How is everyone doing with preperation for the feast known as Thanksgiving Day?

I'm seriously considering smoking the turkey this year. Curious has anyone tried that before?

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Re: Getting ready for Turkey day?
By: Ronald Reid to All on Wed Nov 19 2014 05:58 am

How is everyone doing with preperation for the feast known as Thanksgiving Day?

I'm seriously considering smoking the turkey this year. Curious has anyone tried that before?

Been doing it every year for the last 3 years, it's super easy, I got a electric bradley smoker at my wedding, looks like a mini-fridge, the only thing I don't like about it is it's max 250 deg F, so if you do stuff like big turkeys you have to be kindda careful (there's a danger zone, if you leave the meat below like 140 for too long you can get the selma bug), but that said I smoked an 18lb bird my first year. I literally thawed the bird, put herb butter all over, smoked for like 6-8 hours and it was the best bird I've ever done.

The only thing I WISH my smoker had was a clear window, the smoker temp drops REALLY fast if you have to go in and baste or something, and in the winter it can take a long time to get back up to temp. I figured out that a few bricks heated in the oven can help get the temp back up faster.

2-3 years I actually did 2 smaller birds (8-12 lbs), and I used a brine on a few. I did my own brine which came out GREAT, and I also used a pre-brined bird from Diestel (Sonoma, CA based turkey farm, uber fresh, birds are usually still twitching when you pick them up) which was even better, but the later bird didn't come with the giblets, so that sucked.

Wood... Bradley uses these super overpriced wood biscits, which are convenient, but expensive, pretty much just pressed saw dust, but I've used Apple, Maple, and I want to say Alder? woods, all added subtile flavor to the end product.

I dunno what else do you want to know?

Oh, my smoker door fell apart last year, I just got a replacement door for like $55, kind of a bummer, but Bradley has some nice friendly folks working for them, I'm super happy with this smoker. I need to do salmon one of these days. Just never get around to it.

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Re: Getting ready for Turkey day?
By: Ronald Reid to All on Wed Nov 19 2014 05:58 am

How is everyone doing with preperation for the feast known as Thanksgiving Day?

I'm seriously considering smoking the turkey this year. Curious has anyone tried that before?

i buy the turkey breast because i only like white meat. then i jam it into a slow cooker with water, onions, carrots and greens. comes out freaking great and isnt dry.
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Hello Android8675,

On 19 Nov 14 08:26, Android8675 wrote to Ronald Reid:

Been doing it every year for the last 3 years, it's super easy, I got
a electric bradley smoker at my wedding, looks like a mini-fridge, the only thing I don't like about it is it's max 250 deg F, so if you do
stuff like big turkeys you have to be kindda careful (there's a danger zone, if you leave the meat below like 140 for too long you can get
the selma bug), but that said I smoked an 18lb bird my first year. I literally thawed the bird, put herb butter all over, smoked for like
6-8 hours and it was the best bird I've ever done.

The only thing I WISH my smoker had was a clear window, the smoker
temp drops REALLY fast if you have to go in and baste or something,
and in the winter it can take a long time to get back up to temp. I figured out that a few bricks heated in the oven can help get the temp back up faster.

We got one of those for our father-in-law this year, and used it quite a bit while camping. The only thing I don't like about it is that the bird's skin ends up gooey and gross and we usually throw it away and serve the rest of the meat (which always turns out excellent). Is there a way in an electric smoker to get the skin crispy? Or do you have to take other measures to do that (like broil it afterwards or something)?

Either way, those electric smokers are awesome. Everything we've cooked in it turns out great.

Regards,
Nick

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Re: Getting ready for Turkey day?
By: Ronald Reid to All on Wed Nov 19 2014 05:58:52

I'm seriously considering smoking the turkey this year. Curious has anyone tried that before?

I highly doubt smoking a turkey would be as effective as you'd like. Just trying to stuff it into your pipe or rolling it and trying to light it isn't going to work. ;)

Seriously though, my family is planning on doing a pot luck this Thanksgiving. Some of the more traditional stuff is already going to be covered, but I thought about looking up a good recipe for stuffing & making a batch, or perhaps something a little more non-traditional for Thanksgiving and making a batch of my meatloaf to bring.

