fool proof turkey recipe?

[statman]

Smoke the turkey at 325-350. Normally you would smoke at 225, but for poultry, especially a turkey, it would keep the birds internal temp in the danger zone too long while cooking and bacteria could form.

I overcome this problem by simply using poultry shears to split the bird down the middle and smoke it as two seperate halves. I'f you're carefull with the skin on top (ie if you basically 'butterfly' it), you can put it together and make it look like a whole turkey before you start carving. But smoking is about taste not looks. I don't bother with it looking like it is in one piece.

That way I can smoke it in the traditional manner - at about 190 degrees on light smoke for about 8-10 hours - or until the internal temp comes up to 165 - 170 degrees.

This method eliminates the 'dangers' of poultry. The danger doesn't lie in the meat itself (unless the bird was sick). It's in the internal cavity, where, like you said, in a big bird the temperature will stay in the 'danger zone' for too long. Butterflying the bird, exposes the inner cavity directly to the heat and the smoke, and eliminates the risk...

[statman]

I smoked one last year and it was great. The only issue is you don't your standard gravy, which, at our house, is very important. So I also roasted one in the oven.

Good call. I will always oven-roast one - for gravy and stuffing. And every year I'll either smoke one or deep-fry one. Once I did all three, but that left us with A LOT of turkey. The neighbors liked it though. Not many people will turn-down smoked turkey...

[statman]

The biggest challenge I have with turkey is getting the skin. The skin's always a favorite at our house, but I've been sacrificing it to get the best combination of dark meat and breast, which I think is done with low and slow upside down.

the skin of a smoked turkey tastes like licking an ash tray...

[statman]

I am going to make two turkeys this thanksgiving. One will be cooked traditionally. One will be smoked. I may see if I can get my neighbor to fry one for me as well.

The trifecta! variety is good...

[old_gregg]

Lifehacker has some good insight on brining.