Amin's Smoked BBQ Turkey

Thanksgiving 2020

This Thanksgiving, halal turkey was hard to find. We had looked for a couple weeks at all of the stores we know, like Olive Cafe, Restaurant Depot, and Halal Mart. We asked around, and still no luck. We even checked Sunfresh (previously Food Festival) first late October and did not find any. 

Last week, Aishah needed to go pick up some of the Black Friday early deals at Target on Choteau, near Sunfresh. While the kids are chilling in the car (with Dog Mode, the Tesla setting for climate controlled cabin), I went to Sunfresh again to quickly check if they have the halal Midamar turkey... and with a huge suprise, there they were... three bags! It's a little more expensive this year at $2.49/lb from what we remembered previously being $1.79/lb. Without thinking twice, I grabbed all three. It totaled to around $100. This year's Thanksgiving is going to be more awesome than we previously had imagined.

$2.49/lb

This blog post is going to be about how I make my version of smoked/bbq turkey. I used similar recipe that Ayah taught me back in PA.

First, the Midamar turkey (and most turkey sold in stores) comes frozen. The easiest method to thaw the turkey is to leave it in the fridge for a few days. Because I was going to cook the turkey on Thanksgiving day, Thursday, I moved the frozen turkey out of the freezer into the fridge the Sunday before. Make sure you place it on a pan or large bowl to catch any liquid from the thawing process.

As you can see, there was some liquid in the oven pan after I took it out of the fridge on Thursday. Once out, cut the top part of the netting and the turkey bag like so.

Then, slide the turkey out into a large colander. Rinse the outside of the turkey with lukewarm water. Then, take the neck, giblets, and plastic holder out. Also don't forget to take out the small red temperature sensor on the turkey breast.

Neck

Giblets

Plastic

Temperature Sensor

I usually save the neck for some soup/broth/gravy dish, and the giblets for my favorite turkey giblet stir fry. I will share that recipe I got from Mak another day!

Also don't forget to cut out the hanging turkey tail (butt?) and save it for soup/broth/gravy as well.

Turkey tail (butt?)

Wash the turkey thoroughly, inside and out, with lukewarm water. Then, leave it for a few minutes in the colander to drain. Then, use paper towels (or clean towels) to dry the turkey, inside and out. It is very important that the turkey is dry, it will help with the seasoning to stick better later and also makes the skin extra crispy.

Drying phase 1

Once the turkey is as dry as it can be, place it (along with the colander in a similar sized bowl) in the fridge for a couple hours. This will help further with the drying process and guarantee a crispy skin when done.

Drying phase 2 (in the fridge)

While the turkey is drying in the fridge, prepare the turkey butter rub. Real butter can be used, but we use non-dairy, vegan based butter (Earth Balance). Use half container or 8 oz. Warm it up until soft (about 10-15 seconds in the microwave). Add 2 tablespoons of black pepper and 1 tablespoon of salt. Mix like so.

Turkey butter rub

After a couple hours, take out the turkey from the fridge and place it on a flat surface, like on another sheet pan lined with more paper towels. Dry the turkey for the third time!

Then apply the butter rub liberally. Outside, inside, and even under the skin near the breast and drumstick area. The more you can get under the skin, the better. Once the turkey is all buttered up, time to tie the turkey up. I use a cotton twine kitchen string of about 10-12 ft long. And I studied this video over and over again, and pausing after every part. Trust me, tying the turkey up properly will guarantee even cooking and a very juicy turkey! Video below!

Turkey buttered and tied

At this point, you can either cook the turkey in the oven, a portable electric roaster, or proceed with the smoker/BBQ.

I start the BBQ grill with hot charcoal from 3/4 full chimney. 

I then added it on two separate sides of the grill, creating big void in the middle for my water/drip pan.

Hot charcoal on two opposite sides

Disposable aluminum water pan with 2 cups of boiling water

How the turkey is setup

The grill has opening flaps that are left open. This is where you can add smoking wood (I use Hickory chips) on both sides. You would add about a cup of the wood chips every 20 minutes to keep the smoke going. You can also soak the wood chips in water before if your charcoal is burning too hot. You want to keep the grill between 300-350 F. I use a timer, checking every 10 minutes! I also add a charcoal or two every 30 minutes.

This is a bit hot (400 F)

If the grill gets too hot, cut the air supply to the grill (bottom vent) completely for 10-20 minutes. It should drastically lower the temperature. Reason for too hot is either too much starting charcoal, or the vent is allowing too much air through. Just be careful, cutting the air for too long will kill the heat in the charcoal and will make the cooking process really long and painful. Another reason for the 10 minute timer is for one to catch if the grill gets too hot, or too cold. It can be tamed easily if caught on time.

Air supply setting (1 inch from CLOSED)

First 10 minutes

Setup with temperature probe

First hour!

Third hour!

Close up - finished product!

Target temperature (~170 F Breast, ~180 F Thigh)

It took 3 hours of cooking on the grill to get to the desired cooking temperature (~170 F Breast, ~180 F Thigh). I started cooking at 1pm and finished at 4pm. The turkey then needs to be rested under cover (aluminum foil) for 30 minutes before carving.

I carved the turkey using this video as my guide. 

Once cut, serve and enjoy!