Smoked turkey with stuffing

[tribunal88]

First year as an owner of the 590 and I've thought about smoking a turkey this year. However, I've hit 2 snags.

1) Can you stuff a turkey when smoking it? Is this even a good idea or does it ruin the stuffing with the longer cook times?
2) My wife bought a 16.3 lb. bird, but I have read that going over 14 lbs can lead to long cook times risking the bird being in the 40-140 degree "danger zone" for too long. To avoid this I'd need to cook at least 250 (probably 275 with stuffing). At this point does it defeat the purpose of smoking?

Let me know.

 

[Pacman]

I did a 19 pound turkey last year. Some of the highlights:

• I bought a fresh turkey that had not been injected, brined, etc.
• I brined for 24 hours two days before Thanksgiving.
• I I rinsed and air dried the turkey for a day in the fridge.
• I spatchcocked the turkey for faster and more even cooking.
• I placed on a rack on top of onion, garlic, celery, carrots, rosemary, and lemon slices.
• Cooking a stuffed bird takes a lot longer and creates some food hygiene issues.
• In the roasting pan I filled with some plain old chicken stock.
• I separated the skin from the bird and sprayed duck fat on it. (Not sure if this helped or not, but skin was crispy)
• I started out at 225 for about an hour to get some smoke and then raised the temp to 350 - 375.
• Total cook time was about 4.5 hours not including resting after the cook.

I plan on doing the same thing this year, but with a 16 pound turkey.

 

[Greg Jones]

My personal opinion, and only ‘personal’, is that I’m not comfortable with cramming the cavity of a turkey full of veg and hoping everything is fully/safely cooked at the end. Too much of a coin flip for me. The stuffing concept, as I have been told, really only came to be when homes had nothing other than one small oven to cook a big family meal in.

You’ll be fine with a 16+ pound bird. I try to stay at 14 pounds also (got a 13.6 for this year) but you really want to stay clear of the 20+ pound birds if possible. But adding the stuffing to the equation, well you addressed that.

 

[tribunal88]

My personal opinion, and only ‘personal’, is that I’m not comfortable with cramming the cavity of a turkey full of veg and hoping everything is fully/safely cooked at the end. Too much of a coin flip for me. The stuffing concept, as I have been told, really only came to be when homes had nothing other than one small oven to cook a big family meal in.

You’ll be fine with a 16+ pound bird. I try to stay at 14 pounds also (got a 13.6 for this year) but you really want to stay clear of the 20+ pound birds if possible. But adding the stuffing to the equation, well you addressed that.

The fair Jennifer is a registered dietician. It took a couple years to win her over to the stuffing, but the flavor and texture don't work unless its cooked in the bird.

That's why one of the questions was whether the longer cooking would dry out the stuffing.

 

[SmokeOCD]

I usually fry up the bacon and sausage prior to mixing it into the stuffing. It adds taste and texture. The undercooked part of it all comes from turkey juice getting into the stuffing. Also that dark crisp bit of stuffing at the opening of the bird is the best part, the rest usually being a soggy clump. Cook it separately and there’s that nice crisp part for everyone to have some.
Also, spatchcock. Definitely spatchcock.

 

[Greg Jones]

The undercooked part of it all comes from turkey juice getting into the stuffing.

Yes, this is my concern as well. I’m not concerned that the turkey will not be cooked.

 

[tribunal88]

I can avoid the "danger zone" most likely by cooking it at higher temps (250-275) to shorten the cooking time. At the higher temps though, am I just turning my smoker into an outdoor oven at that point and not getting any smoke flavor?

 

[SmokeOCD]

“Smoked” turkey tastes like ham. Don’t do that. Watch the recteq video for spatchcocked turkey, you’ll be very happy with the results.

 

[Jim6820]

I’m with @Pacman, @Greg Jones and @SmokeOCD on this one; do “dressing” (cooked outside the bird) rather than “stuffing” (cooked inside the bird). And, spatchcocking is definitely the way to go. Doing a spatchcocked bird and “dressing” will give you the best of both worlds without the extended cook time and possibility of contaminated stuffing.

We’ll be going to our daughter’s home for Thanksgiving, so I won’t be doing a turkey this year. I do plan on doing a smoked prime rib for the family on the Thanksgiving weekend, however. Talk about the best of both worlds; turkey, turkey sandwiches, prime rib and prime rib dip sandwiches. How can you beat that?

 

[Greg Jones]

Yum! I’ll fire up the F-150 and head that way!

