Rolling the dice on first turkey smoke!!


 
M

Matt Grabill

TVWBB Fan
Hello all. Wife volunteered me to smoke a turkey for her family this year. It will not be the primary bird as there will be a 28 lb oven roasted and possibly a deep fried. Life got in the way of a test smoke but confidence is not lacking as everything I have tried on my 18.5 has come out great! Got a fresh 16.7lb all natural bird and will apple brine it for 24 hrs followed by a 24 hr rest in the fridge in hopes of crispier skin.I'm taking my smoker with me and cooking on location so I don't have to foil the bird for travel and lose the crispy skin.Plan on 325 to 350 cooking temp , no water in pan. Any suggestions as to how much time to allow ? I was thinking maybe 15 to 20 mins/lb?
Thanks,Matt
 
15-20 min/lb is about right.

Approximate Roasting Times (@ 325*) for Unstuffed Turkey

Turkey Weight - Hours
6 to 8 pounds - 2-1/2 to 3 hours
8 to 12 pounds- 3 to 4 hours
12 to 16 pounds - 4 to 5 hours
16 to 20 pounds - 5 to 5-1/2 hours
20 to 24 pounds - 5-1/2 to 6 hours

Edit: I'd like to add one more note of caution straight from the Butterball website dealing with smokers: "Check the temperature of your turkey after 3½ hours. Your turkey must pass through a critical range of 40° F to 140° F in 4 hours or less. If the internal temperature is low after 3½ hours, take your turkey off the smoker and finish it in the oven."

I've found that if you cook at higher temps (325-350*F) this won't be an issue. Just think of the pit as an outdoor oven and you'll be rewarded with a flavorful treat.
 
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Matt, you'll be fine. Unless you cook them to death, can't really screw them up. I rub my skin with salt and corn starch and it gets crispy, like oven roasted. I run under 300* and they cook pretty fast. Foiling you may lose some of the crisp. 28 lbs.! Where did you get that? 25-26 is the biggest I've seen in years!
 
Thanks Tim, we get all natural fresh birds from our local meat market. Package says Jaindl Farms Grand Champions,Orefield Pa. We just tell them what size. They even gave me a pickle bucket to brine with ! Should have mentioned my wife is 1 of 8 children so the holidays are usually quite the production. Looking forward to blowing them away with the 18.5 which by the way, will be located about 30ft from a keg of Victory Dirt Wolf !!
Matt
 
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