I started by injecting with a mixture of apple juice and my Cluck-Cluck Rub and let set for a couple of hours. Some rave about using a brine, but I have yet to try this as my luck with injecting has been great.
I then rubbed the birds with yellow mustard and more of the Cluck-Cluck Rub and then added a half stick of butter and more rub in each cavity. This is an essential step in my opinion to keep the turkey moist. (true also with a whole turkey) You can also add some sliced apple and onion if you wish as this also helps with moisture.
I heated up my pit to 250 - 275 and used hickory and cherry wood for the smoke. I cooked uncovered for an hour and covered. As I have said in other articles when smoking poultry it is very easy to over smoke causing a bitter taste in your bird.
I cooked for two hours more and the finished product as you can see turned out great. I rested the birds for about 30 minutes before slicing.
In the picture the skin looks a little dark, however it was crisp and you could easily bit through it. This is key to smoking any poultry as you get a lot of taste in the skin!
The turkey sliced very nice and made great wraps!
Keep Smoking My Friends
Randy
