Parrothead72 Posted October 11, 2014 Report Share Posted October 11, 2014 Hi. Doing my first smoked turkey in the KK. Have the 12 lb beast in a brine of salt, pepper, brown sugar, minced garlic, worcestershire, etc. Read that 2 days is plenty. Open to any and all advice: - dry it in the fridge before smoking - smoke at 300 * - maybe a fruit wood like apple or peach? - stuff the cavity with quarters of apple and onion? Thanks in advance for any suggestions.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tony b Posted October 11, 2014 Report Share Posted October 11, 2014 Sounds like you're on the right track to me, especially stuffing the cavity with onions and apples. My Mom did that and I've found no reason to not continue myself! I've upped my game by tossing in a nice big sprig of fresh rosemary and some fresh thyme in the cavity, rub a little oil on the outside, salt and pepper liberally and off to the races! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parrothead72 Posted October 11, 2014 Author Report Share Posted October 11, 2014 Thanks my friend. How much brine time versus dry time as we want to eat it tomorrow night and brined it at 4pm yesterday? 300 degrees sound about right? About how long would u think it takes to smoke? May do apple wood. I'm guessing the juice in the cavity becomes part of my gravy? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loquitur Posted October 11, 2014 Report Share Posted October 11, 2014 If I can chime in here, are you interested in a brown and crispy skin? If so you will have to up the temp significantly. If you are just going to pull the skin off and discard it, then the lower temp is not a problem. It will cook faster than you think, especially since its brined. And it will be smokier than you think since poultry really absorbs the smoke flavor, even without any added smoke wood. The juices will be great for gravy but it will be a "smokey" gravy even if you don't add smoke wood. Some people love this, including myself, but some don't, such as my husband, so I have to make two gravies when I do turkey on the grill, even though I don't add smoke wood, one regular gravy with butter/flour/stock and one smokey gravy with the KK turkey drippings. I usually do whole turkeys but I did a breast recently, 9 lbs, brined for 36 hrs and air dried for 6 hours. After 2 hours at 350 deg it was almost done at 152 deg IT but the skin was light and flabby so I upped the temp to 425 for 20 min more when I had to remove it since it was at 160 deg IT. The skin was starting to brown a little at this point in spotty areas but I pulled it off and dumped anyway it since it was so unappetizing. But it was still juicy and delicious inside. Let's us know how it goes and pictures too if possible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parrothead72 Posted October 11, 2014 Author Report Share Posted October 11, 2014 Hey. Thanks for the reply. Absolutely. The crispier the better. So at 12 lbs she's been brining since 4pm yesterday. Goal is to eat it tomorrow night. Maybe we take it out of the brine before bed tonight and let it dry in the fridge? Put it on the KK tomorrow around noon and cook at 350-375? Does that sound about right? Pull it off at 160 internal? Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loquitur Posted October 12, 2014 Report Share Posted October 12, 2014 That plan all sounds great except I'm not sure a 375 temp is high enough for a crispy skin for a 12 lb brined breast. My guess is that 400 deg. would be good and it would be done in about 2.5 hours - but you need to internally monitor the temp. I think a target of 155 IT or so would be fine since it will continue to cook after you remove it from the KK, more so at the 400 higher temp than a lower temp. Also check it periodically for color, which depends on various factors. For example, I like to coat the skin with olive oil, which does not brown the skin as much as butter. It will be fantastic- the issue is with the skin and whether it will be brown and crispy. So just keep an eye on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hephaestus Posted October 12, 2014 Report Share Posted October 12, 2014 Hi parrothead72, I am a little confused. You talk about our thanksgiving, which is actually on Monday, but your in Jamesport NY. Anyway, I just did our turkey 2 days in advance. I had our butcher cut it in two. We do not stuff ours we cook our stuffing in the oven. Therefore, I find I have more control in cooking the 2 halves. We brined ours for exactly 24 hrs. We put it in the fridge for 3hours. I cooked it on the upper rack indirect at 400 F for just over 2 hrs. I took it out at 160 F on the breast. Tent it with al foil for 20 minutes. The most moist turkey we ever had. The skin was not as crispy as we might have preferred but this could have been due to the basting. We used apple wood chips. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parrothead72 Posted October 12, 2014 Author Report Share Posted October 12, 2014 Married a Canadian but we live in NY. Guests leaving Monday morning so we are celebrating tomorrow night (and then again in late November). Thanks for the help. Gonna follow your lead. Will send pics and thoughts late tomorrow / Monday. All good things. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tony b Posted October 12, 2014 Report Share Posted October 12, 2014 Heph, what's in the drip pan? