If the wings are getting too dark, cover them with aluminum foil. He wraps the turkey in heavy duty aluminum foil and finishes the cooking in the smoker until the turkey's internal temperature reaches 165 degrees.
WHAT FLAVOR WOOD CHIPS FOR SMOKING TURKEY? We like to use wood chips with a slightly sweet flavor such as apple, apricot, cherry, peach or maple. Hickory is stronger but is always a classic and gives an even smoky flavor! Mesquite also goes well with turkey.
Smoker Temperature
- At 235 F/115 C, your turkey will take 30 to 35 minutes per pound.
- At 250 F/120 C, your turkey will take 25 to 30 minutes per pound.
- At 275 F/135 C, your turkey will take 20 to 25 minutes per pound.
Note: when smoking turkey try purchasing one that is no more than 12-14 pounds. Much larger than this and the meat may stay in the danger zone (40-140 °F) for too long. A 20 pound turkey will take 10-14 hours and larger turkeys greatly increase food contamination risks.
Woods For Smoking Turkey
Aim for lighter tasting woods such as those that come from fruit trees, like cherry wood, to get the sweet smoke and mellow flavor instead of harsher, heavier tasting woods like the commonly used mesquite or hickory or white oak to add subtle smoke flavor?.If using a smoker, prepare it for cooking at 225° to 240°F and have enough smoking wood ready to last 3 to 4 hours or so. Place the turkey, breast side down, directly on the smoker grate. Smoke for 1 hour, maintaining the proper temperature in the smoker.
First, Bring Your Bird to Room Temp
Your turkey will cook more evenly and faster if you start it out at room temperature so remove the turkey from the refrigerator 1 hour before roasting. If you plan to stuff your turkey, wait until you're ready to put it in the oven before putting the stuffing in the turkey.The water pan will catch the dripping as the meat renders and prevents flare-ups on the grill. The water pan in a vertical cooker also adds moisture into the environment which will help maintain an even cooking temperature. Do you need water pan in your Traeger or other pellet style grill.
Humidity (in the smoker) and fat (under the skin) are the culprits for chewy/rubbery skin. Do you have a grill? You could smoke and finish on the grill. If this gets to be too off from Chicken Skin, just post a new thread and we'll help.
Water evens out the temperatures in your smoker:
This will help balance out any potential hot spots in your cooker and keep the heat distribution even, especially if you're cooking indirectly in a kettle style grill or an off-set smoker. Water also takes longer to rise and fall in temperature than other materials.Cook your turkey until your thermometer reads 155 -160 degrees. (Yes, we know that new safe cooking guidelines say to cook your bird to 165 degrees (they used to say 180!), but remember that your turkey will continue to cook after removed from the oven and it's temperature will increase by 10 degrees while resting.
3) A water pan can block direct flame when you need to cook with indirect heat. 4) A water pan becomes a single radiating surface and evens out hot spots. 5) Water vapor mixes with combustion gasses to improve the flavor. 6) Water vapor condenses on the meat and makes it "sticky" allowing more smoke to adhere.
Keep putting wood chips in your smoker for half the cook time or until your meat reaches 140 degrees Fahrenheit. If your wood chips burn too quickly, soak them in water for about 30-60 minutes before using them.
At 250 degrees F your turkey will take 25 to 30 minutes per pound. At 275 degrees F your turkey will take 20 to 25 minutes per pound.
Directions
- Preheat smoker to 225 to 250 degrees F (110 to 120 degrees C).
- Rinse turkey under cold water, and pat dry.
- Smoke at 225 to 250 degrees F (110 to 120 degrees C) for 10 hours, or until internal temperature reaches 180 degrees F (80 degrees C) when measured in the thickest part of the thigh.
The rule of thumb is to smoke the turkey at 300 degrees, 15 minutes for each pound. We used a 17 pound Honeysuckle White turkey for this recipe, and smoked it at 275-300 degrees for just under 4 hours. The turkey is safe to take off the smoker when it's reached 165 degrees.
Typically, it takes at least 6 hours to smoke an average sized turkey at 250 degrees F. Plan on having your turkey cook for about 30 minutes per pound.
