Smoked turkey - gobble,gobble! BBQ Battle

[WaterRat]

Hey All,
My "free" Thanksgiving turkey -17.5lbs- has been taking up a lot of freezer space and with two days this weekend available to smoke it was time. Started thawing Tuesday morning and by Sat morning it was fully thawed. No picturesque presentation necessary so I butchered into parts leaving the breast whole. Everything got injected with Butcher BBQ Bird Booster then chilled half the day in the fridge. In the meantime I made up some coleslaw and Alabama white sauce.

About 5PM the turkey came out of the fridge and seasoned the breast heavily with Yardbird and Good Shit (yeah that's what it's called). The wings just got Yardbird and the quarters were hit with YB and Aw Shit (spicy stuff) since my wife doesn't care for the dark meat. Setup the pellet pooper at 325°F with PB Competition pellets and commenced cooking. Fast forward an hour and a half and I'm starting to get some collard greens ready - I went to shuffle around the pieces and do a temp check - the breast is almost done! The wings are done and the thighs/drums are close too. I thought this would take around 3hrs! Well, the wings came off, my wife got the collards going, soon after the breast was off, I let the thighs go another 20min to ~185°F IT. Anyhow we had to wait a bit for the collards to finish (probably not turned into complete mush like some people like) then had a very tasty dinner. Not bad for my first "whole" turkey smoke though. The meat came out very tasty though the skin was far from great, certainly room for improvement on future turkey smokes.

Seasonings:

Cooking nicely

Wings are off, almost done, it smells good!

Big pile o'tasty goodness:

My plate:

My Wife's much nicer plate:

Thanks for looking and happy smokin'!
Aaron

 

[02ebz06]

Well done!!! Great looking meal!!!

 

[hoagiehut]

Awesome! I need to put my turkey into the rotation. ...it is time.

 

[SmokinEdge]

Ahhaaw, the forgotten fowl except for 2 days out of the year. You did nice work there, looks delicious and even some smoke ring on that thigh. Very nice.

Btw, that Butcher’s bird booster is good stuff.

 

[JLeonard]

DANG brother! I'd start with your plate and end with the wives. Thats a great looking bird!

Jim

 

[DieselTech]

Looks great. Awesome meal. I'm hoping to try my hand at a whole turkey someday.

 

[Brokenhandle]

Awesome looking bird! And plates... including the deviled eggs! Sometimes I think it's more fun to do turkey at other times than Thanksgiving.

Ryan

 

[chopsaw]

Looks great !

I butchered into parts leaving the breast whole.

I like to break them down like that also but I take the bone out of the breast and tie it up .
Makes a nice slice that way .

Thanks for posting .

 

[chilerelleno]

YUM!

 

[crazymoon]

WR, Your bird looks delicious!

 

[texomakid]

Happy Turkey! I want a deviled egg too

 

[jcam222]

Man you nailed that bird! I really like smoked turkey and should do it more often than Thanksgiving. I do love just doing a bunch of breasts for the freezer.

 

[WaterRat]

Well done!!! Great looking meal!!!

Thank you!

Awesome! I need to put my turkey into the rotation. ...it is time.

Thanks! was past time here too

Ahhaaw, the forgotten fowl except for 2 days out of the year. You did nice work there, looks delicious and even some smoke ring on that thigh. Very nice.

Btw, that Butcher’s bird booster is good stuff.

Thanks. Did a lot of reading before the cook and saw the Bird Booster recommended several times so I gave it a shot.

DANG brother! I'd start with your plate and end with the wives. Thats a great looking bird!

Jim

Thank Jim! She definitely does the better plating

Looks great. Awesome meal. I'm hoping to try my hand at a whole turkey someday.

Thanks much! I’d say if you don’t need a presentation bird, break it down to parts. Just give yourself time, that thing is way tougher than a chicken.

 

[WaterRat]

Awesome looking bird! And plates... including the deviled eggs! Sometimes I think it's more fun to do turkey at other times than Thanksgiving.

Ryan

Thanks Ryan. It was a tasty meal. In fact I have a drumstick packed for lunch today

Looks great !

I like to break them down like that also but I take the bone out of the breast and tie it up .
Makes a nice slice that way .

Thanks for posting .

Thanks Chop! I was tempted to cut it off but left it on the bone in case I overcooked and dried it out (which I almost did). Next time I may do it your way.

YUM!

Thanks Chile!

WR, Your bird looks delicious!

Thanks Crazy!

Happy Turkey! I want a deviled egg too

Thank you! We still have a bunch of deviled eggs, my wife made enough for an army

Man you nailed that bird! I really like smoked turkey and should do it more often than Thanksgiving. I do love just doing a bunch of breasts for the freezer.

Thanks! It will probably be on the menu more often at my house now with my Wife’s semi restricted diet. I do like just a “naked” breast Texas style which is the only turkey I have perviously smoked.

 

[DRKsmoking]

That is a beautiful looking turkey. Great colour and plump.

I can taste that just by seeing it . Nice

David

 

[Redicans]

That looks great!! I like it cut up like that. Never did one that way!

 

[BrianGSDTexoma]

Oh Yeah! Great looking meal there. All those Butcher injections good!