Anybody ever smoke a bird? I've deep fried a bunch but this Christmas I guess I've been nominated to smoke one. So if anyone out there has any tips, I'd love to hear em.

Thanks

good rub, keep the temp consistent, use good wood

I've seen chicken rub but haven't seen turkey rub. Got any suggestions on that?

yea poultry rub

How bout suggestions on bird size and is there a pounds X time calculation for smoking a bird like their is with deep frying?

I use the "Extra Large" ZigZag papers..

what kind of wood do you generally use?

It helps SOOOO much if you brine the turkey first, by doing that it seals the pores of the bird and keeps alot of the moisture in the meat so it doesnt turn into turkey jerkey, I have smoked a few turkeys, I always brine it overnight in a brineing solution (you can buy brineing kits or find a recipie on line) the brine is basically a mixture of spices, and apple juice, put the turkey in a doubled up trash bag, pour in the brine and let sit in the fridge overnight. For the rub I dont coat it heavily, cant remember the exact spices, but I am sure you can find a recipie for that too, I use oak for wood cuz thats just what I have a ton of up here, and keep an eye out and monitor the temp so it doesnt get too hot, think ideal temp is between 200-250, if the outside of the bird starts getting too charcoal like, then I will cover the top with foil, Cant remember how long I put it on for, but its generally an all day affair. I leave my pork shoulders on for 12-15 hours, but the longer the better for them.

Try foodtv.com for recipies, if you absolutely cant find anything, PM me and I will look through my BBQ cookbooks for ya.

Good luck, I love smoked turkey.

Well what going to smoke it in?
charcoal to keep a constant heat and add wood throughout the process.
turkey's take a long time to cook.
I stuff mine with apple's to keep moisture in and whatever your favorite rub is works.

I've got hickory and oak to use for the smoking. I got a Weber smoker from Nik and Ray it looks just like this

I'll look into brining it Ian. thanks

Ian isnt the brine a heavy salt solution?
I have never done it but heard its works great for keeping the moisture in.

Never used one of those but I have done a ton of turkey's in a weber kettle. Kettle's take about 8 hours for a 18-20 lb. bird

I have a smoker too, havent used it in a while

yup, the salt closes up the pores in the skin and traps the moisture in during cooking, we just started brining our turkeys a year or so ago and it makes a HUGE difference, doesnt matter if you fry, bake or smoke them, brine it first. My wife usually does the brining for me, so I dont know what the exact recepie is, but she buys the brining spice kit, then adds water and apple cider, sticks the turkey in a trash bag and lets it sit overnight. You can really taste the difference.

Brining turkeys is good no matter how you cook them. We did ours for 3 days for a standard oven cook this time.

I wouldn't use trash bags though not usually rated food safe. The large oven bags lining a new 5 gallon bucket work great.

I got one for X mas to do think i'll try the brine this time, already have my apple wood ready yumm turkey.

I know it probably too late but my advise would be to have a back up turkey. I've tried smoking them before and they just never come out as good as fried or roasted. Of course Ians recommendation sounds like it would help a lot.

It's not too late. I've still got about a month before Christmas.

And I've got a Honeybaked on order for back up just in case.

Thats funny I have never had anyone ever that would choose a baked bird over a smoked one. A baked turkey is like eatin paper after you go smoked. As for fryin I did that once everyone liked it but I hated the process. Only did it once

Copy that. Of course I was thinking Thanksgiving...didn't catch the Christmas part.

Smoking food is an art IMO...self admittedly, I'm no good at it...In fact, most people aren't good at it IMO...
I'm not saying smoked birds aren't good...I'm just saying the times I've tried to do it they didn't turn out well. Second time I tried, I did a back up bird in the oven, which turned out to be a blessing...hence my recommendation.

I agree it's an art. And at my experience level, I'd equate my skill to that of a four year old trying to stay in the lines in a coloring book. But, the only way I'll get better at is is to try. And that's what I'm going to do. I think I'm going to do a test run in a couple weeks and see what I can learn from doing it with no pressure.

I am not a smoker but will be watching this to learn, I have tried before but the meat was so smokey tasting only I liked it


http://tlc.discovery.com/tv/bbq-pitmasters...pitmasters.html

I have done a few of them and had good results with charcoal type smoker.

Keep the temp consistant mid range

I use the water tray filled with water,cheap jug wine,oranges, lemons and what ever you think might make a good flavor.

I use cherry or alder wood soaked in water for for a few days so it will smoke not just go up in flames. you have to keep adding it along with charcoal.
(give me your address and I will send you some wood chunks I have lots of it )

Check it with a thermometer and your done.

great now I am thinking of getting this


http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?...1#ProductDetail

I got a Char griller with a smoker attachement (from Lowes) a few months ago. Just smoked my first turkey and I'll never have a turkey another way! I also picked up a meat thermoter at Lowes for $20 that is very helpful. It has a long wire coming off the probe so the digital unit sits outside of the smoker or oven or whatever your using. Very helpful! the hardest thing is keeping a constatnt temp and you are always regulating the vents and teh wood to try and keep a good temp. We didn't eat the skin on ours cause it got a little dark from cooking, so the rub would have been useless. I used a couple of pieces of oak and the rest apple. Our 14 pound bird was done in 4 hours and we tried to keep the temp at about 200 - 250.

I find the smallest hands I can and use garlic olive oil and a hand full of rub and work it under the skin

I fried a turkey, and another friend smoked hers. Needless to say there was lots of smoked turkey left over.

That Weber smoker is about the best around. I used mine over thanksgiving with great results. Check out this web site virtualweberbullet.com it is devoted to your very smoker. It will show you all you need to know.

Thank bro. And welcome to the board

If you're going to brine a turkey make sure that you buy a turkey that DOES NOT HAVE ANY SALT SOLUTION already in it. This is a manufacturing trick to help add weight to a turkey and to help in oven roasting.

If you already have a turkey that has a salt solution already added and then brine you'll have a very salty turkey.

I've done both the brine and dry rub types when smoking a turkey. A lot of good suggections already posted.

A quick rub is Shillings Poultry Seasoning. You can use Olive Oil before the dry rub.

Also keep an aluminum pan full of water or white wine near your heat source to keep the smoke moist. I keep the temps 200-250. Watch the legs they usually finish first. When this happens wrap the legs in aluminum foil to prevent the legs from being over-done/burnt.

Dont throw away the left over meat scrapings/bones/skin. I used a large soup pot and added carrots, celery, potatoes and a cup of rice with the left over turkey pickings that made a great smoked turkey soup. Bring to a boil then simmered covered in about 2 hrs.

I, too, have been interested in getting into smoking food. This is for a different type of smoker, but a lot of good ideas here.

Smokin Turkey