My Thanksgiving Day Turkey


 
Len Dennis

Len Dennis

TVWBB Diamond Member
My Thanksgiving Day Turkey with PICS!

Well, trying my second smoked turkey this Thanksgiving. My first bird I had brined and did it at the 225-230o level. It turned out very moist, tasted like ham (not too keen on that) and the skin, well Goodyear couldn't hold a candle to it :mad:

This time I wanted to get nice and crispy and NOT hammy so after some searching online, came up with

CAJUN turkey.

You all know I like spicy (heck, I grow cayennes and habs (first time) and make my own hot sauce. Cajun turkey seems like a no brainer. I have to say my wife doesn't know it's Cajun, just that I put "red" spices in/on it.

I also did a cajun injection (boy, this bird is going to take off what with the spices in it -->black pepper, white pepper, cayenne pepper (in rub AND injection) and other assorted flavourings).

I'll post pics as I get them off the camera but in the meantime, I'll describe what turned out to be an issue. edit-->PICS ADDED!

People seem to have trouble either maintaining a low (by low I mean 160-170o--I did 170 when I recently made kielbasa and it was easy). Getting this WSM up to 325 was (and is) a struggle.

With no meat, I got to 325 after an hour. Used 1/2 a ring and a full chimney fully engulfed in flames/ash. But when the meat went in, it dropped to 225 (normal for a drop at the beginning). An hour later it's still only sitting at 280. Two hours into the cook it's only 307. Not good. About the only thing that I believed might help is propping the door open.

The temp dropped 10 degrees to 289o. GRRRRRR!

Gave up on getting it to 325+ and just letting it cook. Breast at 156 at the two hour mark.


Now 2 hr 10 min and the breast is at 165 and thigh at 175 :)


OK here are the promised pics:

Smoker set up . Note the bricks under the drip pan. Three chunks apple, 3/4 bag K.B. and a full chimney used


The bird trussed up, injected with a cajun solution and cajun rub under (and left over rub on) the skin


In the assembled smoker 12 pm


The finished product at 2.25 pm (13 lb, cooked fast) but only at 300o for most of the time (rubber again :( )


Some of my country harvest brown bread (new recipe)


Nothing but bones left :)


Also had corn, spuds, broccoli onion casserole, homemade gravy and punkin pie and whipped cream (along with the usual cookies, squares, etc)

Best Thanksgiving yet. Even wifey liked it (and as she doesn't care for spicy stuff, that's saying something. It wasn't really spicy, just a nice flavourful mix of cajun-type spices).

Thanks for looking.
 
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Len Dennis said:
The temp dropped 10 degrees to 289o. GRRRRRR! Gave up on getting it to 325+ and just letting it cook. Breast at 156 at the two hour mark. Now 2 hr 10 min and the breast is at 165 and thigh at 175 :) Pics to follow.
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Try taking the door off and turning it upside down and propping it open with a bbq brush or something similar. That'll help get some air in the chamber and increase the heat to 300+
 
ChuckO said:
Try taking the door off and turning it upside down and propping it open with a bbq brush or something similar. That'll help get some air in the chamber and increase the heat to 300+
Click to expand...

Not this time. Bird is done. Any longer, the skin will crisp but the meat will be overdone (up to 350 now with door open. No turkey in there, just a ham warming up). In an aside, it's 2 hr too early. I get yelled at if it's late and and I gets yelled at if it's early.

I got yelled at :(

The worst part is festivities are supposed to start at 4. Never show up till 5 (but not something I can count on). Damned if I do and damned if I don't.

It's a good thing I'm good at ribs & p.p. This turkey routine is a once a year thing (smoking it) and well, the meat is good if the skin doesn't quite make it.

Time to open my 12 yr old Scotch me thinks and enjoy the rest of this 70o fall afternoon. Cheers!
 
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Gee Len I just thought it was me not being able to get my 18.5 WSM over 300. We live at 5400 ft. so the thin air may be part of it. Without the water pan in it it's doable I can get to 350 when I do HH chicken in it, but don't think that would work very well with a turkey in a roasting pan.
That's why I do my turkeys on the performer it's easier for me to get 325+ on it.
But I do understand your frustration been there done that.
 
Happy Thanksgiving to you Len! (A day early?) Remember, it's the thought and effort that matter. I'm sure everyone will enjoy the turkey.
 
Clint said:
This is the next mod I'd like to do: http://virtualweberbullet.com/accessdoor.html#upside
door7.jpg
Click to expand...
That's a must have to guarantee steady high heat
 
I have an extra door for my 18" smoker to play with, but how do you keep the door from sliding downward with the bolt modification in place? What holds it up?


