Smoked a Turkey Perfect but for black skin

[tmerlihan]

I smoked another Spatchcocked turkey in my Meadow Creek offset smoker. Maintained temperature at 325. Followed Meathead's recipe. Charcoal was not doing the trick for heat so added hickory wood and some red oak. I opened the door to firebox to get the logs started and clean burning. After about 2 hours I checked temp and bird. Opened lid and was shocked to see black skin. The bird was juicy and tasted great. But the skin was a bit of a turn off. Any thoughts on how to prevent the skin from turning black?

[Fire Art]

Was it dirty smoke or burnt grease what did I taste like or a photo but glade it didn’t ruin your dinner

[tmerlihan]

Thanks. I am going with burnt grease. I clean my smoker before I use it. When introducing wood I let it burn with lots of air until it ignites. Then I close it down. Other food has beautiful color but turkey, not so much. Even chicken turns out golden. I have read perhaps hard wood can cause this and I did use hickory.

[lemayp]

Haven't tried it myself, but one of my friends wraps turkeys in cheese cloth and smears butter over the cloth. Pulls it off at the end. He says the black is gone and skin is crispy. If your rub is mostly under the skin, it might work.

[tmerlihan]

Thanks. I used Meathead's wet rub. Mostly underneath skin. Interesting idea ón the cheesecloth.