T-day turkey on the smoker

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billm75

Smoke Blower
Original poster
Jan 6, 2010
116
10
Last year, I finally got the smoked turkey done the way I wanted it done.  In the past, I would brine, rub, etc and still come out with dry white meat.  This past year, and I guess you could call it desperation, I decided to up the ante a little bit.

After brining the turkey, I slathered a little rub and butter under the skin of the breasts.  THEN, I laid about half a pack of bacon on top of the bird while it was smoking.  

What I found was, I got the hickory smoke flavor, kept it moist and juicy and only really sacrificed a crispy skin on the breast portions.  I don't know if this is a deal breaker for you guys, but it was excellent eating.

I plan to repeat this for Thanksgiving this year, and will do my absolute best to document it in photos to share here.

Let me know your thoughts, if you have any......I'd love to hear your feedback.
 
I do that bacon drape on turkey breasts all the time, love it. One thing you can do on a whole bird is pull the bacon off for the last hour or so, and then toss under the broiler in the oven for 5 minutes or so right at the end.
 
Sounds good Bill. I plan on smoking my first turkey for T Day this year. I  was wondering if I could put bacon under the skin and achieve crispy skin and juicy meat, I plan on doing mine on a rotisserie on my uds
 
Hi Bill, congrats on a good smoke and Q too. Can you tell us what kind of smoker you have, smoking temperature you used, and the internal temp at the time you took the bird out of the smoker? I'm always looking for a better way. It's all good my friend.
 
i'm getting ready to do my 1st turkey tomorrow..its gonna be a cool day so i got prepared with a welding blanket to help hold the heat in the chamber.  i have it soaking in a brine at the moment and plan on giving it a butter coating with dry rubs under the skin and drapping some bacon on it also.  hope it turns out as good as half of the ones ive seen posted in the forum.
 
For temps, I try to maintain somewhere between 300 and 325, and I'll put the turkey on around 10am, pulling it off around 1 or 2pm usually.  Since it's not stuffed, it cooks pretty quickly.  Internal temp???  Honestly I have no idea.  I grab a leg and twist it, just like it's a chicken and if it comes clean, it's done.

My smoker is a cheapy off-set charbroil model.  Silver smoker I believe.  It's not fancy, but it does the job. 

My favorite thing to do is to smoke the turkey, eat a little and save the rest for turkey soup.  If you've never had smoked turkey soup, you're missing out on something really really good.

I used to do the deep fried turkeys, and they were ok, but not really anything special other than the cooking method, at least in my opinion.  The flavor comes from the brine, the rub and the hickory wood. 
 
I concur with your method.  Whatever works out for you to have a delicious meat portion & keeps you happy as you smoke, is always the right way to do it.  Don't forget those photo's or you know how THAT is going to turn out.
Last year, I finally got the smoked turkey done the way I wanted it done.  In the past, I would brine, rub, etc and still come out with dry white meat.  This past year, and I guess you could call it desperation, I decided to up the ante a little bit.

After brining the turkey, I slathered a little rub and butter under the skin of the breasts.  THEN, I laid about half a pack of bacon on top of the bird while it was smoking.  

What I found was, I got the hickory smoke flavor, kept it moist and juicy and only really sacrificed a crispy skin on the breast portions.  I don't know if this is a deal breaker for you guys, but it was excellent eating.

I plan to repeat this for Thanksgiving this year, and will do my absolute best to document it in photos to share here.

Let me know your thoughts, if you have any......I'd love to hear your feedback.
 
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