Need some advice for transporting a smoked turkey.


 
Rich Dahl

Rich Dahl

R.I.P. 7/21/2024
My foot doctor is an avid BBQ smoker and has been asked to smoke a turkey for Thanksgiving. The issue is he then needs to keep it hot and transport it to Phoenix which is a 1-2 hour drive.
He told me last year he wrapped it in ten foil and that didn’t work very well, he said the heat steamed the skin and made it really soggy.
I’ve never dealt with transporting a turkey. My only thought was maybe a prewarmed cooler and towels on top of the bird.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Rich
 
Any wrapping with foil, towels, etc will steam the skin. But I don't see what choice you have unless you're going to smoke it in his parking lot! I'd go with cooler and towels, it will stay piping hot for the trip to PHX.
 
That's always the problem. It never fails I cook a turkey with great skin and wind up having to at least tent it and the skin goes soggy because it's ready too soon or people won't sit down and eat. A pre-warmed cooler would probably work but you still gotta cover the bird with something. Butcher paper, maybe? I don't know.
 
Chris Allingham said:
Any wrapping with foil, towels, etc will steam the skin. But I don't see what choice you have unless you're going to smoke it in his parking lot! I'd go with cooler and towels, it will stay piping hot for the trip to PHX.
Click to expand...

This.

I smoked a turkey a few years ago for a bash an hour away. It came out of the smoker with skin so crisp I thought it'd shatter. A cooler with a couple of kitchen towels kept it plenty warm, but the skin definitely suffered.
 
Wow! Thanks guys for your input. I agree this is a thorny issue. Beef is an easy one but not turkey. I'll Let you know what worked if anything at all.
FYI, Chris I gave him one of the cards you sent me and he is on fire with the forum, he certainty has some skills and hopefully will come out of the shadows and contribute to the forum.
Thanks again everyone!
 
We can send a person to outer space but we can't keep turkey skin crisp while traveling for an hour or so. Crack the code and maybe '' your name here '' can go down in history like Einstein, Tesla and Newton. 😀
 
This thread is was I was looking for but not the answers I was seeking haha. I was planning to make just a supplemental bone in breast to accompany the whole bird my brother cooks in the oven. Unfortunately we are early gatherers but late eaters. So even though I only travel 20 minutes away, the gathering starts at 2 for apps and football but we don't sit down to dinner until 6. I figured that 4 hours was a long time for a turkey breast to be sitting resting trying to stay hot without the skin turning to mush.
 
I haven't had to transport a turkey, but I might think of pulling it out of the cooker about 10° shy of done, transporting it unwrapped, but in a cooler, then finishing it in an oven at 300° at the destination.

Jeff
 
There's an advantage to that. The skin will get a bit soggy in the cooler, the oven should crisp it up nicely.
 
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