by ComradeQ » Wed Dec 10, 2014 4:50 pm
My opinion ... don't cold smoke the meat if it hasn't been cured with a nitrite cure. You are opening up all kinds of possibilities for nasties to form. I suggest you brine the turkey using whatever brine recipe you like (sugar, salt, water is basic or you can find flavoured ones like Smokin Okies Holiday Brine - google search is your friend), inject with some butter after brining (flavoured butter works well too, simmered with herbs/spices and some chicken stock), then cover the bird with some olive oil and salt and pepper (remember the brine will have salted the bird so don't go too heavy on the salt) and smoke at 325°-350° until done. Catch the drippings in an aluminum roasting tray below the bird and let the bird rest covered in a cooler with towels for at least 45mins to an hour. Then collect the juice that comes out of the turkey and use it with your drippings to make a killer gravy. Carve and feast! It will be the juiciest bird you have ever cooked!
Smoking beef can be good too if you do prime rib but remember to keep your marinade simple, no brining with the beef, and don't over cook (you want at most medium, I prefer medium rare) Follow similar process with drippings so you can make a gravy. I like using a marinade of garlic, pepper, fresh rosemary, olive oil, and some worchestershire sauce. Slice the garlic thin and make small knife incisions to studd the roast with slivers of garlic. Then apply all the other seasonings and marinade in a large ziplock or vacuum bag for 12-24 hours. After this point salt liberally and you can either sear the outside before you smoke or place right on the smoker. I suggest temps as high as you can at first (400-450° if you can go that high) then after 15-20 mins drop the temp to 300° and finish cooking to desired temp. *note: temps are in fahrenheit adjust for celcius as you likely will use that in the U.K.
Hope this helps with a good starting point!
I should add, with turkey especially, follow my temp guidelines. You don't want to slow smoke at 220-250° as that can be a danger zone with non cured poultry. Treat it like you would an oven cooked bird with the addition of smoke. Trust me, the smoke level will be spot on!