Thanksgivings fast approaching, so let’s talk turkey. What shall we talk about? How about the fact that I love turkey, and
one bird is just never enough for the various turkey related holidays we have
around here. I always roast a big bird
in the oven, and fry a second in a deep fryer outside. Two birds make sure that there are plenty of
leftovers. But the last couple of years,
I’ve been doing three, because, well, I love leftover turkey, and so do several
other members of the family. The third bird
has ended up being smoked, and oh, my friends, it is a heavenly way to cook
turkey. Simple, too. And you can do it in advance, saving time
during the hectic cooking frenzy that always seems to exist on Thanksgiving.
The idea for the smoked bird came about when a couple of
friends sent us a Greenberg Smoked Turkey.
It was some of the most amazing poultry I’d ever tasted, and this from a
bird that’s been shipped through the mail!
I had to have more.
But of
course, since I fancy myself a smoker of some merit, I had to figure out how to
do it myself. After a couple of years, I
believe I’ve come close. I’ve managed to
settle on a technique that produces a wonderful smoked bird that, while still
not quite a Greenberg, is delicious nonetheless.
If you haven’t had one, Greenberg turkeys are intensely
smoky. Not oversmoked, by any measure,
but the bird is quite blackened when it arrives, and the smoke flavor really
penetrates into the meat and delights the palate with its richness. The technique that follows is simple. I’m going for that same deep penetrating
smoke flavor without a lot of other adornments.
So, in this technique, there are no brines, no rubs, no injections or
marinades. We’re letting the turkey’s
own flavor shine, delicately seasoned with the smoke.
I start with a 12 to 14 pound frozen grocery store
turkey.
You can go fresh if you want,
but don’t go much bigger than 14 pounds for smoking, as the longer cooking
times necessary for larger birds can cause them to become over-smoked and ashy
tasting. Also, since I’m smoking mine in
a Weber kettle, there’s not enough room for a much larger bird. If frozen, thaw the turkey for several days
in your refrigerator so that it is completely thawed by the day that you are
going to smoke it. I always smoke it two
days before I serve it, then keep it refrigerated until serving day. I find this is one of the factors that really
gets the smoke flavor to penetrate deep into the meat.
Before you smoke it, you need to prep the turkey. Remove the giblets and neck from the
cavities,
then cut off the plastic or wire straps that hold the legs
together.
You want to open up the main
cavity so that heat gets in here and cooks the turkey evenly. Also, if it has one, I remove the ‘pop up
when done’ indicator from the turkey.
These are notoriously inaccurate, and can result in an overcooked (and
dry) bird, so I rely on a good meat thermometer.
Pat the turkey dry and then go and prepare your
smoker. Light about half a chimney of
charcoal and set it up for indirect cooking, to the side of your kettle or
smoker. Then place wood chunks or chips
on top of the coals. Choose mild to
medium smoke woods, like Hickory, Pecan or any of the fruit woods.
My smoking wood bins
For this turkey, I’ve selected pecan.
Charcoal bin set up with wood for indirect cooking
Place the bird on the grate breast side up on the
opposite side from your fire.
As you can see, I'm smoking the neck here as well, to freeze for later use to add smoke flavor to a pot of beans or similar.
Cover your kettle, and open the top damper wide so you get a good smoke flow.
I love the smell of pecan smoke in the morning!
Adjust the bottom damper so that the
chamber comes to a temperature of about 275F.
This is lower than most places will tell you (standard is 325F) but I
find a higher temp cooks the turkey too quickly to develop the smoke flavor I’m
looking for. At 275F, a 12 pound turkey
should take about four hours to cook.
But don’t rely on time estimates, use a meat thermometer so that you can
tell when the breast reaches 165F and the thigh reaches 180. Cooking breast side up and thigh side down
helps get this higher temp in the thigh.
Pull the bird when both reach these temps.
After about an hour, the bird will look like this. Rotate it 180 degrees after two hours so the other side is close to the fire, allowing the bird to cook evenly. After four hours or so, it should have reached proper temperature (use that thermometer to check!) and it will look like this:
At this point, you could serve right away, but like I
said above, if you chill the bird in the fridge for a day or two, the flavor of
the smoke will really permeate the meat itself, and not just linger on the
skin. I find it’s best served cold, so
no need to reheat. The gravy you’ve
surely made will do that for you and your guests anyway. (You'll get some drippings in the bottom of the pan as the turkey chills in the fridge. This will make some nice gravy with a hint of smoke flavor!)
Until next time,
Happy Turkey Day!
Chris
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