Turkey Tutorial vol. 1 - Old Smokey Electric Smoker

The Old Smokey Electric Smoker is an excellent choice for cooking a turkey.  The meat will be the most flavorful and tender you've ever had.

Here's our tips on getting great results:

Choose the Right Size Turkey

The Old Smokey Electric Smoker is 15" diameter.  A 15 pound turkey will fit easily, and a good customer told us his 22 pound turkey fit with just a little room to spare.  Here's a 14lb beauty (size 13" x 9"), fresh and ready to go:

Coat with Olive Oil or Butter

After the turkey is washed and patted dry, you'll want to coat it with olive oil (see our excellent Antonio Celentano line) or butter so the rub or whatever seasoning you use will stick better.  In the picture below, we used bacon grease.  That proved to be a great choice.

Season, and Get Creative

Now that the turkey is oiled, it's time to add seasoning or rub.  We like the Big Ron's line, but there are many great choices.  Salt and Pepper works great too.  And here's your chance to get creative.  There's a big space inside the turkey.  Fill that with onion?  Peppers?  Potatoes?  Spices?   Sausage?  Whatever you can think of is going to be good.  Remember - you don't need a whole lot of things.   One good idea that is well executed will bring amazing results.

Put the Wood Chips in the Electric Smoker

There's a little bit of an art to this.  The pile of chips will take a while to light up.  The singles set out by themselves will light up right away.  This lets you time the release of smoke and keep it constant across the duration of the cooking.

Final Touches

Put the turkey on the lower (smaller diameter) rack of the Electric Smoker.  The top rack will be fine for ears of corn, or potatoes, onions or anything else under 4" tall.  In our example, we're just cooking a turkey.

Since this house had a nice Rosemary plant just outside the kitchen - we added a couple of sprigs.   

Load it up, plug it in and go!

A perfect fit.  Put the cover on, plug it in and go set the table.  Start off with the control on high.  Take note of the time you started though!

Two Hours in

not ready yet, but there is great progress.   As you can see, the skin is shrinking away.  That's normal in the Old Smokey Electric Smoker.

Three Hours, and We're Ready!

It's cooked.  Time to let it rest a bit while you make final preparations.  Turn it down to 1/3 or 1/4 for another 30 minutes.  After that, if it's not yet time to serve, turn the dial all the way to low, or "keep warm".

Falling Off the Bone

It's hard to overcook the food in the Old Smokey Electric Smoker.  The meat won't burn or dry out, it will just stay tender and fall off the bone. 

Gravy if You Want It.

Here's what collects in the Drip Pan.  It's a great start for gravy.  Just another reminder that you don't put water in the pan before cooking anything.  There'll be plenty of liquid in there afterwards.

Rested and Ready to Eat

Here it is after resting at the lower temperature setting and after a few minutes in the kitchen.  This isn't a presentation bird, you'll want to cut it up before serving it, but just wait until you taste it!  This turkey is juicy and tender all the way through.  The flavor is perfect.  Get the knives ready!

The Wood Chips Did Their Job

See how they are all charred?  They provided the smoke flavor during the full time of cooking.  It only takes a little bit of wood, and a relatively short cooking time.  That's the magic of the Old Smokey Electric Smoker.