Spatchcock Smoked Turkey
If you haven't cooked a Turkey on your smoker, you're missing out.
This cook will make you the envy of family and friends.
For this cook we're cooking a 18 lbs farm fresh Turkey. You can also use a store bought frozen Turkey for this as well. Just make sure to thaw it out in the refrigerator for a few days prior to your cook.
Today we're using our Traeger Timberline 1300 pellet grill with Hickory Pellets.
We've included some links for these products for ease of reference.
18 lbs Farm Fresh Turkey | 5 Hour Cook | Hickory Pellets
******INGREDIENTS******
******PREPARATION******
Night Before
The night before is when we're going to brine the turkey, so you'll need a large food grade pail, bucket or container. We use the Yeti Loadout 5 gallon bucket. To make clean up easier use a pail liner.
First make sure you have rinsed and cleaned the turkey.
Take the entire bag of Meat Church Bird Bath Poultry Brine and mix with one gallon of water. Place the turkey in the bucket and fill with your brine mixture. If the turkey is not fully submersed you can add some water.
Place the turkey in the refrigerator overnight.
Morning Of The Cook
This is only a 5 hour cook so you have a fair bit of time in the morning but we do have some things to do prior so the morning is a good time to get them done.
First we must remove the turkey from the brine and rinse well.
The purpose of the brine is not so much to add flavour but to impart moisture to make this the juiciest turkey you've had yet.
After rinsing now we have to "Spatchcock". If you have not done this before, here's a video outlining the process. Make sure to have a good quality pair of poultry shears.
Now that we have that compete it's a good idea to pat the bird down with a paper towel and put back in the refrigerator. This helps dry out the skin making it nice a crispy when done.
The Cook
You will need about an hour before you get the turkey on to get your smoker up to temp and to apply the rubs.
Set your smoker for 250 degrees. Final internal temperature 160 degrees in the thickest part of the breast.
Now let's get the turkey out of the refrigerator and season. First spray the entire bird with any type of cooking spray. This allows the rubs to stick to the turkey. First season with the Meat Church Honey Hog lightly then with the Meat Church Deez Nuts Pecan Rub. You will want equal parts of each and not too heavy.
Let the turkey sit out for about an hour while your smoker comes up to temp.
Now that it's time let's get the turkey on the smoker. You can let it go for about 2 hours at which time we are going to start taking some internal temperatures and also basting. This entire cook should take between 4 - 5 hours in total so keep an eye on temps and leave enough time to baste and glaze.
Our final internal temperature is going to be 160 degrees in the breast. After 2 hours we will baste every 30 minutes and the final 30 minutes will be applying the glaze.
Basting
After the 2 hour mark check internals just as reference. They are no where near where we need to be but it's always a good idea to know how the cook is going.
At this point we are going to drizzle melted butter all over the turkey using a brush. Make sure not to touch the turkey. We want the rubs to stay on. The basting will make the skin a nice golden brown.
Repeat every 30 minutes until an internal temperature of 155 is reached.
Glaze
At this point the turkey should be a nice golden brown and it's time to glaze. We want to wait until we get to 155 degrees internal temperature because we don't want to burn the glaze as it should only be another 10 - 15 minutes or so to reach the pull internal temperature of 160 degrees.
For the glaze you can mix your favourite Bourbon with Lane's Kinda Sweet Sauce. Mix 2 cups BBQ sauce and 1/2 cup of Bourbon.
Drizzle over the turkey a few times over the 10 - 15 minutes to set up and reach the 160 degree internal temperature.
The Rest
The rest is one of the most important parts of the cook.
Pull off your smoker and set out tented with foil for 30 minutes.
The Moment Of Truth
Now it's time to carve and serve.
Your guests are going to be surprised when they taste how moist and juicy this turkey is. You know it's going to be great!
Enjoy!
