Thanksgiving Cajun Smoked Turkey

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Had my wife thaw a turkey for me to smoke this weekend, and today was the day to play with the smoker.

Take one turkey and spatchcock.
Pat dry and rub well with a 1:3 baking powder/salt mix, then air dry in the fridge for 24 hrs.
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Pull it out and inject it with Cajun Butter, then oil it and generously cover with my Cajun poultry rub.
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Then into a 350°-375° smoker with a mix of hickory and cherry.
One probe each in the breast and thigh, cooking the breast to 165°, the thighs went to 197° waiting on the breast, but the injections kept the thighs juicy and pretty tender.
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This was one tasty bird, and juicy too.
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No rubbery skin here and more than just a bite through, this had a crisp Pop! as you bit it, not crispy crunchy, but danged nice.
Baking Powder, Air Dried and High Heat!
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The Finale
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After the main meal I was shredding hand fulls of meat and rolling it in the cajun spiced juices.
Oh man, talk about intense flavor, I think I entered food nirvana for a short period.

I also made a side and dessert.

Salsa Verde Taters

Preheat oven to 450°

2 bags Hashbrown Taters
1 large Onion, chopped medium
2 7oz cans of Salsa Verde
1 28oz can of Green Enchilada sauce
1T granulated garlic

Dump it all in to a 9x13 casserole dish and mix well
Bake at 450° till hot and bubbling throughout, approx 1.5 hours

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Smoked Apple Roses
https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/smoked-apple-roses.278257/#post-1860298
 
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Yummy. I spin my birds, about 600 degrees. Great skin.
 
Let it come up to room temp

Especially with poultry (bacteria forms up to 7 times the rate of bacteria growth with poultry) - don't let it come up to room temp, go from refrigerator to preheated smoker immediately. This shortens the time drastically in bringing the meat to increasing temperature, instead of it accumulating bacteria on the exposed surfaces over a longer period of time.
 
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Especially with poultry (bacteria forms up to 7 times the rate of bacteria growth with poultry) - don't let it come up to room temp, go from refrigerator to preheated smoker immediately. This shortens the time drastically in bringing the meat to increasing temperature, instead of it accumulating bacteria on the exposed surfaces over a longer period of time.
Thanks for the recommendation Pops.
 
Looking good chile, I love me some smoked turkey.

Point for sure.

Chris
 
I'm not big on turkey either, but this makes me want to go out and buy one to try. Like
 
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