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Turkey skin

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    Turkey skin

    How's it going?

    I have a question for my fellow pit masters. I smoked my first turkey yesterday and everything was perfect except for the skin. It was about a 16 pound turkey that I cooked on my 22.5 inch weber smoky mountain. I spatchcock it, dry brined it with salt only, sprayed it down with vegetable oil and seasoned it with Italian seasoning, then cooked it for about 3 1/2 hours. Temp stayed above 300 for most of the cook and got up to about 330 at the highest temp. After pulling it off the cooker and carving it it was moist and juicy and delicious. However, The skin was rubbery and almost impossible to eat.

    I would very much like some advice on how to get a crispier skin next time. Almost everything I cook on my WSM is delicious but like I mentioned earlier, i'm not experienced with turkey and this was my first one.

    thank you in advance,
    Kevin

    #2
    I dry brine, rub without oil (as spices dissolve better in water than oil as per Meathead) sprinkle some baking powder on and then put uncovered in the fridge for 1-2 days (2 days is better) on some sort of rack so it is not sitting in it's own juices.
    Then cook at a minimum of 325 and 350 is better.
    Since doing this with poultry the skin has been nice and crispy as a rule.

    Comment


      #3
      One thing that has been working for me lately with poultry, in addition to what you've already done (skip the oil spray, and modify where you put the dressing) is to use my hand to separate the skin from the meat to form two pockets, one on each side of the breast center cartilage/bone. Start from the backside and work your hand towards the front, on the breast. Then put some veg oil and herbs and your seasoning in the pockets you've created. You can probably skip the italian dressing doing this, or replace the oil+herbs with the dressing - I'm just not sure what the moisture content is in the dressing, and you want no moisture for this kind of low-temp cook. Don't use butter instead of oil - it contains water and that defeats the effect. Much as I like a turkey slathered with butter.

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        #4
        I usually do poultry on a rotisserie (around 375°F), which gives nice crispy skin. I THINK (not know) that you need to be around 350-ish to get crispy skin. Fer shure, you want to start dry as per EdF.

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          #5
          Did a smallish bird Monday. Temp fluctuated +/- 15 around 330. Cook was only an hour and a quarter to an hour and a half Click image for larger version

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ID:	280243 , and it came out nice and crispy. So in a similar ballpark here.

          Comment


            #6
            Welcome to The Pit, Kevin! I moved this to the Recipes > Chicken & Turkey channel since it's more of a technique question on poultry skin than an intro.. (on that note, pop back in and give us an intro about yourself when you can).

            I say skip the oil. Cook at 340-360 the whole cook. Funny thing is, when I wet brine my poultry I get crispier skin. Try it!

            Comment


              #7
              Let the experiments commence! ;-)

              Comment


                #8
                Thank all of you guys for the information and advice. Sounds like leaving the oil out and cranking up the heat a bit more is pretty much all I need to improve. I'm thinking about next time just doing a turkey breast instead of the whole bird since the white meat of the turkey is my favorite anyways.

                this seems like a really good site for cooking information because there are so many people to share ideas with. I look forward to chatting with all of you more. Again thank all of you.

                Shrews


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                  #9
                  Welcome MASTER SHREWS

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                  • MASTER SHREWS
                    MASTER SHREWS commented
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                    Thanks I appreciate it !

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