On the rare occasion that we do cook a whole turkey, we like to get a fresh one. This was frozen store bought, and free, so I thought I would try smoking it.
It was pre-salted/buttered or whatever it is they do to super market turkeys, so I thought I'd leave well enough alone.
I defrosted it, propped it up in the smoker and went at it.
Smoked it for about 5 hours at approx 300 degrees. Used a mixture of apple and alder chips. Didn't have much on hand so I threw a handful of chips in just about every hour. Spritzed the skin occasionally with a mixture of cider vinegar, cranberry juice and maple syrup.
Came out pretty good. A little dry and not super flavorful. If it was a fresh turkey, I would have brined it for sure, and probably wouldn't have gotten anything bigger than a 10-12 pounder.
I think at 18#'s it was a little big for my smoker.
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