I have smoked quite a few turkeys both regularly and spatchcocked. The key is rub helmans mayonnaise in between the skin and meat the coat the entire outside as well. Season to taste and smoke at 250 until I.T. is reached.
Smoking Meat Questions and Discussion
- Thread starter Statefan515ISU
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I've had way more even internal temps when I've spatchcocked. I always smoked around 250 to an IT and then cranked the heat at the end or broiled the skin to crisp it up. Switching from trying to use shears to a chef knife was the ticket for spatchcocking. If you have sharp knives they'll go right through the rib bones. Use a euro knife, not something thin.
I bought a set and they turned out to be junk. They would work on a chicken but I broke them squeezing too hard. Anyone have recs on shears that work well on turkey?I use poultry shears for spatchcocking
What are the brand on those shears? I just see the image on your attachment.
That's a generic photo from the net but mine look just like that and are made by Sabatier. I also have another pair in a box somewhere that was Mom's when she passed away. Those seem really heavy duty.
On the contrary, I did a 20 lb bird last year and there's no way I wouldn't have spatchcocked it. The outside would have been way overcooked before it was done inside.
I definitely recommend trying to stay in the 12-14 lb range, though, and not any bigger.
When it comes to smoking a turkey that is pretty much the maximum recommended size.
If you think about the physics here, and how sensitive poultry is to drying out, this makes the most sense.
Poultry doesn't have the fat marbling stores that our normal hunks of meat have to be able to put on the pit for hours and hours without drying out. So smoking a whole bird in that whole-bird condition is going to be bad news for ending up with a fully cooked bird that still moist. Very narrow window for success.
Thus you need to use the spatchcock technique to be able to cook the whole bird efficiently and evenly, to avoid drying out the whole thing before the inside IT reaches the needed temperature.
In other words, both ways can be successful, but you'll have a wider window to success if you spatchcock the bird.
I've not used mayo. I am intrigued. What's the purpose? Hold in moisture? Do you mix in your salt and pepper to it or put the mayo on it after brineing?
Getting a 12-14 lb fresh turkey from Fareway this year again. Like I said in an earlier post it was the best tasting turkey I've ever had. This was smoked on my GMG DB using LBJ competition pellets. I even used the roasting pan in the smoker. Nice crisp skin on it too.
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Mayo on after bringing. Make the skin really crispy and the meat moist.
I've never been able to taste it. I've used both mayo as well as mustard and the flavor has never came through. The S&P just sticks better. I've also used oil.
After brining but before you put on the S&P.
mayo has like oil, eggs and either vinegar or lemon juice. I really doubt it brings any flavor. I've coated pork shoulders with mustard and it acts like a glue for the seasoning you put on it. No real flavor. I'll probably brine and then add a butter herb mix under the skin and then baste with butter. I will put water in my roaster pan to.
Maybe this was mentioned earlier but I like this guys work. I've bought some of his rub at Scheels.
https://www.youtube.com/c/MeatChurchBBQ
https://www.youtube.com/c/MeatChurchBBQ
We have a baked salmon recipe where you slather it in mayo, then seasoned salt, then breadcrumbs.
It is amazing. I don't know why or how I found it, but my family loves it.
