any difference between cooking chicken and turkey?


 
LinBerl

LinBerl

TVWBB Member
I'm planning on smoking a turkey for Thanksgiving but don't want to cook a whole one in advance just to make sure it comes out ok. I have used my new 14.5" on chicken enough now that I no longer have rubber skin. I can get the heat to a steady 350 if I prop the lid just a tiny bit and don't use the pan at all (vents fully open). I've cooked chicken quarters and they turned out great this last time and I will cook a couple whole chickens between now and Tday. Is it reasonable to think if a whole chicken comes out ok, that the turkey will as well? I figured out how to cook at a steady 250 for my ribs (they were yummy) and I held the chicken at a steady 350 so I'm feeling pretty good about temps now. However, it would be a disaster if I bombed the turkey for Tday. I will be cooking one around 10 lbs. Is a chicken close enough for practice? thanks...
 
I believe your T-bird will turn out great using the same technique to get your temps. The only difference may be mass given the weight difference but you should come to temp after a few minutes.

My son found a smaller bird that fit on the mini I gave him so I think you can for your 14" WSM. It turned out fantastic!
 
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If you want to die for turkey, you need one of these

$_12.JPG


The problem is, getting the bird out of the smoker when it's done. For that, I came up with a "hook" that I slip into the top of the stand, and lift the bird out on the stand. I cook my bird(s) at 275 a 12-15 LBS bird take < 3 hours, sometime just barely 2 hours
 
It makes the Turkey sit up, not lay down and it allows the heat to cook inside out as well as outside in. Most my Turkey's have been 12LBS, and none of them have been on the smoker for 3 hours, most of them have come off between the 2.25 to 2.5 hour mark (cooking at 265/270)
 
Interesting cooking time ChuckO. Just this past Canadian Thanksgiving our 20 lb turkey in a regular convection oven took 5 hrs at 325. The ROT is 20 min/lb so I am surprised to see your cook that quickly.
 
Tom Golden said:
Interesting cooking time ChuckO. Just this past Canadian Thanksgiving our 20 lb turkey in a regular convection oven took 5 hrs at 325. The ROT is 20 min/lb so I am surprised to see your cook that quickly.
Click to expand...
Here's an excellent video on the subject. I've been using this method (in my WSM, previously my ECB) since he first posted it back in 2011



http://youtu.be/pgiy-p4DK8g
 
That's just the ticket Scott, but you will need something to lift the bird out of the smoker with. If you just grab the bird, the skin will shred off and the bird will fall to the ground, which is a major bummer
 
I have a 18.5 wsm and I like to cut out the back bone and slightly prop open the turkey (back bone facing down) for more even/faster cooking. If I had a 22.5 I might go as far as removing the back bone and pressing the bird flat!
 
Each to their own opinion, and IMO the turkey in the video is seriously undercooked.
I want my poultry cooked until the leg/thigh joints move freely in the joints when you give 'em the shake test.
 
ChuckO said:
It makes the Turkey sit up, not lay down and it allows the heat to cook inside out as well as outside in. Most my Turkey's have been 12LBS, and none of them have been on the smoker for 3 hours, most of them have come off between the 2.25 to 2.5 hour mark (cooking at 265/270)
Click to expand...

How does your skin come out at 265-270 degrees? do you finish it off over high heat to crisp it? I can use a vertical rack, but maybe in my 14.5 I would have to put it on the lower grate and leave off the top grate to fit it - I don't think there's enough room under the 14.5 dome for a vertical bird.
 
ChuckO said:
If you want to die for turkey, you need one of these

$_12.JPG


The problem is, getting the bird out of the smoker when it's done. For that, I came up with a "hook" that I slip into the top of the stand, and lift the bird out on the stand. I cook my bird(s) at 275 a 12-15 LBS bird take < 3 hours, sometime just barely 2 hours
Click to expand...



Where do you buy one of these?
 
LinBerl said:
I'm planning on smoking a turkey for Thanksgiving but don't want to cook a whole one in advance just to make sure it comes out ok. I have used my new 14.5" on chicken enough now that I no longer have rubber skin.
Click to expand...

Lin, Can you please tell me about "rubber skin"?

What was causing it to become rubbery?
How did you eliminate the problem?
 
Roger R. said:
Lin, Can you please tell me about "rubber skin"?

What was causing it to become rubbery?
How did you eliminate the problem?
Click to expand...

Cooking it on too low a temp apparently did not allow the fat under the skin to render, and the skin did not crisp. I tried the "cornstarch" method of adding 1/3 cornstarch to the rub to try to crisp the skin, but I found that changed the texture of the bird meat as well and not for the better. The solution, for me anyway, is to get the smoker up to atleast 350 degrees, cook breast/skin side down for the first 30 minutes, and then flip it. All the fat under the skin renders out and the skin is thin and bite-through. Not exactly crispy, but not flabby. I also found rubbing under and over the skin with olive oil+rub helps and sprinkling a bit of salt on the outside. The only thing I have NOT figured out yet is how to get that dark mahogany color that appears in the photos people are posting. My skin is lightly brown when the breast hits 160 degrees. I'd really like to get better color on my turkey when I cook it, so I may "finish it off" in the oven, although that feels like cheating.
 
Thanks for the tips.
We get one shot at this for Thanksgiving and it's got to be right.

I remember smoking my first Pork Crown - for Christmas dinner!
OMG! If it turns out wrong (any type of wrong) and "that's Christmas
dinner". It turned out perfect though - although I didn't have to
concern myself with rubbery skin or a light colored bird.

Can anybody tell me how they get the birds a roasted brown color?
 
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