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loquitur Posted October 12, 2014 Report Share Posted October 12, 2014 Heph: What did you coat the skin with? My olive oil never gets the skin nearly that brown even at the 400 temps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parrothead72 Posted October 13, 2014 Author Report Share Posted October 13, 2014 Wanted to thank everyone. Best turkey we have ever had. Moist. Juicy. Crispy skin. Beautiful mahogany color. Cooked for about 3.5 hours at 300 degrees. Basted a few times. Foiled the top towards the end.Everyone agreed. Once you have a smoked turkey, you won't do it in an oven again!Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hephaestus Posted October 13, 2014 Report Share Posted October 13, 2014 Parrothead72 nice job looks realy nice congrats. Tony b we use carrots celary and onion to help with the gravy. Loquitir the brown that you see is from the apple chips we use. I also think that the colour migth be more intense because it was cooked on the upper rack. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loquitur Posted October 13, 2014 Report Share Posted October 13, 2014 Gorgeous turkey, Parrothead. Did you use any smoke wood? I misread the word beast for breast in your first post so I was super surprised to see a whole turkey in your picture- sorry about that!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parrothead72 Posted October 13, 2014 Author Report Share Posted October 13, 2014 Apple wood chunks. I was surprised by how easy it was. I guess the KK does the work. I just have to monitor the temps. Cooked faster than I would have thought but everyone loved it and I'm not much of a turkey person. Flavor was insane. Moist. Hint of salt. Hints of smoke. Did not need gravy or anything else to enhance it. Mistake might be cooking it on the grill as we did with a very thin drip tray on top of the stone deflector. I have seen others cook on a rack above a crock pot to properly capture drippings. Mine seemed to burn a bit given proximity to stone deflector and fire basket. Any hints on what to do with the burnt droppings and converting to gravy? Thanks kindly. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tony b Posted October 13, 2014 Report Share Posted October 13, 2014 Actually I'm hoping to get one of Dennis' new model drip pans with the double bottom, so the drippings don't burn. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loquitur Posted October 13, 2014 Report Share Posted October 13, 2014 I haven't had a problem with my turkey drippings burning but I use one of Dennis' round stainless pans on the main level grill with the turkey up on a rack. It's a good thing since I love my smokey turkey gravy from the drippings. Your beautiful turkey is making me excited about my Thanksgiving turkey this year.Last year my top hat was frozen solid to the dome and there was no way it was going to open no matter what I tried so I had to make it in the oven. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tony b Posted October 14, 2014 Report Share Posted October 14, 2014 Susan, a trick that I've used in the past to get open a frozen top hat is to load up the chimney starter, place it on the lower grill, fire it up, opening the louvers on the lower vent and close the lid down on the first latch. Should thaw it out about the time the coals are going good to start up your cook. Also, a good reason to have a cover for your KK - to keep the ice from building up on it and freezing the top hat shut. That is, assuming that you're using your KK in winter, like a diehard! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loquitur Posted October 15, 2014 Report Share Posted October 15, 2014 Thanks for the tip, Tony - that would have worked fine for me if I knew about it. My KK goes into hibernation after the Thanksgiving turkey except for maybe an isolated cook here or there for a rib roast or steaks if its not too dark and cold and icy that day. I do put the cover on the KK for the winter but just didn't get it on soon enough last year. Valuable lesson learned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mguerra Posted October 15, 2014 Report Share Posted October 15, 2014 Don't baste a turkey. Alton Brown busted that myth sky high. You let heat and moisture out of your cooking chamber, increase the cook time, DRY out the turkey more than it otherwise would and not moisten it at all. If you got a good moist turkey, it was in spite of basting, not because of. Skin is a barrier to moisture loss for your body (and the turkey's). If I flayed some skin off your bicep, you would see that your muscle started shiny and moist and then dried out. Well, skin won't let moisture IN to your muscles(meat) either. Muscle tissue does not absorb moisture through skin! In fact it is very hard for muscle tissue to absorb moisture in any way other than brining. Ever tried injecting? The muscle fibers are so tightly bound to one another, most of your injection comes squirting back out the needle hole. Basting may have some positive effect on the skin, but you are letting out heat and moisture and increasing your cook time every time you pop the KK open. On the other hand if you like the process and the tradition of basting, go ahead! But your turkey meat will come out better if you don't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
