turkey smoke for christmas dinner..need help!

I want to smoke a 13 pound turkey for christmas dinner. i am going to brine it over night and use applewood pellets.. i own a traeger junior and also live in Nebraska and our daily temp high is around 25ish.. any help on time and technique would be appreciated! thanks
Matt

Search this as we covered it during thanksgiving..but I will tell you I had great luck with using one of those aluminum half pans and putting the bird directly into that and letting it ride to 162 internal and then resting.

Remember to rotate 180 degrees and also breast up to breast down halfway during cook. Get some rub under the skin. BP's temp recommendation is right on.

I recently smoked an 11.5 pound turkey that I spatchcocked (the newer method that separates the bird into two pieces, basically one part white meat and the other dark meat). I injected a mixture of 1 cup of extra virgin olive oil, a heaping tablespoon of garlic powder, a teaspoon of kosher salt and a tablespoon of black pepper. I saved about 1/4 cup to rub on the outside. Then I applied my rub, Plowboys Yardbird Rub. I have found this to be really top drawer for poultry. I then smoked the bird on my MAK with a mixture of BD apple and maple sugar pellets. I didn't have enough of either one for the smoke, but I had enough when they were mixed to smoke the turkey and several steelhead trout fillets. I cooked it to about 160 IT. I tasted a piece of skin when I had to split the breast in half in order to vacuum seal it. It was very good. I am taking the bird to my son's for christmas day dinner, in addition to an Angus RIB ROAST.

Spatchcocked turkey on the grill.


Spatchcocked turkey resting and getting ready to vacuum seal.


Hope this gives you another way to smoke that turkey.

Art

thanks big poppa

scooter said:

Remember to rotate 180 degrees and also breast up to breast down halfway during cook. Get some rub under the skin. BP's temp recommendation is right on.

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thanks scooter. i brined the turkey overnight.

thanks Art. i didnt spachcock fearing the grilling space on the junior wasnt big enough. but i will try this on my gas grill for our next turkey, it looks very good!

mdmapes said:

i didnt spachcock fearing the grilling space on the junior wasnt big enough.

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There should be plenty of room on even the junior for a 12lb bird. If needed cut the turkey in half and lay them length wise when spatchcocking.

I did a 13lb bird on my Weber Kettle (indirect cooking/smoking) and there was PLENTY of room .

mdmapes said:

...but i will try this on my gas grill for our next turkey

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Stick with your Traeger and smoke that puppy. You'll be a rock star!

Friends even new friends don't let friend cook on gas.

I just smoked two 14-pounders yesterday - came out great. 225° the whole way. I thought it would only take around 7 hours, but it took around 11 hours, so allow plenty of time. (You can go higher toward the end if you want to speed it up, but I wanted maximum smoke flavor.)
Apple pellets is a good choice. I made the mistake of using hickory years ago, and it came out tasting like ham instead of turkey. You want smoke, but not bacon or ham flavor.

I smoked them in a roaster with a rack. Had wine and broth in the bottom of the pan for some moisture. The rack kept the birds out of the liquid.

for our thanksgiving i smoked a turkey breast the mrs but one in the oven. mine was way taster. so much more flavor. she had to do the dishes that night. smokin's good. FT too.

Ahahahahahahaahaha!

I love hickory turkey. But apple is my favorite especially after a good apple cider brine.


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thanks for all your help. 6 hours on traeger junior..yum yum

xmas turkey

View attachment 194


thanks for everyones help. 6 hours on traeger junior with applewood between smoke and medium setting last hour on high! Brined overnight with modified slaughterhouse brine. the turkey recieved 5 stars and 2 thumbs up from everyone.

Congrats! That looks like it came out perfect!

Very nice!!