OK, in the spirit of Word of Mouth, I am going to share my Thanksgiving Turkey secrets.
This year we had family in for Thanksgiving which made us responsible for dinner. Throwing caution to the wind, I decided to try not one, but two new (to me) methods of cooking the turkeys. (This is a somewhat risky strategy because as you know the turkey is the linchpin of Thankgiving dinner – so I was more than a little nervous.
I grilled one bird on the Weber, and smoked the other on the Traeger.
Drumroll please . . . They came out great. We ate right on time – 4:00 PM and both birds were very well cooked. The smoked turkey on the Traeger took about 5.5 hours. The turkey on the Weber only took 2.75 hours.
I cooked both to an internal temperature (instant read thermometer) of 170 degrees and then took them off. Preparation was simple. Two 15 lb fresh organic turkeys (from the local food co-op) brought to room temperature and then dressed with a simple rub of olive oil, salt, pepper and finely chopped fresh sage, rosemary and thyme. I chopped up some apples, drenched them in the rub and put them in the cavities – just for flavor. (No stuffing.)
For cooking, I ran the Traeger on high for about 45 minutes and then turned it down to medium for about the next 4 hours. I then ran it on high for about 30 minutes to get up to 170 degrees. No turning, no basting, etc. On the Weber, I just followed their instructions from the website. Turkey in the middle with drip pan underneath. About 75 coals in two piles (on either side of the turkey) then add 8 briquettes per side per hour. That was it.
I was pretty surprised that they came out as well as they did – and will definitely do it again. They tasted great and there was no messy turkey pan to clean!
TO’B
December 22, 2008 at 10:15 pm |
Hi, found you with a google search for smoked turkey and traeger. I’m sitting here worried silly about my plan to smoke a 19lb bird on my traeger tomorrow. The reason I’m worried is because it is cold here in Washington state. Tomorrow’s forecast is for temperatures in the teens. Now I don’t know if you’ll see this post in time to respond, if you can, but I’m wondering what you think about this plan and the ability of the traeger to reach temperatures that will get the bird through the “unsafe zone” in terms of reaching the 275 degrees I want to cook it at. BTW, your birds look DELICIOUS!!
December 23, 2008 at 9:00 am |
Hi Jim:
When I smoked mine it was no more than 20 – 25 degrees. (I also have a degree in Food Science – so know something about food safety!)
As long as you get the internal bird temperature up to 170 – 175 degrees you will be fine.
If you are having trouble getting the temperature up, just turn the Traeger up to high for the last 1/2 hour or so.
TO’B
November 11, 2009 at 10:10 pm |
Alright, this is right up my alley. I have a custom smoker that holds 4 birds comfortably (though I’ve only ever cooked 2 at a time.) Love smoked turkey – can’t eat it any other way. I use pepper sauce as the main base for the injection.