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A few years ago I smoked my Thanksgiving Turkey. It was excellent, but this year we decided to roast it.
We had plenty of experience roasting chicken and goose, but had not done a turkey yet. As it is quite a large bird, we brined it for 24 hours; water, salt, crushed pepper, and a few herbs was all it took.
We put the turkey in the oven, breast down at 275F with a gentle fire burning for 2 hours. Then we turned it breast up, put some soaked wood chips over the embers, and closed the insulated door for 2 hours.
Next we opened the door, got a gentle fire going, and let it finish cooking for another hour and a half.
We let it rest for 20 minutes to allow enough time for the juices to seep back into the meat.
The skin tore a little when we turned it up, but it was excellent.
It turned out to be the juiciest turkey with a delicate smoke flavor and meat falling off the bones.
Also below is a picture of a roasted goose we did last Christmas.
Hi Mary Ann! For a turkey breast, I would cut the time in half and try 1 hour on the breast and 1 hour on the back, but keep an eye on it. Hickory wood will certainly work and you should soak the chunks before you put them on the embers to increase the aromatic smoke.
We hope you are enjoying your oven!
How would you change the timing for this recipe if you were only smoking a turkey breast around 6 pounds? What variety of wood chips did you use? I just ordered some hickory wood chunks. Would those work? Should they be soaked in water or would you put them on the bed of embers dry?