Smoking my first turkey for Thanksgiving.

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grit

Fire Starter
Original poster
Jul 31, 2014
38
11
Oshawa, Ontario
Well It is dead bird day in Canada, well the day before, though since I do not have to work tomorrow all I am going to do is smoke up a stuffing/dressing fatty.

I prepped my 13 pound turkey chucked a quartered-up pear and onion in the cavity, stuck her in the smoker and brought the temp up, actually fought it up really, to 325*.  Placed a tray under the bird with onions, garlic, celery, herbs, to catch the drippings.  Had a nice TBS going off the pear chunks I tossed in my cast iron pan.  Three hours later I decided to stick the old maverick probe into the breast and what does it spit back at me 180*ish.  A full two hours ahead of when I was ready for the the bird to be done, checked the other breast, checked the thighs.   HMMMMM!  **GRUMBLE*GRUMBLE** Closed the smoker door  and head inside grabbing the instant read and fire up the kettle to test out the instant read, 211.3* at boiling point close enough for me.  Back out probe a few spots she is done. **GRUMBLE*GRUMBLE**  Double foil the turkey, put a towel in the bottom of the ice chest, line the sides with reflective insulation(the bubble wrap stuff with the foil), foiled brid in tray, all in the ice chest, towels and closed the lid.


Dinner is at 7pm, will she hold nice and warm for three hours, I hope so.  I also hope I did not dry out my first smoked turkey either.
 
All in all it held the temp nicely, breast meat a bit dryer than I would of liked, nothing to really complain about.  Next time I just need to relax and not get ahead of things, guest can always wait for it to be served.
 
Nice looking bird! Yep at 325-350, a 11-14 pound bird only takes 2 1/2-3 hours, as you now know. Best way to do it in my opinion.
 
Nice job, looks delish!

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Looks great! But now I have questions! I plan to try and smoke a turkey in Nov.
Did you get much smoke flavor at that high temp? What smoker do you have?
Can you share what you did on that stuffing fatty?
 
I was actually surprised at the level of smoke flavour I got, mind you after I prepped my bird I put it back in the fridge to let the skin dry out. My smoker is the Masterbuilt XL propane.

For the fatty I used a standard bacon weave, a pound and quarter of ground trukey, the stuffing was left overs i tossed into a bag with a few pads of butter to mix together. The butter was to help form the stuffing into a log. Placed the stuffing log on the ground turkey rolled them up, moved them the bacon weave rolled it and stuck it in the fridge til I was ready. Smoked at 270 for couple of hours over more pear wood
 
Last edited:
 Hello Grit.  My first thought was I don't think you can keep it warm for a month.  Then I saw you were in Canada.
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    Good lookin bird.  Turkeys, butts and brisket can fool ya.  Seems each can have a mind of it's own.  It's done when it's done.  Time doesn't matter.  I am sure all will have a great meal.  Thanks for posting.  Keep Smokin!

Danny
 
Everyone had a great meal, truth be told some were skeptical about the smoked turkey and gravy, after those few first bits they were impressed. Sent guests home with some tasty left overs, while keeping a good supply for my family and self.
 
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