Just bought me a 2-12lb fresh turkeys and looking to smoke them for Thanksgiving along with a nice brisket.This will be my first turkeys to smoke.I have done all the research as far as brine and cooking times.If anyone could share some of their tips that would be a great help! I dont need my wife telling me "I told you so" if i reck this meal!Have a Happy Thanksgiving to All!

I bought a stand so the turkey will be upright like a beer can chicken.

If you have enough room in your smoker to stand it upright that is the best way.

Light smoke is the best. Burning your wood first and shovle in the hot coals.

Also let the turkey warm at room tempature for a while before you put it on the pit.

"I told you so"

I use charcoal but I soak chunks of pecan wood in cheap apple juice for about an hour. I then drain the liquid off the wood chunks into a aluminum pan and place it close to the fire box in the smoke chamber. Once the coals are red hot, I place the soaked wood chunks on the coals. I keep the temp around 225-240� by adding more charcoal then soaked wood chunks on top once the coals become hot. 30 minutes a lb. for the turkey - 170-180� internal temp for the turkey. After 4-hours of smoking I wrap the turkey in aluminum foil and put it back on the smoker until the internal temp is reached.

I do not brine my turkey before smoking it. I rub olive oil on the turkey inside and out, then apply my rub over that. I do not fool with injections, the olive oil/rub has worked great for me in the past.

I'm also going to throw a fully cooked ham on the smoker for a couple of hours. I will toothpick pineapple slices to the ham. Toontroller gave me that bit of advice - people will never know it was a fully cooked ham unless you tell them.

Hey Pocred i think your turkey is the one i make sure i over cook first.Ill start drinking some shiner cheer then put yours on.LOL I think your wife is smarter than letting you drop her only turkey off to be experimented on.Fire will be hot around 8:00 if you want.

OK, I'll bring something. Meat or beer.

I did one last week and here are the pictures of the finished product and the way I did it.

http://texasfishingforum.com/forums/ubbt...mps#Post5518509

2.5 hours in the smoker and then finish it in the oven in an uncovered dish, roaster ect at 350F until the turkey timer (thermometer) pops up. On a 10 - 12 lb turkey this should be aprox 2.5 more hours. I use this method because the turkey is going to absorb all of the smoke it possibly can in the first 2 - 2.5 hours, The oven and pan keeps the turkey moist.

Brine the bird for sure (48hrs) I stuffed the bird with thai peppers, smoked it about an hour, put in pan with some chicken stock in the bottom, covered and cooked at 320 until it registered 175. This was the best turkey I have tasted.

Just one piece of advise, If you decide to use hickory as your smoking wood, a very little bit goes a long way. Have you ever had a smoked turkey that gave you heart burn? That was probably from using hickory. Don't get me wrong, I love hickory smoked meats just use it sparingly. I normaly only will use two chunks about the size of my fist for the smoke and red oak for my main fuel source.

Good luck,

Richard