Almost Thanksgiving Time and New RT-340 Owner

azray007

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  1. Trailblazer
Hello Everyone,

I'm new to the world of pellet grills. I've only had my grill a week and have successfully cooked salmon, wings, and bacon. I have been voluntold that I will be cooking the turkey this year. Many, many years back I smoked a turkey and the whole family still talks about it. I had the nastiest turkey brine recipe that has been lost. It had odd things like cranberry ginger ale, molasses, and other odd things. The brine, although gross, helped to produce the best turkey. I have a couple questions that I hope some of you who are much more experienced than I can answer.
  • What's the largest weight for a turkey can we fit inside our RT-340's?
  • Anyone have a favorite brine for their turkey's?
    • Any recipes and cooking tips appreciated.
      • I wasn't sure if most people cooked their turkey's fully in the smoker or partially and finished them in an oven.
Off topic, I've seen images of people installing "rain guards" on the smoker body to keep water out of the inside of the smoker if it starts raining. I believe they were purchased from Rec Teq, but I can't find them. Any help with that would be much appreciated.

Thank you everyone for taking the time to read this post and offer suggestions. Happy smoking!

Alan
 
I've done a couple breasts on the 340, biggest being 12 lb. I did one Cajun style, with cajun injection in lieu of brining. Did one like https://heygrillhey.com/smoked-turkey/ . And tried one whole bird spatchcocked. If I recall correctly the small amount of grate space on the 340 got in the way of spatchcocking.
 
Hello Everyone,

I'm new to the world of pellet grills. I've only had my grill a week and have successfully cooked salmon, wings, and bacon. I have been voluntold that I will be cooking the turkey this year. Many, many years back I smoked a turkey and the whole family still talks about it. I had the nastiest turkey brine recipe that has been lost. It had odd things like cranberry ginger ale, molasses, and other odd things. The brine, although gross, helped to produce the best turkey. I have a couple questions that I hope some of you who are much more experienced than I can answer.
  • What's the largest weight for a turkey can we fit inside our RT-340's?
  • Anyone have a favorite brine for their turkey's?
    • Any recipes and cooking tips appreciated.
      • I wasn't sure if most people cooked their turkey's fully in the smoker or partially and finished them in an oven.
Off topic, I've seen images of people installing "rain guards" on the smoker body to keep water out of the inside of the smoker if it starts raining. I believe they were purchased from Rec Teq, but I can't find them. Any help with that would be much appreciated.

Thank you everyone for taking the time to read this post and offer suggestions. Happy smoking!

Alan
https://www.recteqforum.com/threads...n-march-tuesday-9-march-2021.3400/#post-39403
 
I cooked a turkey breast on my RT-340 once because my RT-700 was filthy and I didn’t want to take time to clean it. The breast would not stand upright on the grate due to lack of headroom in the RT-340, so I cooked it rotating it from side to side. So it’s doable, but there can be some challenges.

If your RT-340 is new, it will have the louvered exhaust vents and there are no rain guards (same applies to the RT-590). recteq no longer has the old rain covers on the site, but if you have an older grill, couldn’t hurt to call them and ask if they still have any guards available.
 
I cooked a turkey breast on my RT-340 once because my RT-700 was filthy and I didn’t want to take time to clean it. The breast would not stand upright on the grate due to lack of headroom in the RT-340, so I cooked it rotating it from side to side. So it’s doable, but there can be some challenges.

If your RT-340 is new, it will have the louvered exhaust vents and there are no rain guards (same applies to the RT-590). recteq no longer has the old rain covers on the site, but if you have an older grill, couldn’t hurt to call them and ask if they still have any guards available.
Thank you Greg!!
 
I cooked a turkey breast on my RT-340 once because my RT-700 was filthy and I didn’t want to take time to clean it. The breast would not stand upright on the grate due to lack of headroom in the RT-340, so I cooked it rotating it from side to side. So it’s doable, but there can be some challenges.

If your RT-340 is new, it will have the louvered exhaust vents and there are no rain guards (same applies to the RT-590). recteq no longer has the old rain covers on the site, but if you have an older grill, couldn’t hurt to call them and ask if they still have any guards available.
Yes, it's new. I just got it a couple weeks ago. Unfortunately, mine doesn't have the louvered exhaust vents.
 

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Yes, it's new. I just got it a couple weeks ago. Unfortunately, mine doesn't have the louvered exhaust vents.
Interesting, I just looked at the recteq site and they have changed back to the twin smoke vents for the RT-340, are still using the newer louvered style on the RT-590. I suppose the louvers did not work out as expected on the RT-340.

i would reach out to recteq if you haven’t done so already and see what the plan is for bringing back the weather vents. It also would not hurt to post a wanted to buy ad here for the vents. When they switched to the louvers, some folks here did not know that and they were ordering louvered grills and adding the weather vents to the order, which they could not use.
 
