Got a turkey last week to cook for sandwiches to use over the next month or so. Thawed it in a cooler for almost a week then took it out and finished thawing it in cold water.
Never used injection system but have had one for years so I injected it with a Cajun mix with a few of my own add-ons then covered the skin with melted butter and sprinkled with Creole seasoning.
Stuffed the bird with dressing mix and stuck it in the MES-40 at 230 degrees for five hours.
Here is the turkey in the smoker at the five hour point. Turning a nice smokey color and the smell was unbelievable! Put it on at 4:30 p.m. thinking it would be done by my 11:00 bedtime, but I was in for a big surprise. At this point the internal temperature was no where near the 165 degree finished point. I raised the temperature to 275 and set it for a couple more hours. Each hour for the first five I basted the bird with its own drippings and added a bit of pecan chips to the smoke tube. Covered it with foil after about 7 hours and stopped the smoke. Finally at 1:00 a.m. the internal temperature was up to about 157 degrees so I figured it would take one more hour. I set the timer for one hour with temp at 275 and went to bed.
In the morning I was greeted with this the finished product. Cooked to perfection and cooled in the MES overnight. Ready for carving. Total cooking time was about 10 hours. Would have likely been a bit less had I started it out at 275 instead of 230.
I packaged the meat in quart freezer bags in manageable portions then placed bones in a soup pot. Turned it into a delicious big pot of turkey vegetable soup which we enjoyed for supper along with some of the stuffing last night. Ended up with about eight packages of turkey "deli" meat thinly sliced and for sandwiches. I used wine in the injection fluid and will not do that on the next time. Flavor was a bit stronger than I would prefer for this purpose. Probably substitute some lemon juice instead and simplify it a bit. Based on this one if they put them on a big sale after Christmas I might just have to do another!
Never used injection system but have had one for years so I injected it with a Cajun mix with a few of my own add-ons then covered the skin with melted butter and sprinkled with Creole seasoning.
Stuffed the bird with dressing mix and stuck it in the MES-40 at 230 degrees for five hours.
Here is the turkey in the smoker at the five hour point. Turning a nice smokey color and the smell was unbelievable! Put it on at 4:30 p.m. thinking it would be done by my 11:00 bedtime, but I was in for a big surprise. At this point the internal temperature was no where near the 165 degree finished point. I raised the temperature to 275 and set it for a couple more hours. Each hour for the first five I basted the bird with its own drippings and added a bit of pecan chips to the smoke tube. Covered it with foil after about 7 hours and stopped the smoke. Finally at 1:00 a.m. the internal temperature was up to about 157 degrees so I figured it would take one more hour. I set the timer for one hour with temp at 275 and went to bed.
In the morning I was greeted with this the finished product. Cooked to perfection and cooled in the MES overnight. Ready for carving. Total cooking time was about 10 hours. Would have likely been a bit less had I started it out at 275 instead of 230.
I packaged the meat in quart freezer bags in manageable portions then placed bones in a soup pot. Turned it into a delicious big pot of turkey vegetable soup which we enjoyed for supper along with some of the stuffing last night. Ended up with about eight packages of turkey "deli" meat thinly sliced and for sandwiches. I used wine in the injection fluid and will not do that on the next time. Flavor was a bit stronger than I would prefer for this purpose. Probably substitute some lemon juice instead and simplify it a bit. Based on this one if they put them on a big sale after Christmas I might just have to do another!
