Meat Smoking Question

[IggytheBorg]

I was hoping someone (maybe Vin?) could provide an eductaed opinion on this.

My wife brought home the Holiday issue of a cooking magazine, which has all these suggestions on how to prepare turkey in new & exciting ways. One of which has inspired me: brining & smoking.

I've wanted to brine a bird for a couple years now, ever since seeing it on Good Eats, but always figured I'd roast it. They have a recipe for smoking the turkey here, though, and that's got me really psyched. The recipe calls for the use of wood chips in a smoker box on a regular grill. The cooking temp would be about 350.

My question is this: would it be advisable to smoke the bird on an offset smoker (the kind with the firebox seperate from the cooking grate, that looks like a small drum on its side with a small pail attached to one end) instead? I'd prefer to do it this way, but a few quandries are presented.

a) It would undoubdtedly take longer, as the cooking temp is typically 200 - 300

b) I have recipes for smoking whole chickens, which require you to split the birds; I'd rather not do that for aesthetic & laziness reasons. It is not required for the smoker box/grill method

c) I have no guidance as to how long the cook time with a smoker would be, and it's not a good idea t keep opening it to check on the inner meat temp

So is there a rule of thumb I don't know about re: how long to smoke poultry/turkeys (x time per lb., or smething)? And do I run a serious risk of fucking it up if I don't split it? I have a smoker box, so if I buy or make some hardwood chips I can certainly do the recipe suggested in the book, to be on the safe side. But as a point of pride I'd rather give low n' slow on a REAL barbecue a whirl.

Vin, the Texans, or Rerb (or anyone else, for that matter) got any advice?

[BillyG]

/blowjobjoke

For cereal though, never smoked a whole bird before. Whenever I smoke chicken it's usually breasts or legs already split up. I wouldn't think there would be a problem if you don't split open though, because it will probably help hold in some juices. It's not like you break up all the ribs when you do a huge rack or ribs, you know? Word to the wise, do NOT put sauce on before smoking. Rub it down, let people apply their choice of BBQ sauce after it's done.

[IggytheBorg]

Oh, no doubt. I almost never sauce anything I cook. I prefer rubs, bastes & marinades, or sauces as condiments, by and large.

Do you think if I brine a bird, also using a rub or injector sauce is going overboard flavor-wise? I had actually cnsidered using both (maybe making an injector sauce flavored with the same rub) because I'm a little concerned about smoking drying the meat out, and the injector would help keep it moist.

[BillyG]

I would do a rub/injection or brine it. Maybe an injection with brine, but for some reason a rub just doesn't seem like it would go well. I think it depends on how salty your rub is going to be.