Smoked Turkey
Growing up, my family always had big Thanksgiving dinners with family and friends crowded around a long chain of card tables. We'd cook one turkey in the oven, and then smoke another in the backyard. I picked up a sale turkey last week and tried it for the first time myself, using a box smoker (pictured) I picked up at Home Depot for $60. Slow smoking works adds so much flavor yet doesn't dry out the turkey -- no brining or elaborate herbs and spices needed!
I used kiawe wood for my smoke and it worked well, but conventional wisdom is to use mild fruit wood like apple or cherry. Use whatever you can get your hands on, including bags of pre-chipped hickory or mesquite from City Mill.
Smoked Turkey
Special equipment: a smoker
- wood chips
- 12-15 lb turkey, thawed
- olive oil
First, plan ahead. It takes 2-3 days to thaw a frozen turkey in the refrigerator, or 6-8 hours in cold water. After the turkey is thawed, pat it dry with paper towels and then let it rest in the fridge for another 3-4 hours to overnight. This dries the skin out so that the smoke adheres better. On top of all this, you should plan 30 minutes per pound for cooking. A 12 lb. turkey smokes for six hours! Adding it all up we get 3 days in the fridge + overnight drying + six hours to cook: about three and a half days!
Early on Thanksgiving Day, soak your wood chips in a bucket of water for about an hour before you start cooking. Wet wood == more smoke.
Light your coals. In your smoker, you ideally want your coals on the lowest level. Above that, I have a rack with a metal bowl of water to help regulate the temperature. The water isn't required, but it helps prevent burning and keeps the turkey moist. (If your setup can't accommodate a water bowl, push all the coals to the outer edges so they aren't right under the turkey.) At the top of your smoker, you want a wire rack for the turkey itself.
When the top coals are showing white ash around the edges, rub down the turkey with olive oil and set it on the rack. Toss a handful of wood chips on the coals and close up the smoker. Your goal is to keep the temp around 230 degrees. Open the vents or add charcoal to increase the temp. Add wet wood chips or close vents to decrease the temp.
Add wood chips whenever the smoke wanes during the first two hours. After that point, you don't need to worry about smoke. Too much smoke is overpowering. Instead, worry about keeping the temperature up by adding fresh charcoal as needed.
The turkey is done when an instant read thermometer reads 165 degrees when inserted deep into the thigh. DON'T OVERCOOK IT. Overcooking dries the turkey out. Nobody wants turkey jerky for Thanksgiving. Remove that bird from the smoker and let it rest for 30 minutes before carving. Enjoy!
Related posts:
→ Oven Kālua Turkey, if you're in the mood for melt-in-your-mouth
→ Top Ten Reasons Thanksgiving is Better in Hawaii
it's nice that you went into detail, since most people aren't familiar with the smoking process. Asides from Liquid Smoke.
My own reluctance to try smoking had been rooted in not knowing how to do it. Once I spent a few minutes researching, I discovered it's not much different from weekend grilling. Most anyone can grill, eh.
Alan I enjoy a good smoked Turkey. Tender, flavorful, and juicy. But then there's fried - and I simply love that. Really, you need to try it. You'll never go back.
Fried turkey is awesome. My brother-in-law made one several years back. I've been reluctant to purchase all the extra gear needed to do that properly.