Greets all,

I'm getting a fabulous local turkey for Thanksgiving -- a lilac turkey, ever hear of one of those? I'm not sure if I'm going to lightly brine and smoke, or just roast, or whatever...to be determined. When I roast the turkey, I always stuff it with a fully cooked cornbread/wild rice/sweet onion/sausage stuffing. Can this also be done if I'm smoking it?

Thanks,

Sure you 'can', but personally I would NOT. Safety is my main concern, but you can safely do it with that said.....just make sure you get the bird and the stuffing to 160º. I would also only do this if you're doing a high heat bird, that way the bird with the added 'mass' of the stuffing will get out of the danger zone faster than it would low and slow, which is how I smoke my turkeys.

One more reason I would not smoke a stuffed bird is, I don't want my stuffing to be smokey and I think it would absorb too much smoke flavor personally.

I stuffed a whole chicken before and cooked it on my OTG and it came out great. My only concern was it took a while for it to cook and was worried about the temp. I probably won't try it again.

quote:

Originally posted by Larry Wolfe:
Sure you 'can', but personally I would NOT. Safety is my main concern, but you can safely do it with that said.....just make sure you get the bird and the stuffing to 160º. I would also only do this if you're doing a high heat bird, that way the bird with the added 'mass' of the stuffing will get out of the danger zone faster than it would low and slow, which is how I smoke my turkeys.

One more reason I would not smoke a stuffed bird is, I don't want my stuffing to be smokey and I think it would absorb too much smoke flavor personally.

ah.. good point. Smoke the turkey not the stuffing. I would think as well, you would have uneven heat due to the bird being stuffed.

Right, well, I understand that a lot of people don't want to stuff birds because doing it right and safely is a certain amount of extra work. I've never minded it because I think the results are better (and so do my guests -- the "in the bird" stuffing is always the first thing on the table to get wiped out). Since I'd be using a high heat/325 or so cook (the only way I've ever done turkey in the weber), I guess I'm not worried about being able to sufficiently heat the cavity. I'm wondering if those like John who have actually done this have any thoughts on smokiness (i.e., is it too much).

Thanks,

As they say... We always do the stuffing in a separate pan, even before we started to fry, rotiss or "Q". No matter what recipe of the stuffing, IMHO, I think the stuffing in the bird absorbs much of the internal juices. We prefer to use a handful or two of fresh herbs.

joe

I did a 14 pound fresh bird this weekend with the stuffing in it. I brined the bird using the maple syrup/jack daniels recipe in this forum, and put the stuffing in the cavity in cheesecloth (thanks Kevin) and it turned out great. When I took the turkey off the smoker (high heat) I removed the stuffing and combined it with the stuffing that wouldn't fit in the turkey and baked it in the oven while the turkey rested and gravy was made. Stuffing got to safe temp, and was very tasty and not noticably smokey. The gravy made from drippings caught in a baking pan on lower rack was very good but a little salty for my taste....perhaps from the bird being brined.

Thanks to all for all the great advice.

Ron

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Mary M:
Greets all,

I'm getting a fabulous local turkey for Thanksgiving -- a lilac turkey, ever hear of one of those? I'm not sure if I'm going to lightly brine and smoke, or just roast, or whatever...to be determined. When I roast the turkey, I always stuff it with a fully cooked cornbread/wild rice/sweet onion/sausage stuffing. Can this also be done if I'm smoking it?

Mary, my Turkey Stuffing post above was supposed to be a response to your question and it ended up as a new post. As I said, I don't ever stuff turkeys, and I especially wouldn't if you're smoking it at a lower than usual temperature.

Kent

quote:

Originally posted by Mary M:
Greets all,

I'm getting a fabulous local turkey for Thanksgiving -- a lilac turkey, ever hear of one of those? I'm not sure if I'm going to lightly brine and smoke, or just roast, or whatever...to be determined. When I roast the turkey, I always stuff it with a fully cooked cornbread/wild rice/sweet onion/sausage stuffing. Can this also be done if I'm smoking it?

Thanks,

Hi Mary,

Not much more I can add to the other posts except... that stuffing recipe sounds good - I've always wanted to try cornbread type stuffing. Care to share the recipe ? Maybe in the Recipes forum ?

Thanks