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What’s on the grill/smoker today? 2021

{tpc} said:
Well here is what’s on the smoker this morning. I’ve never tried this large a bird (turkey), so we may finish in the oven and eat at noon, or eat at 6 or later lol.

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That around... 12.. maybe 14 pounder? Any other prep besides seasoning? Can you brine a bird for a smoker.. is that even a thing?
 
xyz123 said:
That around... 12.. maybe 14 pounder? Any other prep besides seasoning? Can you brine a bird for a smoker.. is that even a thing?
Click to expand...
I did a 20lb Turkey for thanksgiving in the smoker about 4 years ago and it turned out awesome. I wish I had rotated it half way through or maybe a couple times because the back side got more smoke than the front but yes I Brined it overnight then injected ghee into it and gave it a good rub down of spices. Was soooo tasty though. Would do it again
 
xyz123 said:
That around... 12.. maybe 14 pounder? Any other prep besides seasoning? Can you brine a bird for a smoker.. is that even a thing?
Click to expand...
Actually according to the tag it said 25 lb. I’ll be honest in saying I didn’t put it on the scale but to me it weighed less than that.

Just got done arguing about the 40 - 140 thing lol. Need to get to 140 by 10 am. Though the argument was more that we don’t probe the thanksgiving turkey, and we doubt the bird done that day ever gets to 140 in 4 hours even in the oven at 350.

A similar discussion was had over on the smoking forums I’m a member of, which the suggestion was at 275 I could never get the bird out of the danger zone in 4 hours without disassembling it first. I decided to try whole bird. I’ll let the wife make the final call if it’s a pizza night or not lol.

I waited 2 hours before probing to hopefully kill any outside bacteria prior to probing. I realize all the “safety” talk is more likely a cya discussion on the internets, but I still prefer to be close. My guess is the bird will be done cooking 2-3 hours before we are supposed to eat lol, because I don’t know how to time it.

As for the brining, yes. A very simple brine consisting of salt, brown sugar and a bunch of spices, followed by a bunch of rubs I mixed together and applied before I put it on the smoker.
 
Now I want to preface this by saying I listened to the wife about leaving this in longer to take it to a higher temp. I knew she would be dark, but this is almost too much.

I personally would have taken it out 2 hours ago. The words I told you so come to mind. However it looks to still be juicy, and I’m amazed at the amount of liquid that already came out.

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{tpc} said:
Now I want to preface this by saying I listened to the wife about leaving this in longer to take it to a higher temp. I knew she would be dark, but this is almost too much.

I personally would have taken it out 2 hours ago. The words I told you so come to mind. However it looks to still be juicy, and I’m amazed at the amount of liquid that already came out.

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Well, how was it?
 
Eqwhipped said:
Well, how was it?
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It was good, not great. The skin wasn’t as rubbery as I thought it would be but not worth eating. Plenty of smoke flavor, but I smoked for 4 hours, should have been more like 3, used maple and apple but next time I would use pecan.

And it should have came off at 165, not 176, but I was overruled on that. But I did say told ya so lol.

Everyone claimed it was great, and I am always my biggest critic. I can do better.

Times of everything were fine even at 275. But I don’t think it was as big as labeled, just didn’t feel as heavy as they said it was.

I’d also brine longer with more spices in the brine. It definitely didn’t suffer from brining, and if I didn’t brine we would have ate pizza as it would have turned out like national lampoon’s Christmas vacation.
 
{tpc} said:
It was good, not great. The skin wasn’t as rubbery as I thought it would be but not worth eating. Plenty of smoke flavor, but I smoked for 4 hours, should have been more like 3, used maple and apple but next time I would use pecan.

And it should have came off at 165, not 176, but I was overruled on that. But I did say told ya so lol.

Everyone claimed it was great, and I am always my biggest critic. I can do better.

Times of everything were fine even at 275. But I don’t think it was as big as labeled, just didn’t feel as heavy as they said it was.

I’d also brine longer with more spices in the brine. It definitely didn’t suffer from brining, and if I didn’t brine we would have ate pizza as it would have turned out like national lampoon’s Christmas vacation.
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Good news is you can delete this one from your memory bank since you didn't eat the skin. 😛

Hard to tell with any degree of accuracy on my phone.. but it did look a little smaller than 25lbs.. although you did have her bound up pretty good. I was responsible for many 25+ pounders during my T-giving reign.. I also learned they need longer than a day soak.

It's hard to brine a bird that big if you don't have winter temps outside. Especially when you need 2-3 days. My brine is same solution as yours, just with sea salt. Some years it got a coat of butter, on skin a few, under skin also a few. Didn't have a smoker big enough.. nor did I ever think to. People asked about deep-frying a few years when that was a big thing, but no.. saw enough vids of that going terribly wrong.

The only thing I really took away from all those years was.. I should've just done two 14 pounders instead! Doh!
 
I've done 4 Turkeys in my Masterbuilt smoker, the past few years. I usually try and keep the weight around 12-14 lbs. They say anything bigger than that, you run the risk of it not getting up to a safe temperature quick enough and has a chance for bacteria issues. I always brine my turkeys, unless I buy one that's already brined. Just make sure to read the package and it will tell you.

I keep my temps around 250 and smoke with apple wood. I do use a rub that I found at Academy, but can't think of it now.
 
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