Mahogany is a Good Color for a Turkey


 
K

Keith Jenkins

TVWBB Fan
Decided to smoke our Thanksgiving turkey a few days early, since rain is forecast for later in the week.

Started with a 13 lb stock Butterball:

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Cooked in my 18" WSM over Royal Oak lump with some hickory chunks, and a dry (but foiled) water pan.

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Though the boned turkey is destined for the freezer until Thursday, quality control sampling by myself as well as our daughter-in-law give it two(y).
 
Actually, I'm intrigued; are you saying you are freezing it tonight and serving it Thursday? Can you elaborate on that process?
 
I started the turkey at about 7:40 this morning, and pulled it out about noon. We had it boned, in zip lock bags and in the refrigerator by early afternoon, and it went into the freezer earlier this evening. We will move some of the bags of turkey back to the refrigerator early Wednesday to thaw, and then heat the turkey (sans the zip lock bags) in the oven in a pan covered with foil and perhaps a little additional water on Thursday. If I had smoked it closer to Thursday (say Wednesday) we might not have frozen the turkey we planned to eat on Thursday, but we felt that keeping the turkey in the refrigerator from today though early Thursday was just too much time to be safe. I do like to smoke ahead (though maybe not this far in advance) for two other reasons. 1) I've learned the hard way that timing BBQ to be ready at a specific time is very risky, and; 2) when I've been tending a smoker for hours, I find that my sense of smell and taste tend to be a bit overwhelmed. For me, I get more enjoyment by eating my handiwork a day or more later when my smell and taste have returned to normal.
 
Ah... I missed the boned note in your initial thread and thought you were freezing a whole, cooked turkey. Sorry to put you through all of that lol but thanks.
 
BFletcher said:
Ah... I missed the boned note in your initial thread and thought you were freezing a whole, cooked turkey. Sorry to put you through all of that lol but thanks.
Click to expand...
No worries. Happy Thanksgiving, my fellow Buckeye (I grew up in NE Ohio).

Edit: Doing the turkey this way means we won't have the Norman Rockwell turkey carving moment on Thursday, but we're fine with that.
 
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