Easter cooking

[Trick Pony]

Smoking a turkey, pork butt, and a joint.




No, not really.

I was thinking of smoking a turkey for the first time. Any tips?

[bcoop]

I was thinking of smoking a turkey for the first time. Any tips?

Man, I've only done one turkey before, and it was for a SB party this year. And it was an "oh shit, I don't know if we will have enough food" last minute type thing. That's why I wanted to do another, to experiment. I had no clue what to do. But what I did, was fucking fantastic. The turkey was so juicy.

I rubbed the inside of the cavity and the skin down with Zatarain's. I don't recommend this, the skin was too salty. Next time I will make my own poultry rub (cayenne, onion, garlic, paprika, tarragon, and maybe some lemon zest). I just injected it with the Tony's jalapeno butter. This is key, you MUST inject along the bones. If you just inject in to the meat it will boil or run out, and defeats the purpose. Poultry pulls flavor from the bone as it cooks. Inject along the leg bones, inject along the breast plate, etc. Don't worry about injecting too much. I think I used a half a bottle or so. I also did the beer can chicken method. I bought one of those large Foster's beers, popped the top, and stuck it on the rack. Though your smoker may not have enough clearance to do so. Check for clearance before hand, and either buy a smaller turkey, or brine for 24-48 hours before hand. I didn't brine, as I didn't have enough time, hence why I went with the beer can.

That's really all I can offer as I've only done the one. And of course, if you've done a chicken before, you can always cook and season them the same way. I'm going to play and experiment though, and once I get the best I can get, I'll post a smoked poultry thread with everything I tried, and what worked and what didn't.