.
Turkey How-to:
Smoking is a fantastic method for cooking a turkey. Turkey is extremely mild, and smoking gives it a
rich, complex flavor in addition to producing moist, tender meat. Oven-roasted turkey often runs into
the problem of being dry and tough. This is caused by overcooking, which is extremely easy to do
when you're roasting a turkey. However, it's almost impossible to overcook anything in your Smokin-
Tex smoker because the temperature remains low and the cooking is slow.
Which Wood to Use
The wood provides the smoke, and the smoke provides the flavor, so choose your wood with care. You
can use whatever variety of wood you like best. Any kind of fruit wood, such as apple or cherry, com-
plements turkey very well, but hickory, pecan, and maple will be equally enticing. All the woods above
are available through SmokinTex.
How to Pick the Turkey
We recommend that, if you wish to smoke a whole bird, you choose one that weighs no more than
about 18 pounds. Larger birds take too long to heat all the way through since the smoker cooks at the
low temperature of 225°. If you choose a frozen turkey, it should be thoroughly thawed before you be-
gin.
Important Points
Food safety is of primary concern when smoking turkey. Turkey breasts, drumsticks, wings, and whole
turkeys are all suited for smoking, although for safety's sake, stick with whole turkeys that weigh 18
pounds or less.
Thawing from the Experts
Turkey thawing hints from the National Turkey Federation:Turkeys
can be thawed using one of three methods, but the most fool-proof is in the refrigerator. The key to this
method is to plan ahead and allow approximately 24 hours for every five pounds of bird weight for
thawing in the refrigerator. This method is the safest and will result in the best finished product. Place
the bird, in the original wrapping, on a shallow baking dish in the refrigerator. The following chart pro-
vides good guidelines for thawing times:
If you need to thaw the turkey more quickly, you may thaw the bird in COLD water, in the original
wrapping. The cold water must be changed every 30 minutes. Allow approximately 30 minutes per
pound using this method
.
Refrigerator turkey
thawing time (40
°F )
Turkey weight
Days to allow for thawing turkey
8 to 12 pounds
1 to 2 days
12 to 16 pounds
2 to 3 days
16 to 20 pounds
3 to 4 days
20 to 24 pounds
4 to 5 days