Nightfox

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Hello Mro!

19 Nov 14 15:53, you wrote to Ronald Reid:

i buy the turkey breast because i only like white meat. then i jam it
into a slow cooker with water, onions, carrots and greens. comes out freaking great and isnt dry.

My wife and I do this quite often. Second favorite way to eat Turkey now. This year we found our new favorite. Keeping in mind I'm Canadian and we
had thanksgiving the second week in Oct, I bought 2 turkey thighs (we like
dark meat as well) and BBQ'ed them. Also threw a sweet potatoe on the grill and a packet of various veg. Turned out great!


Shawn


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Re: Getting ready for Turkey day?
By: Ronald Reid to All on Wed Nov 19 2014 05:58 am

How is everyone doing with preperation for the feast known as Thanksgiving D

I'm seriously considering smoking the turkey this year. Curious has anyone tried that before?

I have never done this, nor even tried it yet, but I have always heard that deep fried turkey is most excellent.

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Re: Getting ready for Turkey day?
By: Misfit to Ronald Reid on Thu Nov 20 2014 09:31:44

I have never done this, nor even tried it yet, but I have always heard that deep fried turkey is most excellent.

Funny, just now on the news here, they're doing a story about safety while deep frying a turkey.

I'm not sure when exactly deep frying a turkey became popular, but I first started hearing about it about 10 or 12 years ago. A friend of mine at the time did it one year and shared some of it - I thought it was pretty good. However I don't think the flavor was significantly better than a baked turkey.

Nightfox

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Re: Getting ready for Turkey day?
By: Android8675 to Ronald Reid on Wed Nov 19 2014 08:26 am

Been doing it every year for the last 3 years, it's super easy, I got a electric bradley smoker at my wedding, looks like a mini-fridge, the only th I don't like about it is it's max 250 deg F, so if you do stuff like big turkeys you have to be kindda careful (there's a danger zone, if you leave t meat below like 140 for too long you can get the selma bug), but that said I smoked an 18lb bird my first year. I literally thawed the bird, put herb but all over, smoked for like 6-8 hours and it was the best bird I've ever done.

The only thing I WISH my smoker had was a clear window, the smoker temp drop REALLY fast if you have to go in and baste or something, and in the winter i can take a long time to get back up to temp. I figured out that a few bricks heated in the oven can help get the temp back up faster.

2-3 years I actually did 2 smaller birds (8-12 lbs), and I used a brine on a few. I did my own brine which came out GREAT, and I also used a pre-brined b from Diestel (Sonoma, CA based turkey farm, uber fresh, birds are usually st twitching when you pick them up) which was even better, but the later bird didn't come with the giblets, so that sucked.

Wood... Bradley uses these super overpriced wood biscits, which are convenie but expensive, pretty much just pressed saw dust, but I've used Apple, Maple and I want to say Alder? woods, all added subtile flavor to the end product.

I dunno what else do you want to know?

Oh, my smoker door fell apart last year, I just got a replacement door for l $55, kind of a bummer, but Bradley has some nice friendly folks working for them, I'm super happy with this smoker. I need to do salmon one of these day Just never get around to it.

Thanks for the info. I have a charcoal grill that i opened an end and put some ductwork leading to a habaichi (spelling?) leading to it. I burn the coals and wood in the habaichi and...well you get the idea.

I do a lot of ribs brisket chicken and fish but never have done the turkey.
I will probably go with hickory, not sure (Thinking ahead to making things like greens or beans with the smoked turkey leftovers).

What kind of wood are you going to use this year?

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Re: Re: Getting ready for Turkey day?
By: Access Denied to Android8675 on Wed Nov 19 2014 04:35 pm

bit while camping. The only thing I don't like about it is that the bird's skin ends up gooey and gross and we usually throw it away and serve the rest of the meat (which always turns out excellent). Is there a way in an electric smoker to get the skin crispy? Or do you have to take other measures to do that (like broil it afterwards or something)?

Yeah, chicken is a pain, ain't it. For some reason turkey comes out pretty nice (thiner skin?), probably due to the long smoke time (8 hours).

For chicken I just throw it in a broiler near the end, or just toss the skin I guess. Yeah electrics have their downside, but as a first smoker, I'm really happy with it.

