Plan on smoking the Thanksgiving turkey this year on a rotisserie smoker. Any recommendations on wood and temperature settings?

Use some kind of milder wood, a little smoke on a bird goes a long way. Stay away from hickory or mesquite. I prefer some kind of fruit wood or oak.

Opinions on temp will vary, I prefer hotter, the 350 range. Cooks faster, has a milder smoke flavor, and crispier skin. Leave the low and slow for pork and beef.

Apple wood and 325.

And brine it if you can. I have had solid results with salt, sugar, sage and coarse black pepper dissolved in warm water and then cooled before brining overnight.

Brine and use a fruit wood or pecan for smoke. Hot is good, 300+ degrees

If you don't mind cheating a little, sodium phosphate is a game changer. If you order now, it might get to you before Wednesday.

http://www.butcher-packer.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2_215&products_id=760

For brining: Use it at about 1.0% of the weight of the water. So if you have a 15 lb bird, 2-3 gallons of water, use 0.25 lb of sodium phosphate in addition to your salt, sugar, and other ingredients.

Make sure and dissolve it in the water first, then dissolve the salt and sugar. Otherwise, you will be stirring for a while.

Also, I don't really care for the idea of dissolving the ingredients in hot water and then cooling them down. In some rare cases, the ingredients can "come out" of the solution when it is chilled down quickly. You should normally have no issue getting everything dissolved in either tap or cold water; you just might have to spend a little more time mixing real well.

Edit to adjust the formulation

Has anyone spatchcocked a turkey?

Oak, 275, take off the skin, even amounts of salt and pepper.

CrawfordAg said:

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Has anyone spatchcocked a turkey?

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That's how I normally do mine - only problem is you don't get a "pretty" looking bird pre-carving.

I have done 325-350 for years with a digital probe in the breast. I've only used oak, but I am going to try it with pecan this year.

AND BRINE IT!

I usually spatchcock. Seems to cook more evenly for me that way and easy to carve.

always spatchcock mine. I also am a hot one usually 325. I dry brine it instead of the normal brine. I think it gives it a better texture

So cooking at that temperature, how long does it usually take per pound? Cooking to an internal temp of 165 correct?

For those smoking your first turkey, suggest you read this. I followed the brine 48 hours, compound butter under skin, smoke at 275ish w cheesecloth method the first time I cooked one. Turned out incredible and I still follow it for the most part today. This is a great info source on the turkey game. Hope the link works below.

Don't know how to make the link work but here it is:


https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=http://www.cookshack.com/Websites/cookshack/Images/2010Turkey101.pdf&ved=0ahUKEwj4yKCvwv_XAhWISd8KHRNlB1EQFghYMAY&usg=AOvVaw3weeNSwF5ugI4gssFz1vul