My mom just asked me to smoke the Turkey for TDay, if I'm not traveling. Chris recommends a test run. Should I do a complete test run same size/ brand of turkey? I don't have a ton of time over the next few weeks should I skip the brine, or can I just go for it based off the advice of this board? I'm no rookie to using my wsm but am certainly not an expert like some oc you guyd.
Test Run?
- Thread starter Jeffrey S
- Start date
Paul Pearson
TVWBB Super Fan
Imo, if there are a lot of differences between the test and the real cook as far as prep or methods you wont have a good idea of what to expect. Try to do things how you will the day of during the test cook to avoid surprises.
If you've done the process once before it is usually a lot less stressful the day of.
If you've done the process once before it is usually a lot less stressful the day of.
Al Silverman
TVWBB Pro
There are a couple of things that I've learned, over the last 10 years, regarding the smoking of turkeys.
1. Brining helps. But not necessary if you get a self basting bird. I brine with a basic salt and brown sugar mix.
2. Slow cooking takes too much time and adds nothing. Use high heat 350°. I add a full chimney of lit briquettes to a less than full ring of unlit hardwood charcoal. Let is sit for about 15 mins before adding the smoke wood, the turkey and assembling. I use an empty, foil lined and covered, water pan.
3. Not too much wood. A couple of chunks will do fine.
4. I cook till the temp in the breast is 160° and the thigh is at least 175°.
1. Brining helps. But not necessary if you get a self basting bird. I brine with a basic salt and brown sugar mix.
2. Slow cooking takes too much time and adds nothing. Use high heat 350°. I add a full chimney of lit briquettes to a less than full ring of unlit hardwood charcoal. Let is sit for about 15 mins before adding the smoke wood, the turkey and assembling. I use an empty, foil lined and covered, water pan.
3. Not too much wood. A couple of chunks will do fine.
4. I cook till the temp in the breast is 160° and the thigh is at least 175°.
Dwain Pannell
TVWBB Hall of Fame
I would not do a test run if you are no stranger to your WSM and are used to keeping temps in the 350* F range. Cooking anything on the WSM is no different than cooking in the oven. In fact, the WSM is simply a charcoal fired oven.
I recommend you go to the Butterball web site and use their recommended cook temp and time. You might start 30 min prior to give you a comfort factor but you will be very close.
I also recommend a completely thawed bird to start with.
Cheers!
I recommend you go to the Butterball web site and use their recommended cook temp and time. You might start 30 min prior to give you a comfort factor but you will be very close.
I also recommend a completely thawed bird to start with.
Cheers!
Last edited:
Ted from Bristow
TVWBB Member
I did a test run last weekend. I figured an 11lb bird at .89lb was a cheap experiment. It was a REALLY windy day and I had trouble getting the smoker over 280-290. As a result, the skin came out rubbery. However, the meat was fantastic. If nothing else, I know the wood/butter/spice combo I used worked out well. I'll probably give it another go this weekend.
Rich Dahl
R.I.P. 7/21/2024
What Dwain said and make double sure that bird is defrosted completely or you will end up with dry white and uncooked dark meat.
JShoemaker
TVWBB Member
I'm doing a 'test run' this weekend too.
Bought a 14# Butterball last weekend, that is thawing in the fridge. I'm NOT brining, and i'll just do a standard rub on outside, and likely inject w/something(butter?). Goal is 325temp for as long as it takes.
Fingers crossed, as it's my first bird on the smoker. (I prefer ribs/pork/brisket)
Bought a 14# Butterball last weekend, that is thawing in the fridge. I'm NOT brining, and i'll just do a standard rub on outside, and likely inject w/something(butter?). Goal is 325temp for as long as it takes.
Fingers crossed, as it's my first bird on the smoker. (I prefer ribs/pork/brisket)
Steve Porter
TVWBB Super Fan
We did a 14lb bird on our 26.75" kettle 2 weekends ago as a practice run for Thanksgiving. Bird turned out well, I'm glad I did a practice bird. It took about 2 hours longer to do than I thought it would because the bird wasn't thawed out completely before we started ( I had to move the cook up from Sunday to Saturday due to other recreational opportunities ) but once done it was very tasty. And that was with a turkey I threw into the freezer back in 2011!
Todd Phillips
TVWBB Pro
What carl said! If you are not comfortable with the WSM/Kettle or have never done a bird on the grill. Then by all means knock one out ahead of time. 325-350 with a good brine and probe=Win! The only real way to break it is if you over complicate it. like lifting the lid and checking it every 10min Or getting to drunk and passing out.
Joe Milczewski
TVWBB Fan
Agree with this +1,000. That's the beauty of it. Light it, load it up and let it roll. Even I have a hard time screwing that up! Turkey is the simplest thing I cook and almost always the most popular.
So i guess the consensus is that a test run isn't necessary for me. I'm planning on doing a fresh bird with a brine. I do chickens a few times a month at about 300 so the heat is something i'll just have to crank up a little bit. I'm planning on doing my standard set up. Kingsford Start on top of Wicked Good Weekend using Applewood and a little Blueberry that I got from a local orchard. I'll use my maverick as usual and I shouldn't have any real surprises. I might do a test run with a butterball just for the sake of it if I have time.
So I ended up doing a test run. I used an 11lb frozen bird rubbed it and injected the breasts. I followed meatheads gravy recipe. I should have thought about it before but the large amount of liquid in the pan made it hard to get up to temperature. I ended up throwing in an extra half a chimney after about an hour and that brought the temp up to 315ish. I wasn't a fan of the gravy so now I have to decide to I stick with it, we are making a regular gravy ahead of time, and light two chimneys or does someone else have a better gravy recipe that uses less liquid in the pan and just start one chimney? Or do you guys usually just start two chimneys anyway and keep the vents mostly close.