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Re: Getting ready for Turkey day?
By: Ronald Reid to All on Wed Nov 19 2014 05:58 am

I usually just go to my parents for Thanksgiving. Last year my parents did both a turkey and a ham. I love my mom's broccoli casserole. I hope she makes it again this year.

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Re: Getting ready for Turkey day?
By: Nightfox to Ronald Reid on Wed Nov 19 2014 09:28 pm

Something I make each year is Popeyes Buscuit Stuffing. There's a few recipies online - this is a newer one:

http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2014/11/popeyes-buttermilk-biscuit-stuffing- recipe.html

This is one my office posted on our blog 2 years ago:

http://www.webnethosting.net/popeyess-buttermilk-biscuit-stuffing/


I may try that new one this year! :)

|01-|03nolageek


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Re: Getting ready for Turkey day?
By: Misfit to Ronald Reid on Thu Nov 20 2014 09:31 am

I have never done this, nor even tried it yet, but I have always heard that deep fried turkey is most excellent.

Used to live in Austin for work, since family was in CA I didn't bother going home for thanksgiving. A friend of mine had thanksgiving for "wayward souls" every year and used to deep fry about 300lbs worth of turkey in about 4 hours.

The whole thing with deep frying is...

...the only flavor you get out of the bird is what you inject ahead of time, so make SURE you use a lot of whatever it is you want the bird to taste like.

...and, deep frying is incredibly dangerous, do NOT be that guy that ends up burning down his house and his neighbors house if you decide to "try" it. Find someone who knows what they are doing and are saftey oriented.

I always thought the birds came out pretty dry, but it was 300lbs of turkey that ends up sitting in warmers for a bit. I think if you have a lot of people to feed, going this was is doable, otherwise stick with another method.

-A.

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Re: Getting ready for Turkey day?
By: Ronald Reid to Android8675 on Thu Nov 20 2014 05:57 am

What kind of wood are you going to use this year?

I just bought some Maple. I was debating wrapping the legs/wings in bacon, I have no idea why. I think I have some leftover alder, but I'll probably stick with maple wood.

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Re: Getting ready for Turkey day?
By: Nightfox to Misfit on Thu Nov 20 2014 07:52 am

However I don't think the flavor was significantly better than a baked turkey.

The gravy problem is unsolvable as well.

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On 11/19/14, Ronald Reid said the following...

How is everyone doing with preperation for the feast known as
Thanksgiving Day? I'm seriously considering smoking the turkey this
year. Curious has anyone tried that before?

We're not doing anything special this year, but one year we tried something new. It involved a stuffed turkey, but it was stuffed with ground meat.

Basicall, the whole turkey was deboned except for the drumsicks and the
wings, and then stuffed with a seasoned ground meat (pork, lamb, beef) and roasted normally.

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Hello Misfit,

On 20 Nov 14 09:31, Misfit wrote to Ronald Reid:

I'm seriously considering smoking the turkey this year. Curious
has anyone tried that before?

I have never done this, nor even tried it yet, but I have always heard that deep fried turkey is most excellent.

I can vouch for that. Deep fried turkey is my favorite. Nothing else compares in flavor when it comes to turkey. :)

Regards,
Nick

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Hello Ronald,

On 20 Nov 14 05:57, Ronald Reid wrote to Android8675:

What kind of wood are you going to use this year?

While I haven't tried it, I've heard really good things about pecan wood. Seems
like it's hard to find around here, though.

Regards,
Nick

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Hello Android8675,

On 20 Nov 14 06:29, Android8675 wrote to Access Denied:

bit while camping. The only thing I don't like about it is that
the bird's skin ends up gooey and gross and we usually throw it
away and serve the rest of the meat (which always turns out
excellent). Is there a way in an electric smoker to get the skin
crispy? Or do you have to take other measures to do that (like
broil it afterwards or something)?

Yeah, chicken is a pain, ain't it. For some reason turkey comes out
pretty nice (thiner skin?), probably due to the long smoke time (8
hours).

Actually, chicken is quite easy. It's just the skin I've always had to discard.
We're always camping when we do it, so a broiler is out. Rotisserie over the fire is always a great way to do chicken, too. :)

For chicken I just throw it in a broiler near the end, or just toss
the skin I guess. Yeah electrics have their downside, but as a first smoker, I'm really happy with it.