 

[tribunal88]

Sounds like I just need to stick with the oven then. This stuffing needs to be in the bird or it doesn't taste as good (I've cooked up some on the side before).

Thanks for the input.

 

[Jim6820]

Yum! I’ll fire up the F-150 and head that way!

We’ll set a place at the table for you, my friend. You can park the F-150 right next to the Ferrari.

 

[Pacman]

Sounds like I just need to stick with the oven then.

You'll get a respectable amount of smoke if you start off for the first hour at a low temp and then crank up to a roasting temp. Yes, your Recteq is basically a wood pellet fired convection oven at higher temps, but I've always been pleased with the kiss of smoke up front.

I suspect if your guests are like mine and used to oven roasted poultry, low and slow for the whole cook would probably be too smokey for most people's tastes.

 

[Gonefishin]

This sounds like one of the cooks you should try for yourselves before you do it for guests, if that’s the plan.

 

[RattleR]

I agree with all those not recommending cooking turkey stuffed. Never have neither did my mother or grandmother be they always had cornbread dressing and oyster dressing. If you just must roll the dice and sounds like you have I might heed this https://www.cdc.gov/foodsafety/communication/holiday-turkey.html

I do love to smoke turkey, I did 4 turkey breast on my stick burner with a turkey, the breast were for my FIL and SIL’ s that loved my Hickory smoked birds. All on turkey day morning. Meat Head, Myron Mixon has some good info on his Amazingribs.com website about Turkey. https://amazingribs.com/tested-recipes/turkey-recipes/

I am smoking two birds this year on the Bull like last year. Spatchcock, brined and normally Simon and Garfunkel seasoning. Probably do one brined, injected and seasoned with Holy Voodoo this year.

Good luck, be safe and enjoy the food and family/friends however you Cook your goose, er ah, Turkey.

 

[Gonefishin]

I prefer the flavor of the stuffing in the bird, but I’ve not done it for the smoker. The issue we have with stuffing the bird is you have to put in loosely so it cooks right, meaning you get almost nothing. We have to cook a side dish of it in the oven irregardless.

 

[Motodad1776]

I keep things so simple and stupid, no brining no injecting and no stuffing the cavity with anything......have had numerous folks say my smoked turkeys are the best they have ever had. Just rinse and dry the bird, give a light coating of olive or avocado oil, then season liberally with your choice of flavor "I like Cavender's Greek seasoning and a bit of Slap yo Mama's". I do 275F the entire cook with brushing of melted butter every hour until done, get more than enough smoke flavor and I take off at 162F internal "I only do turkey breasts these days", so you'll have to foil the legs/wings later into the cook if doing a whole bird. Good luck to all, so much fun cooking and experimenting!!! And for the record..........HATE STUFFING, much prefer sweetcorn casserole.

 

[RHEINLEIN]

I’m with @Pacman, @Greg Jones and @SmokeOCD on this one; do “dressing” (cooked outside the bird) rather than “stuffing” (cooked inside the bird). And, spatchcocking is definitely the way to go. Doing a spatchcocked bird and “dressing” will give you the best of both worlds without the extended cook time and possibility of contaminated stuffing.

We’ll be going to our daughter’s home for Thanksgiving, so I won’t be doing a turkey this year. I do plan on doing a smoked prime rib for the family on the Thanksgiving weekend, however. Talk about the best of both worlds; turkey, turkey sandwiches, prime rib and prime rib dip sandwiches. How can you beat that?

@Jim6820 do you inject the spatchcocked bird?

 

[Jim6820]

@Jim6820 do you inject the spatchcocked bird?

I’ve done mostly smaller birds (10-12 pounds) and usually don’t inject. Overall, I’m not a big fan of injection as I think it sets the meat up to boil inside, especially if you over inject. And, I think a spatchcocked bird cooks quickly enough that it really doesn’t benefit from injection. YMMV

 

[RHEINLEIN]

I’ve done mostly smaller birds (10-12 pounds) and usually don’t inject. Overall, I’m not a big fan of injection as I think it sets the meat up to boil inside, especially if you over inject. And, I think a spatchcocked bird cooks quickly enough that it really doesn’t benefit from injection. YMMV

Thanks @Jim6820
Makes sense. I'll follow your lead.
I have not spatchcocked a turkey in a very long time.
275 degrees sound reasonable?

I normally do chickens@ 350 for 1-1/2 hours like clockwork.