8# brisket found here http://smokingmeatforums.com/forums/...hlight=brisket.
This one is the 14# Butterball and it came out pretty good. This is my first full turkey, I've done breasts and whole chickens, so I was a little nervous.
I had it in the fridge thawing for a few days and was trying hard to find a 5lb bucket somewhere to brine this thing in. I couldn't find one so I ended up using the pot from my turkey fryer. I went to put it in the fridge and found it was too tall. Just as I figured this out, Mama-Fokker yells from the garage "d*mn, we're out of beer"......DING-DING, we've got a winner...I pulled the empty keg out, wrapped the tap (cause I'm a germophobe) and slid the pot in to the keg fridge with ease!
BTW- We still don't have any beer....
This morning I got the bird out of the brine, rinsed, patted dry and started the injection process with this:
I got this idea from Shellbellc (thanks!) and it's maple syrup & butter...I added some honey and regular table syrup and the end result was a taste reminiscent of caramel popcorn.
I rubbed some butter under the skin and on the outside and in the box it went:
along with these stuffed poblano's:
The poblano's are my new fav! I did a small q-view here http://smokingmeatforums.com/forums/...ad.php?t=10453
The bird went in directly on the grates, breast side down for the first 2 hours. Here it is after the first 2 when I flipped it:
I spritzed with some apple juice and came back after another 1.5hrs:
..another spritz after another hour (4.5 hrs so far)
and after a total of 5 hrs 35 mins, the bird hit 165° in the breast. I pulled it, tented w/foil and let it rest for a while.
Here it is, done:
Nice color, but at 165° in the breast, I felt the dark meat was still a little "iffy" so I quickly sliced, panned and put it in the oven for a while.
It was a pretty good smoke, though next time I think I'll either go till 170°/breast or monitor both the thigh and breast to get a more accurate read. Sorry about not having sliced pics, but it's already in the fridge because I've got a 300 mile drive tonight.
If any newbies are reading and are unaware of the setup, I'm using a GOSM gas smoker, my temps were between 275°-315° and I used Pecan wood. The general consensus around here is to do poultry higher, like 350°, but my wood catches fire when I get that hot soooo... I guess I'm due for a wood box mod.
Oh yeah, here are the peppers:
They were done in about 2.5 hours. Be sure to poke a hole in the bottom of the pepper with a toothpick to allow juices to flow. This will also help prevent your stuffing from pushing out the top.
That's it for me, I'm off for a nap now to rest up for this 6 hour drive tonight. You all have a great Thanksgiving, be safe if you're traveling and as always...smoke em' if you've got em'
Later,
B-F
This one is the 14# Butterball and it came out pretty good. This is my first full turkey, I've done breasts and whole chickens, so I was a little nervous.
I had it in the fridge thawing for a few days and was trying hard to find a 5lb bucket somewhere to brine this thing in. I couldn't find one so I ended up using the pot from my turkey fryer. I went to put it in the fridge and found it was too tall. Just as I figured this out, Mama-Fokker yells from the garage "d*mn, we're out of beer"......DING-DING, we've got a winner...I pulled the empty keg out, wrapped the tap (cause I'm a germophobe) and slid the pot in to the keg fridge with ease!
BTW- We still don't have any beer....
This morning I got the bird out of the brine, rinsed, patted dry and started the injection process with this:
I got this idea from Shellbellc (thanks!) and it's maple syrup & butter...I added some honey and regular table syrup and the end result was a taste reminiscent of caramel popcorn.
I rubbed some butter under the skin and on the outside and in the box it went:
along with these stuffed poblano's:
The poblano's are my new fav! I did a small q-view here http://smokingmeatforums.com/forums/...ad.php?t=10453
The bird went in directly on the grates, breast side down for the first 2 hours. Here it is after the first 2 when I flipped it:
I spritzed with some apple juice and came back after another 1.5hrs:
..another spritz after another hour (4.5 hrs so far)
and after a total of 5 hrs 35 mins, the bird hit 165° in the breast. I pulled it, tented w/foil and let it rest for a while.
Here it is, done:
Nice color, but at 165° in the breast, I felt the dark meat was still a little "iffy" so I quickly sliced, panned and put it in the oven for a while.
It was a pretty good smoke, though next time I think I'll either go till 170°/breast or monitor both the thigh and breast to get a more accurate read. Sorry about not having sliced pics, but it's already in the fridge because I've got a 300 mile drive tonight.
If any newbies are reading and are unaware of the setup, I'm using a GOSM gas smoker, my temps were between 275°-315° and I used Pecan wood. The general consensus around here is to do poultry higher, like 350°, but my wood catches fire when I get that hot soooo... I guess I'm due for a wood box mod.
Oh yeah, here are the peppers:
They were done in about 2.5 hours. Be sure to poke a hole in the bottom of the pepper with a toothpick to allow juices to flow. This will also help prevent your stuffing from pushing out the top.
That's it for me, I'm off for a nap now to rest up for this 6 hour drive tonight. You all have a great Thanksgiving, be safe if you're traveling and as always...smoke em' if you've got em'
Later,
B-F