Oh hell yeah. If that's my only complaint over the past year, I think it's definitely a winner in my book. :)

Regards,
Nick

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Re: Re: Getting ready for Turkey day?
By: Gryphon to Ronald Reid on Thu Nov 20 2014 13:59:00

We're not doing anything special this year, but one year we tried something new. It involved a stuffed turkey, but it was stuffed with ground meat.

Basicall, the whole turkey was deboned except for the drumsicks and the wings, and then stuffed with a seasoned ground meat (pork, lamb, beef) and roasted normally.

That sounds really good.

Nightfox

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Re: Getting ready for Turkey day?
By: Android8675 to Ronald Reid on Thu Nov 20 2014 08:49 am

Re: Getting ready for Turkey day?
By: Ronald Reid to Android8675 on Thu Nov 20 2014 05:57 am

What kind of wood are you going to use this year?

I just bought some Maple. I was debating wrapping the legs/wings in bacon, I have no idea why. I think I have some leftover alder, but I'll probably stic with maple wood.

Sounds like a plan.

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Re: Getting ready for Turkey day?
By: Deuce to Nightfox on Thu Nov 20 2014 11:25 am

Re: Getting ready for Turkey day?
By: Nightfox to Misfit on Thu Nov 20 2014 07:52 am

However I don't think the flavor was significantly better than a baked turkey.

The gravy problem is unsolvable as well.

The giblets.

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Re: Getting ready for Turkey day?
By: Misfit to Ronald Reid on Thu Nov 20 2014 09:31 am

I have never done this, nor even tried it yet, but I have always heard that deep fried turkey is most excellent.

yeah but deep frying a turkey can be dangerous.
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Re: Getting ready for Turkey day?
By: Android8675 to Misfit on Thu Nov 20 2014 08:46 am

it. Find someone who knows what they are doing and are saftey oriented.

I always thought the birds came out pretty dry, but it was 300lbs of turkey that ends up sitting in warmers for a bit. I think if you have a lot of people to feed, going this was is doable, otherwise stick with another method.

i've had deepfried turkey and all kinds of methods. one year we had a turkey and used an oven bag and we had the best turkey ever. it probably was a combination of a good turkey and the ovenbag keeping everything sealed in.

it was so good i was eating it like a maniac.
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Re: Getting ready for Turkey day?
By: Ronald Reid to All on Wed Nov 19 2014 05:58 am

How is everyone doing with preperation for the feast known as Thanksgiving Day?

I'm seriously considering smoking the turkey this year. Curious has anyone tried that before?

Been doing it every year for the last 3 years, it's super easy, I got a electric bradley smoker at my wedding, looks like a mini-fridge, the only thing I don't like about it is it's max 250 deg F, so if you do stuff like big turkeys you have to be kindda careful (there's a danger zone, if you leave the meat belowlike 140 for too long you can get the selma bug), but that said I smoked an 18lb bird my first year. I literally thawed the bird, put herb butter all over, smoked for like 6-8 hours and it was the best bird I've ever done.

The only thing I WISH my smokerhad was a clear window, the smoker temp drops REALLY fast if you have to go in and baste or something, and in the winter it cantake a long time to get back up to temp. I figured out that a few bricks heated in the oven can help get the temp back up faster.

2-3 years I actually did 2 smaller birds (8-12 lbs), and I used a brine on a few. I did my own brine which came out GREAT, and I also used a pre-brined bird from Diestel (Sonoma, CA based turkey farm, uber fresh, birds are usually still twitching when you pick them up) which was even better, but the later bird didn't come with the giblets, so that sucked.

Wood... Bradley uses these super overpriced wood biscits, which are convenient, but expensive, pretty much just pressed saw dust, but I've used Apple, Maple, and I want to say Alder? woods, all added subtile flavor to the end product.

I dunno what else do you want to know?

Oh, my smoker door fell apart last year, I just got a replacement door for like $55, kind of a bummer, but Bradley has some nice friendly folks working for them, I'm super happy with this smoker. I need to do salmon one of these days. Just never get around to i