Thanks for posting your experience, Len. I'll be attempting to smoke a turkey soon myself.
 
Rusty James said:
I have an extra door for my 18" smoker to play with, but how do you keep the door from sliding downward with the bolt modification in place? What holds it up?


Thanks for posting your experience, Len. I'll be attempting to smoke a turkey soon myself.
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The door is inverted, and it rests on the bolts. You can vary the amount of air allowed in by how much gap you allow. Works like a charm. And it's an easy mod.
 
Pics up tomorrow as it's too late now. I didn't give the "open door" a chance. When it dropped that 10o, I just chickened out.

BTW, the turkey skin was mostly rubber. Some of the thinner parts were ok. The cajun injection and rub was soooooo good, even wifey who doesn't really care for spicy stuff liked it.

The meat was as juicy as brining and NO hammy taste. Injection is my go to method for this in the future.

Pics tomorrow.

BTW: I took out the bowl for this. I put two regular red house bricks on the lower ra k and put a foil tray on top to catch (the minimal) juices. It lifted the top rack by about 1/4" so it was just right. I really need to use the "open door" (only about 1/2" at the bottom appears to be all thats needed. I had put a ham in just to get warm and after 45 minutes, the bottom of the ham was burnt :mad: if you can believe it (this is on the TOP rack) and the temps were up to 350.

Want hi heat?: take the pan out and open the door at the bottom (by turning it upside down and supporting it at the bottom so it can't slip out.
 
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Just my 2 cents Len but if you cook on a kettle instead of the WSM you can get any temp you want easily. From 225 to 400+.
 
Mark B said:
The door is inverted, and it rests on the bolts. You can vary the amount of air allowed in by how much gap you allow. Works like a charm. And it's an easy mod.
Click to expand...


Gotcha.

The example photo provided in the link did not show the bolts resting on the door opening, but it was mentioned in the last sentence of the description. I think I'll give this modification a try provided the bolts do not hinder normal operation - which, they probably won't as long as I follow the drilling directions.
 
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Cliff Bartlett said:
Happy Thanksgiving to you Len! (A day early?) Remember, it's the thought and effort that matter. I'm sure everyone will enjoy the turkey.
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A day early: absolutely correct. BUT it gives the younger folk a day of rest before going back to work on Tuesday. That is a big benefit.
 
Robert T said:
Just my 2 cents Len but if you cook on a kettle instead of the WSM you can get any temp you want easily. From 225 to 400+.
Click to expand...

Congrats on the Thanksgiving cook Len.
I have to agree with Robert T on this one. A kettle or Performer is the best approach for Turkey. When I tried to do turkey a few years ago on my WSM it turned out Ok but not as good or as easy as on my Performer. Using an indirect approach on the Performer gives me a high heat cook so the skin is crisp and it is also easy to control the temps. I started doing this probably 20 years ago on a basic Weber 22 kettle. Used the recipe in one of the old Weber soft cover books and everyone loved it. Just my twenty cents, but this comes from many years experience. Good luck next time.
 
I had the same trouble last year getting the wsm above 325, figured out i had to light 2 chimneys full and dump them in the charcoal ring. Looking forward to your pics! I did my practice turkey last night after i got home from the Bucs game and it came out juicy and tasty!
 
Len Dennis said:
pics added in first post
Click to expand...
It's a dang good looking turkey, color is amazing. It's really hard to get "crispy skin" in the WSM. Now that I'm going to have a S330, I'm very tempted to cook it indirect in my soon to have S330. I always got good skin when cooking indirect on the gasser, I rarely get good skin when using my kettles or WSM

Looks good, Len

Cajun%20Smoked%20Turkey_zpsoobjeh99.jpg
 
My wife cooks her seasoned turkey (Honeysuckle White) in a roasting bag, placed inside of a large roasting pan, along with several cups of water in the bag. She sets the oven somewhere between 225 - 250 and lets the bird (usually 24 pounds) cook all night. The turkey comes out pretty good in my opinion, although we do not eat the skin.

The water (now seasoned with drippings) is used for making a large pan of cornbread stuffing.

So, your biggest complaint is the skin, Len? It sure looks good in my opinion, but I guess the meat texture would be the most important item. Sounds like yours came out well after reading your posts.

I'll be practicing on a Honeysuckle White turkey breast (pre-brined with 15% solution) this week. I'll probably use some creole seasonings for the rub, and was entertaining thoughts of pineapple juice injections.
 
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