Pellet Fan
All Things Considered => General Discussion--Food Related => Topic started by: Hank D Thoreau on December 01, 2022, 05:36:01 PM
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We had our chef friend over for late Sunday Thanksgiving. We did a smoked turkey for the first time. I previously had trouble with leathery skin when doing legs. It was explained to me that this is because I did not cook hot enough to render the fat under the skin which causes it to stay in place and gel, rather than spreading throughout the meat.
The chef started by spatchcocking the turkey, which turned out to require more strength than expected. This was the first time she had done a turkey this way.
She separated the legs and thighs from the rest of the turkey. We used to the griddle to brown the turkey prior to placing it in the smoker.
I ran the smoker at about 300 to 325. We flipped the turkey near the end of the cook because the IT was showing low on top (145) but done on the bottom.
The turkey turned out pretty good but was not as moist as I get when I use my Weber cooker. I would rate it successful for a first try.
Lessons learned:
We should have pulled it at the time we flipped it.
We need to separate the thighs from the legs so that we can brown all the skin. I couldn't rotate the legs to get the button side.
We need to split the turkey down the middle to help with the browning. The full turkey was difficult to manipulate to get complete skin contact with the griddle.
We need to remove the wings so that they can be browned.
We need to cook the dark meat longer. My wife and I like really well-done dark meat. Even though it measured IT 175, it was still a bit rubbery.
Overall, it was a good learning experience. I have done many turkeys on my Weber cooker, and they all turn out great. This was pushing in a new direction.
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I don't know......that looks pretty darn good. :clap: Only thing worries me about putting a turkey in my smoker, fowl absorbs smoke so fast that SWMBO won't eat it. I have to be very careful when cooking any fowl for her.
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I would suggest if you are going to go that far in breaking down the bird, bone it all out. Bone out the breast, try keeping them in one piece skin intact, bone out the thighs ans you could do the legs with them attached or separated.
This year I found out I had to do Thanksgiving dinner on Tuesday morning. So I had to go find everything I needed. boned it all out except for the legs, brined it for about 8 hours then bagged. SV the breast at 145 for 4.5 hours the dark meat at 175 for 7 hours. Put the breast under the broiler to brown and used the torch on the thighs. I left the legs for my self the next day and the wings I did them in the water and are in the fridge. I will take them out and either broil or try out the air fryer. I used the carcass and made stock.
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I would suggest if you are going to go that far in breaking down the bird, bone it all out. Bone out the breast, try keeping them in one piece skin intact, bone out the thighs ans you could do the legs with them attached or separated.
This year I found out I had to do Thanksgiving dinner on Tuesday morning. So I had to go find everything I needed. boned it all out except for the legs, brined it for about 8 hours then bagged. SV the breast at 145 for 4.5 hours the dark meat at 175 for 7 hours. Put the breast under the broiler to brown and used the torch on the thighs. I left the legs for my self the next day and the wings I did them in the water and are in the fridge. I will take them out and either broil or try out the air fryer. I used the carcass and made stock.
The large piece that contained the breast was completely boned out except for the wings. That was the step that took so much strength. The large section was sliced with no bone when done. See the last picture.
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Looks like the skin came out fairly well. I never eat it unless it is deep fried so it never is an issue with my Turkey cooks.
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Looks like the skin came out fairly well. I never eat it unless it is deep fried so it never is an issue with my Turkey cooks.
The skin came out fine. That was my biggest concern. Fortunately, I had just done turkey legs as a test and the skin was good.
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Smoked turkey is a second to bacon in the number 1 thing requested off the smoker from family and friends.
I haven't purchased a whole turkey in years, maybe 8 or so. I purchase turkey legs by the case (usually 15 in a case ~2 lbs each) then the Honeysuckle frozen turkey breast. ~12 lbs, I'll cook two or more depending on # of guests.)
Brine, I go crazy, sometimes up to a week in the liquid. Pink Salt, salt, pepper, cumin, garlic powder, paprika, brown sugar, liquid smoke, molasses. Items in bold seem to be the key.
I'll start at 225, legs on first. As indicated the dark meat can take a higher IT, I'll go up to 180. If I don't like the skin, I'll even reverse sear on the gasser to crisp up at the end. I spray with PAM at the onset. Often cook up to 7 hours.
At the 2 or 3 hour mark, I'll add the breasts, same PAM, but pull with a much lower IT. 155 and let it come up to 160 or so. For so many years I thought the white meat needed 180, and that is some dry turkey! Now I know better.
While it takes a bit of brine prep, this is an incredibly easy way to knock it out of the park every time with turkey. I suppose the main thought here is breast and legs are completely different meats for the cook.
DK
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Smoked turkey is a second to bacon in the number 1 thing requested off the smoker from family and friends.
I haven't purchased a whole turkey in years, maybe 8 or so. I purchase turkey legs by the case (usually 15 in a case ~2 lbs each) then the Honeysuckle frozen turkey breast. ~12 lbs, I'll cook two or more depending on # of guests.)
Brine, I go crazy, sometimes up to a week in the liquid. Pink Salt, salt, pepper, cumin, garlic powder, paprika, brown sugar, liquid smoke, molasses. Items in bold seem to be the key.
I'll start at 225, legs on first. As indicated the dark meat can take a higher IT, I'll go up to 180. If I don't like the skin, I'll even reverse sear on the gasser to crisp up at the end. I spray with PAM at the onset. Often cook up to 7 hours.
At the 2 or 3 hour mark, I'll add the breasts, same PAM, but pull with a much lower IT. 155 and let it come up to 160 or so. For so many years I thought the white meat needed 180, and that is some dry turkey! Now I know better.
While it takes a bit of brine prep, this is an incredibly easy way to knock it out of the park every time with turkey. I suppose the main thought here is breast and legs are completely different meats for the cook.
DK
So you are curing them using Cure 1, the pink salt in your recipe? I think I did something similar when Iused to try to make the disney style legs.I have cured a whole turkey is was very good, have not done that in years though.
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yes the hammy Disney legs was my inspiration to go ahead and add the pink salt to the brine. I just googled and it says 1/2 cup per gallon. I'm not putting near that much in. I'll have to play with the ratios next time I do legs.
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yes the hammy Disney legs was my inspiration to go ahead and add the pink salt to the brine. I just googled and it says 1/2 cup per gallon. I'm not putting near that much in. I'll have to play with the ratios next time I do legs.
When I do a brine I usually go 1.5 tablespoons to a gallon. Thanks for the conformation.
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When I used to wet brine corned beef it was 3Tbs (1/4 Cup) of #1 per gallon of water.
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I used to love turkey legs when I was a kid (pre-teen). I used to eat a whole leg and sometimes two. Not sure how my grandmother made them, but I loved them. For some reason, I think she may have seared them in a skillet first and then baked them afterwards. I didn't have a turkey leg for probably 40+ years until last year. I bought a few at an Oktoberfest. They were horrible. I decided I don't need them anymore. I prefer moist breast meat for turkey and chicken nowadays.
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This is a little off subject, but last year I bought two turkeys after Christmas @ .59/lb. While looking for a way to process them, I ran across this video. Results were easy to use turkey quarters. It gave me the ability to cook the dark meat to a different temperature than the white. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-sMdmCDXJ4
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I get a pretty even cook with just spatchcocking the turkey. Legs actually get done a tad quicker than the breast.
I don't think I would ever put raw poultry on a wood surface as he does in the video.