Cooked turkey that's still pink can be safe to eat, says the U.S. Department of Agriculture — but only if the turkey's internal temperature has reached 165° F throughout. As the USDA points out, it's not unusual for turkey to remain pink in some areas, even after the poultry has been safely cooked.
Cook your turkey until your thermometer reads 155 -160 degrees. (Yes, we know that new safe cooking guidelines say to cook your bird to 165 degrees (they used to say 180!), but remember that your turkey will continue to cook after removed from the oven and it's temperature will increase by 10 degrees while resting.
Smoke for 30 minutes at 450 F degrees. Open the lid and drop soaked smoke chips down the sides of the egg through the gaps in the platesetter. Flip the turkey over. Close the lid, and reduce the temperature to 350-400 F degrees.
BBQ Smoking Times and Temperatures Chart
| Type of Meat | Smoking Temp* | Time to Complete |
|---|
| Pork Butt (Sliced) | 225 | 1.5 hours/pound |
| Pork Butt (Pulled) | 225 | 1.5 hours/pound |
| Whole Chicken | 250 | 4 hours** |
| Chicken Thighs | 250 | 1.5 hours |
Check for doneness.
A meat thermometer is essential for turkey. It's done when the temperature reaches 165°F inside the thickest part of the breast or about 175°F at the thigh. In general, it will take roughly three hours to cook your turkey, depending on size.Directions
- Preheat smoker to 225 to 250 degrees F (110 to 120 degrees C).
- Rinse turkey under cold water, and pat dry.
- Smoke at 225 to 250 degrees F (110 to 120 degrees C) for 10 hours, or until internal temperature reaches 180 degrees F (80 degrees C) when measured in the thickest part of the thigh.
For a 20+lb turkey it took around 6-8 hours and produced a bird that was very tasty but the breast was way too dry. The turkey skin also turns to shoe leather. The combination of smoking and roasting gives you plenty of smoke flavor, nicely moist meat throughout and skin that is browned and crispy.
When oven roasting a bird, it is a good idea to cover the breasts with foil during part of the cooking time. This is to prevent the skin from burning or drying out. Since smoking takes place at a lower temperature this won't be necessary.
The rule of thumb is to smoke the turkey at 300 degrees, 15 minutes for each pound. We used a 17 pound Honeysuckle White turkey for this recipe, and smoked it at 275-300 degrees for just under 4 hours. The turkey is safe to take off the smoker when it's reached 165 degrees.
You can amake regular collections of drippings to keep them from prolonged smoke exposure to prevent dark gravy. You can also buy turkey stock and mix some of the drippings with it to insure you get the color you want in your gravy. To crisp the skin, I like to cook at 325+ degrees, and it works quite well.
At 235 F/115 C, your turkey will take 30 to 35 minutes per pound. At 250 F/120 C, your turkey will take 25 to 30 minutes per pound. At 275 F/135 C, your turkey will take 20 to 25 minutes per pound.
To reheat remove wrapper and place turkey in a shallow pan containing 2 cups of water. Cover turkey with an aluminium foil 'tent. ' Place in a 350°F oven for 1.75-2 hours or until internal temperature reaches 140°F-145°F. Do not stuff.
The general rule for cooking a turkey is 20 minutes per pound, but that can vary depending on whether or not your turkey recipe calls for a stuffed or unstuffed bird. Use this handy chart to determine approximately how long to cook it, whether stuffed or unstuffed.
When you cook on the smoker, you want to avoid drying out your meat. The larger birds can tend to dry out since you have so much longer to cook. Two smaller birds (around 12-14 lbs each) allows you to cook them faster and avoid overcooking while still having plenty of meat (and you want extra for leftovers of course).
First is the refrigerator method. As you might of guessed, this involves moving your
turkey from the freezer to the fridge, and allowing it to
thaw (slowly) at 40°F or lower.
The Refrigerator Method
- 4 lbs: 1 day to defrost.
- 8 lbs: 2 days to defrost.
- 12 lbs: 3 days to defrost.
- 16 lbs: 4 days to defrost.
At 225 degrees F, you can plan on approximately 30 minutes per pound for your turkey to smoke. For example, this 15 pound turkey will take 7 and 1/2 hours at 225 degrees F. I always plan an extra 30 minutes, just in case. Use an instant read thermometer to check the temperature of the turkey in the breast and thigh.