I have spatchcocked a few Turkeys on my 340. Don't remember the size but I think they were around 12 pounds.
 
Interesting, I just looked at the recteq site and they have changed back to the twin smoke vents for the RT-340, are still using the newer louvered style on the RT-590. I suppose the louvers did not work out as expected on the RT-340.

i would reach out to recteq if you haven’t done so already and see what the plan is for bringing back the weather vents. It also would not hurt to post a wanted to buy ad here for the vents. When they switched to the louvers, some folks here did not know that and they were ordering louvered grills and adding the weather vents to the order, which they could not use.
Thanks Greg! I called them today and was able to purchase some. They're on the way. Thank you for the great advice.
 
For anyone reading this who needs smoke vents, here's the part and price from RecTeq. You'll have to call them to purchase these. I bought some red high temp caulk to seal them. I'll post pics and let everyone know how it turns out. Thanks again for all the helpful hint and advice. Smoking cornish game hens tomorrow. I sure love this pellet grill!! ...and RecTeq's customer service is awesome!
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I’d say no larger than a 12-pound turkey on the 340. I also recommend Traeger’s turkey brine and pellet bundle, if you have tons of pellets just buy the brine mix separately. It turned out amazing last year and doing the same this year, only using my 700, a 21-pounder and Cookin Pellets Perfect Mix since I have a ton. I attached a pic of a 12-pounder on the 340 from last year.

Edit: If you buy the Traeger pellets in the picture they will come with the brine/rub inside the bag. I also basted with melted butter every 30 minutes.
 

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I’d say no larger than a 12-pound turkey on the 340. I also recommend Traeger’s turkey brine and pellet bundle, if you have tons of pellets just buy the brine mix separately. It turned out amazing last year and doing the same this year, only using my 700, a 21-pounder and Cookin Pellets Perfect Mix since I have a ton. I attached a pic of a 12-pounder on the 340 from last year.

Edit: If you buy the Traeger pellets in the picture they will come with the brine/rub inside the bag. I also basted with melted butter every 30 minutes.
Thank you for the great advice! That turkey looks incredible! Did you inject it too or just brine?
 
At the risk of the wrath of grandmother's everywhere, I think all the secret family recipes and rituals are silly and a waste of time. There are probably as many sure fire Turkey secrets as there are Turkey chefs. I keep it simple. I stuff the bird, put butter on the skin and bake at 350 until the meat probe reads done (165F breast). I do it all in the Stampede no injection; no brining; no funky high temp low temp magic; no weird upside-down or legs up positioning. My secret, start with a farm fresh bird and let rest before carving. Hasn't failed yet. You will not get a smoke ring at that temp, but you do get a hint of a wood fire.


But, that's using the Stampede as an oven, not a smoker. If you want smoked turkey, I run it at 225F, low and slow, and don't stuff it.

Since I believe that stuffing is the best part of Thanksgiving I never smoke the turkey for Thanksgiving and treat the Stampede as the outdoor oven.
 
I plan on smoking a turkey breast for Thanks Giving myself. Going to inject with apple juice, cover the skin butter, and use salt and pepper to season. I've done this before on my weber and it was a hit. 200 for the first hour and a half, then 350 until internal temps reach 165. I'll use a smoke tube for added smoke. Hickory pellets and chips.
 
I played around today with some mini turkeys (cornish game hens). They looked great but only tasked ok. They were fairly greasy, but did have a lot of flavor. Felt like I should have hit them with a higher heat to crisp the skin. (200 for 1.5 hours, 275 for 30 minutes, and another 20 minutes at 300.) I brined it in Kosher salt, water, and brown sugar for 1.5 hours. I rinsed and dried them, then used mayonnaise to rub it down. I seasoned them with John Henry's Pecan rub.
 

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I played around today with some mini turkeys (cornish game hens). They looked great but only tasked ok. They were fairly greasy, but did have a lot of flavor. Felt like I should have hit them with a higher heat to crisp the skin. (200 for 1.5 hours, 275 for 30 minutes, and another 20 minutes at 300.) I brined it in Kosher salt, water, and brown sugar for 1.5 hours. I rinsed and dried them, then used mayonnaise to rub it down. I seasoned them with John Henry's Pecan rub.
Everyone has their own techniques here. IMHO, I have had success with cooking birds at 350. If the skin starts to darken to quickly, a cheese cloth saturated with butter will slow the browning process. As always, YMMV.
 
Yes, it's new. I just got it a couple weeks ago. Unfortunately, mine doesn't have the louvered exhaust vents.
That issue has been resolved.
 

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