Main Ingredients:

See below ingredients and instructions of the recipe

Cooking Preparation of the Recipe:

-----------------------SMOKED TURKEY----------------------------
The flesh of the turkey
-tends to be dry. Many a
-turkey
Cooked by conventional
-methods has turned out
-with the texture
Of dry blotting paper. The
-smoke oven does not dry
-food so
Much as does the ordinary
-oven, nevertheless,
-careful basting
Is essential with turkey to
-keep it thoroughly
-succulent, and
To develop the best flavor.

Turkeys are sold in several grades. Grade A birds are perfect in
every part, breast, wings, skin, etc. Grade B birds may have some
minor defect such as a missing wing, a humped back or a skin tear
that does not affect the rest of the bird. Grade C has a more
serious defect, such as skin missing from the breast. A bird could
also be graded B or C for being too lean and scrawny; this lack of
fat could to some extent impair the flavor, and would certainly call
for extra-careful basting. So, if it is specially desired to disply
the handsome appearance of the whole, smoked bird before carving, a
Grade A turkey should be chosen. But if the bird is to be cut up
before the diners see it, a Grade B or C turkey, carefully treated to
conceal or compensate for its minor defects, will serve the purpose
quite well. Seasoning: Liberally apply Basic Seasoning to the skin
and inside neck and body cavities. Moisten the skin if necessary to
make the seasoning adhere. Smoking: Place the turkey on the rack,
breast up, with the oven at 200 to 225 F. Baste with butter or
vegetable oil; about three times is usually sufficient. A wide,
shallow pan should be placed about 6 inches below the turkey to catch
the oil or melted butter that drips off. Stick a meat thermometer in
the heavy part of the breast, not touching bone. This will indicate
when the bird is cooked. It is worth emphasizing that with turkey, as
with most other smoked birds, the inner meat, around the joints, may
still be red, although it is fully cooked! In this matter, trust the
meat thermometer. Be guided by the taste and tenderness of the meat;
do not be deceived by the red coloration. Use of Ordinary Oven: If
the smoke oven is not hot enough to cook the turkey completely, wait
until the bird has turned a rich amber and has absorbed the smoke
flavor. Then lay the bird on aluminum foil; put in 4 tablespoons of
water; turn up the foil, bring the edges together, fold and crimp
them as tightly as possible, and wrap the foil closely around the
bird. Put in the kitchen oven at 450 F until done. This high
temperature will not burn or dry out the bird if the wrapping is
carefully done. The foil forms, in effect, a miniature pressure
cooking which conserves nmoisture and cuts down cooking time. Serving
and Storage: Serve hot or cold. A delicious sandwich can be made of
sliced smoked turkey (or chicken) with mayonnaise and butter on
toast. Smoked turkey can readily be frozen whole, or whatever is left
cup up into meal-sized portions to be foil-wrapped, frozen and
thawed, one by one as required. If the wrapping is carefully done,
there will be no dehydration in storage. In general, turkey hind
quarters may be smoked separately. Apply Basic Seasoning on both
sides. Smoke skin-side down until browned, then turn and smoke-roast
until done, or wrap in foil and transfer to the kitchen oven to
finish. As with chicken, for a stronger smoke flavor, give a
preliminary cold-smoking at 85 to 95 F until the skin is well
browned, then finish off at 225 F in the smoke oven, or wrap and
finish at 450 F in the kitchen oven. It is not customary to use
dressing when smoking a turkey, but if this is desired, do not use
cold dressing. In the moderate temperature of a smoke oven, there is
a possibility of spoilage before the dressing becomes heated above
the temperature that stops development of harmful bacteria. Here is a
safe procedure. Heat the dressing in a baking dish in the kitchen
oven, and stuff the turkey with the hot dressing. Wrap in foil as
described before, and place in kitchen oven at 450 F for 1 hour or
until thermometer reads 185 F. Remove foil, and put bird in smoke
oven at 100 to 125 F for about 3 hours, till it has picked up the
desired smoke color and flavor. Wild turkey, of course, gets much
more exercise than the domestic variety, so it usually has less fat
under its skin. It may be processed the same as domestic turkey
except that, because of this lack of fat, it will require
extra-careful basting with vegetable oil or butter. Bacon strips may
be used instead, but they should be removed part-way through, to
allow uniform browning. If a turkey is big -over 15 lbs- start with
the oven at 200 F and quickly heat the bird right through. Then
reduce temperature to 180 F for an hour or two to let it pick up
smoke. Then fishis off at 225 to 250 F. From Jack Sleight and
Raymond Hull's "Home Book of Smoke Cooking Meat, Fish Game." ISBN
0-8117-2195-7

TO ALL Submitted By DENISE LANGLOIS SUBJ HELP! - NEW SMOKER GRILL
On
07-10-95

Browse by categories