I recently moved, and gave away my Weber Smoky Mountain smokers. I have a brand new Traeger, Any tips on smoking birds?

Use a liquid brine before smoking.

Liquid brine of choice overnight, ideally fully submerged.

Set smoker to 230, and cook to 130-140 internal.

Run the temp up to 325-350 after you hit 130-140ish internal, to crisp up the skin. (You can even pull it off the smoker and finish it in a 350 oven at this point, as it won't absorb any more smoke flavor after the first few hours anyway and you're just after the heat at that point.)

Pull out at 160 internal, wrap in foil, and let rest for 30 minutes or so before carving.

In total, should take roughly 30 minutes per pound. But that's just for planning purposes. Use a good leave-in temp probe in the thickest part (not touching bone) and cook to temp, not time.

If you have room, I greatly prefer to spatchcock the bird for faster, more even cooking.

May want to research any risks of "low-and-slow" smoking of poultry.....particularly large turkey when stuffed. If they stay too long in that low-temperature zone you get a biohazard.

quote:

Originally posted by Outnumbered:
If you have room, I greatly prefer to spatchcock the bird for faster, more even cooking.

+1. More work upfront, but better results on the table.

I spatchcock then brine. Spatchcocking allows for a more uniform cook. You’re not stuffing the bird anyway. Breast, legs and thighs will all finish around the same time. I was doing a 12 pound turkey in the smoker and another traditional turkey in the oven and the family said to forget the traditional bird.

If you plan on spatchcocking it, have the butcher remove the spine.
I've got some nice kitchen shears but doing an ice cold turkey is next level.

I use this brine, and then smoke on my PBC.

Malcom Reed has a nice website. Lots of recipes. His classic Thanksgiving Smoked Turkey is one of my favorites. We cook it a couple of times a year. One other thought, you may want to use some iced tea for your brine. Really helps bring the bird’s color out.

https://howtobbqright.com/2020...iving-turkey-recipe/

Good tips here, I've done plenty of chicken fryers and Turkeys on the Traeger. I no longer cook 20+ pound birds, instead I'll smoke two smaller 14-15 pound birds.

Nobody eats the dark meat, everyone wants the breast around here... But the tips to cook to 140 internal are good, pan it, then move to an oven if you can to finish, or crank the temp up to get it over 160 internal and crisp it up.

Traegers do a great job...

quote:

Originally posted by HRK:
I no longer cook 20+ pound birds, instead I'll smoke two smaller 14-15 pound birds.

Nobody eats the dark meat, everyone wants the breast around here...

You can get just the bone-in breasts. That's what I usually do.

Makes for a faster cook too, because they're smaller, typically 7-8 pounds.

One of the best turkeys I ever did:

20lb bird, dry brine with Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning in the fridge uncovered for 24 hours, spatchcock and inject with Tony Chachere's Roasted Garlic and Herb, smoke at 325 to internal temp of 160 in the thigh (about 3 1/2 hours), rest for 15 minutes.