Smoking a turkey for Thanksgiving. Serving at two seperate times.

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rhinoguy

Fire Starter
Original poster
Jan 19, 2011
48
12
Bama
Hey guys.  Hopefully you guys can assist me in my scheduling problem.  I have been nominated to cook the turkey for two family Thanksgiving dinners.  The first meal starts at 12:00 and the second starts at 5:00.  Would I be better off smoking the turkey on Wednesday, then putting them in the fridge, then reheating on Thursday?  Or would I be better off starting them on Thursday morning and trying to keep the 5:00 bird warm all day? 

Thanks for any info offered.  For your time, I offer the following Q-views from previous smoking sessions.

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I personally have started smoking my thanksgiving birds ahead of time so I don't have to worry about have to cook it that day. I have had really good luck with reheating smoked birds and they have all been really juicy. I just brined and smoked 7 of them yesterday and they will all be reheated on thanksgiving. I just put the bird on a v rack to get them up off the bottom of the pan and then I put some chicken stock in the bottom of the pan, cover it and then reheat at around 200-225 until it is warm which is usually around 3 hours depending on the size. So far we haven't had any issues doing them this way.
 
Reheating Turkey is pretty easy. I put mine in foodsaver bags and warm in hot not boiling water. 
 
I'm actually smoking one right now that I will refridgerate over night when finished. The purpose of this is to test the reheating process and provide a thread on it for new turkey smokers or those facing a reheating situation. Stay tuned.
 
I personally have started smoking my thanksgiving birds ahead of time so I don't have to worry about have to cook it that day. I have had really good luck with reheating smoked birds and they have all been really juicy. I just brined and smoked 7 of them yesterday and they will all be reheated on thanksgiving. I just put the bird on a v rack to get them up off the bottom of the pan and then I put some chicken stock in the bottom of the pan, cover it and then reheat at around 200-225 until it is warm which is usually around 3 hours depending on the size. So far we haven't had any issues doing them this way.


This is what I am thinking about doing.  Im not 100% sure how im going to get the bird into a oven 3hrs prior to meal time tho.

Thanks for the info everybody.
 
If you don't need to do a Table Presentation...Slice it, Pan it, add the Gravy, Cover with Foil and into the Refrigerator....Turkey day...60-90 minutes in a  300-325*F oven should get the bird up to 165*F and ready for Service...JJ
 
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