Smoking ground turkey

[AlinMA]

Just wondering if anyone has experience smoking ground turkey?
I've got a family cookout coming up in 2 weeks and I usually make chili with ground turkey to accommodate the "Veggies". I'd like to try adding smoke as another dimension and I am not sure if I would be better off smoking before or after browning the turkey.
Any thoughts and or ideas are appreciated!

 

[SuperDave]

Al, I won this year's office chili cook-off by smoking the entire pot of chili after the ingredients were all combined. 

 

[AlinMA]

Al, I won this year's office chili cook-off by smoking the entire pot of chili after the ingredients were all combined.

Dave,Thanks for the feedback! I don't think my SI#1 could handle the volume but You've given me an idea....Brown the turkey, add the beans and some of the chicken stock that I use and then smoke that. If I may ask, what were the specifics of your smoke?
Thanks again.

 

[SuperDave]

So, this is the base recipe that I stole for the starting point.

http://www.bbq-my-way.com/chili-recipe.html

SuperDave's Version
•1 TBS of Butter
•2 Yellow Onions - Chopped
•3 Cloves of Garlic - Chopped
•1 Jalapeño Pepper - Chopped and Seeds Removed - DON'T RUB YOUR EYES!

Saute' over medium-high heat for 5 minutes or until the onions are soft and translucent, and then remove the mix from the pot.

•2 lbs. of Ground Beef
•2 lbs. of Pork Sausage - Hot
Brown the beef and drain the fat. Then, add in the following ingredients.

•2 Fourteen Ounce Cans of Diced Tomatoes
•1 Twenty-Eight Ounce Can of Tomato Sauce
•1 Four Ounce Can of El Pato Mexican Tomato Sauce
•2 Cups of Beef Broth (I used au jus from my pork butt)
•1 Fifty Five Ounce Can of Bush Baked Beans
•1Tbsp. of Ground Cumin
•2.5 lbs. of Smoked Pulled Pork – Divided (Reserve ½ for Topping)
•1Tbsp. of Chile Powder
•8 ounces of your Favorite Beer (Secret Ingredient)
•2 ounces of Hershey's Chocolate (Secret Ingredient)
•1 1/2 tsp of Fuzzy's "Kicker" (I don’t know what this is so I used my favorite rub)
•Salt to Taste

Add mixed ingredients to a large foil pan and put in the smoker for approximately an hour.  I stirred every 20 minutes.  For appropriate smoke level, that meant using a small amount of chips at the beginning and the next 2 stirs.

Simmer or crock pot for 3 to 4 hours, occasionally stirring. Then, add the remaining pulled pork garnish.  Drizzle with a little bbq sauce and serve.

 

[AlinMA]

Dave, Thank you so much!
Although I am a bit more of a traditionalist with my chili I've got to admit yours looks real appetizing!  I like the addition of the chocolate.
If your interested I'd be glad to post my version.

 

[SuperDave]

Dave, Thank you so much!
Although I am a bit more of a traditionalist with my chili I've got to admit yours looks real appetizing!  I like the addition of the chocolate.
If your interested I'd be glad to post my version.

Al, I think you owe it to us to post it!  ;D

 

[AlinMA]

"Al, I think you owe it to us to post it!"
Agreed! Need some time to convert my hand written notes and get it ready for public consumption/posting.

 

[AlinMA]

Here is my recipe that I am going modify by adding a smoking step.


                                                  Al's Chili with Turkey

3 ½  to 4 lbs Ground turkey
4 Garlic cloves sliced thin
1 Med. Onion or 4 medium sized shallots sliced thin
6 oz  Ale or the beer of your choice (No lite and drink the excess) and puree.
1 8 oz can of Goya Spanish style tomato sauce
1 qt Low sodium chicken broth
1 1 cup of Pinto beans prepared for cooking.
Spices (Common are McCormick and unique/Chile powder are from Pendery's)
½ cup Chile powder. San Antonio Red.
2 tbs Ground Cumin
4 tsp Ground Chile.... Renoysa
1 ¼ tsp Garlic Salt
1 ¼ tsp Onion powder
1 tsp Mexican Oregano
1 tsp Coriander
1 tsp Spanish Paprika
1 tsp Epazote
½ tsp Accent (MSG...(Optional)
½ tsp Anise
½ tsp Granulated Light Brown Sugar
½ tsp Black Pepper
½ tsp White Pepper
½ tsp Coffee....fine grind
Reserve 2 tbs and 1 tbs for dumps during the cooking process. Add 1 tbs of
San Antonio Red to the 2nd dump.
Note: Sift spices to break up any clumps

Sear the Ground Turkey (3 batches) in a non stick pan to break up, drain and place
in a 5 qt Dutch Oven. Mix in a portion of the spice mixture with each batch.
Add the pureed Onion, Garlic and Ale mixture, Tomato Sauce and Chicken Broth
to cover. Cook for 1 hour then add the Beans and the 2 Tbs of the reserved spice
        mixture. Cook for 1 ½ hours then add the last dump and adjust the seasonings  if
        necessary. Cook for ½ hour. Add additional Broth as needed to keep covered.
Stir occasionally during the process
If you feel the need to add fillers remember that you may have to adjust the
seasonings.
Garnish (or your preference)
4 ea. Jalapeno, Serrano peppers. Cored, roasted and sliced
2 medium  tomatoes diced
1 Sweet onion diced
1 ½ cups of shredded Monterrey Jack cheese
        1 bottle of Cholula hot sauce
I am going to try smoking the browned turkey with the pureed items and about 1 cup of the broth. what I don't want to do is overwhelm the chili flavor. I'm going to try Dave's method with the smoke with perhaps more "tasting steps"

 

[AlinMA]

http://www.bbq-my-way.com/chili-recipe.html

add mixed ingredients to a large foil pan and put in the smoker for approximately an hour.  I stirred every 20 minutes.  For appropriate smoke level, that meant using a small amount of chips at the beginning and the next 2 stirs.

Thanks again for the smoking process for your Chili! This week end I smoked browned turkey, beans and some chicken stock with Hickory for about 1 1/2 hours stirring at about every 30 minutes. When I liked the smoke flavor I pulled it and returned to the cooking process and continued to do my Chili. Bottom line......When the Chili was gone they were asking for more.

 

[SuperDave]

That's awesome, Al. Still a little too hot around here for chili weather. 

 

[elkins20]

That's awesome, Al. Still a little too hot around here for chili weather.

Hey Dave, according to the weather channel, you all have been having 100+ degree days in Cali. Here has not been that bad, but with the rain everyday or other day is like a sauna outside. I will be glad to see fall and so will my roses.

 

[SuperDave]

That's awesome, Al. Still a little too hot around here for chili weather.

Hey Dave, according to the weather channel, you all have been having 100+ degree days in Cali. Here has not been that bad, but with the rain everyday or other day is like a sauna outside. I will be glad to see fall and so will my roses.

Have you heard about all our fires on the news?  The freaking State is one giant wild fire right now.  100+ degree days and fighting a fire?  I wouldn't want to be a fireman for nothing right now. 

 

[elkins20]

When I was stationed in San Diego, we were on fire alert, if there was a wild fire would have to go help make the fire stops. Thank God was there from last week in Dec. to 2nd week of March. Yes, have seen the fires and the 100+ days and without any rain. Seems like you all used to get rain this time of the year? Also we are still getting rain every few days, we have a dry spell no rain until Monday...