Smoked Pulled Turkey


 
L

Larry Wolfe

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I've been thinking about doing a smoked pulled turkey for a while and finally got around to trying it. I rubbed a cheap pumped 15lb turkey down with my rub and cooked with three pieces of BBQr's Delight Wood Stix (2 apple, 1 cherry). Smoked the turkey at 235* until it hit 155* in the breast, then tightly wrapped in HDAF and continued to cook until the breast hit 180*
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. I know what you're thinking, but it was very moist. Once the turkey was at 180* I wrapped in a big beach towel and place into a cooler breast side down for about 2 hours. The meat pulled extremely easy, was super tender and the flavor was incredible. I will definitely be doing this again sooner rather than later!

 
You Know Larry, I only live about 45 miles away. You could have called a guy and invited ME over for dinner. Great job on the bird. I love Wolfe Rub on chicken, I bet its great on turkeys too.
 
How long did it take you to get the turkey's temperature up to 155 and then, wrapped, to 180? It looks great. I intend to try it.
 
Originally posted by C. Moore:
How long did it take you to get the turkey's temperature up to 155 and then, wrapped, to 180? It looks great. I intend to try it.
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I think it was around 3 hours, give or take a few minutes! Thanks, let me know how you like it!! Hope as much as I did!!
 
Larry,

I gave it a shot last Saturday. I could not find a self-basting turkey, so I bought a 14 pound fresh turkey and thoroughly injected it with a mixture of a vinegar based sauce, olive oil, and Samuel Adams Boston lager. I was only able to let it sit for half an hour before I put it on the heat. It took it 3.5 hours at 235 to come up to 158 degrees. I wrapped it in foil, and kept it on the heat for another hour and a half until the temperature got up to 185 degrees. Wrapped it in blankets and let it sit in a cooler for another 2.5 hours until everyone was ready to eat. The results were awesome. It pulled apart very easily, and I was amazed to see how much of the leg, wing, and thigh meat was in demand by the white-meat/breast snobs. It is one of the best things I have cooked. Thanks for the idea and the roadmap to getting it done.
 
Originally posted by C. Moore:
Larry,

I gave it a shot last Saturday. I could not find a self-basting turkey, so I bought a 14 pound fresh turkey and thoroughly injected it with a mixture of a vinegar based sauce, olive oil, and Samuel Adams Boston lager. I was only able to let it sit for half an hour before I put it on the heat. It took it 3.5 hours at 235 to come up to 158 degrees. I wrapped it in foil, and kept it on the heat for another hour and a half until the temperature got up to 185 degrees. Wrapped it in blankets and let it sit in a cooler for another 2.5 hours until everyone was ready to eat. The results were awesome. It pulled apart very easily, and I was amazed to see how much of the leg, wing, and thigh meat was in demand by the white-meat/breast snobs. It is one of the best things I have cooked. Thanks for the idea and the roadmap to getting it done.
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Thanks! I'm glad you liked it! The dark meat is my favorite too!

I was just talking to a friend about the smoked pulled turkey.........I have two bags left of the last one I did in the freezer and am thinking about having it for dinner tonight!!! Now after your post I think I will definitely have it!!!
 
One thing. Half-way through the smoke, I turned the turkey breast-side down. I have and V-angled rack that helped. I am convinced that it helped with keeping the meat moist and, essentially, self-basted. I will cook all birds that way from now on. Again, thanks for the great idea. The women in my family (who are convinced they are health conscious) will insist that I cook turkey instead of pork from now on. Take care.

Charlie
 
I much prefer to brine my own bird. (Might just be me, but that sounds vaguely - inappropriate.) Anyway, with holiday season approaching, I'm going to have to make it a point to smoke 2 or 3 natural turkeys a month so I can stock the freezer.
 
Originally posted by C. Howlett:
I much prefer to brine my own bird. (Might just be me, but that sounds vaguely - inappropriate.) Anyway, with holiday season approaching, I'm going to have to make it a point to smoke 2 or 3 natural turkeys a month so I can stock the freezer.
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Brining your own bird is indeed the best way to go!
 
Looks great as usual Larry! The next time I do a turkey it will definately be pulled. I'm not very talented when it comes to properly slicing and plating/presenting turkey. This would solve that problem and still taste great.

Brandon
 
First class, Larry!

Brandon, you say that you are not very talented in slicing and plating. Well, you know how to get more talented? By doing and practicing, and learning by your mistakes. And the mistakes will still be edible.
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That looks killer Larry and nice pictures of the process. I'll get around to smoking a turkey some day. Question, if I wanted to slice and not pull, what internal temp would you take a 15 lb bird like yours off the smoker?
 
Originally posted by Toby Keil:
That looks killer Larry and nice pictures of the process. I'll get around to smoking a turkey some day. Question, if I wanted to slice and not pull, what internal temp would you take a 15 lb bird like yours off the smoker?
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When the breast hits 160º.....the thighs are always at least 170º at that point which is fine with me.
 
Originally posted by Brandon A:
Looks great as usual Larry! The next time I do a turkey it will definately be pulled. I'm not very talented when it comes to properly slicing and plating/presenting turkey. This would solve that problem and still taste great.

Brandon
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Brandon, you can do it! Carving a turkey is very simple. Remove each breast lobe by running a sharp knife down the breast bone and then slice across width wise and place on a platter. Remove the wings and legs and leave whole and place on the outter edges of the platter and then pull the thigh meat into bite size pieces. It's simple and leaves a nice presentation too!

Here's a sample.

Turn this
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Into this
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Great Job carving that Turkey. I am getting better, better everytime I try. It looks like you cut the bird in half, deboned it, trussed it to smoke then untied it on the plate. NICE!
 
Nice one Larry. Been thinking the same myself for some time (pulled turkey). Going to give it a try next time instead of pork shoulder. Looks great. Might foil/pull mine a little earlier though.

Looks fantastic!!

First up is a pork loin done "Rita Style" though this weekend
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Hi Larry, I am thinking about smoking some pork butt for a party. There will be a few guests who do not eat pork, so I am thinking about trying what you did above.

Do you know why or can you explain how the turkey breast does not dry out even though it has reached an internal temp. of 180°? Thank you.

Erik
 
Originally posted by Erik G:

Do you know why or can you explain how the turkey breast does not dry out even though it has reached an internal temp. of 180°? Thank you.

Erik
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Erik,
Foiling the turkey midway through the cook as well as letting it rest in the cooler upside down really helped keep the breast meat moist. Mixing the white and dark meat together also helps moisten the white meat.

One thing to caution though is to be extremely careful when or if you plan on reheating, as it WILL dry out, even in vacuum bags if over heated. Mix a little turkey or chicken stock with the meat before you reheat and that will really help. Or if you don't have any stock a little BBQ sauce will work.

This was a great alternative to pulled pork and we really enjoyed it and the neighbors really liked it too.
 
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