Each year our thanksgiving feast grows. Both in food prepared but also in family and friends to enjoy. I take on cooking the turkeys and ham while my wife, mom, and mother in law prepare the rest of the fixings. We typically feed between 11-16 people and love hosting this feast. I tell you this to tell you about the turkeys. I think I’ve stumbled across something special and wanted to share it with you.
Over the years I’ve tried dozens of ways to cook turkeys from brining to frying. Here are just a few:
Bacon wrapped
Breaded and fried
Smoked
My favorite of all the methods is spoiler injected and smoked. Our feast has grown enough that we need two turkeys now and a with a mix of kids and adults we wanted to have different selections for each.
I started the tradition of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde about four years ago on a single bird. Each breast taking on the different roles of the characters.
Dr. Jekyll is sweet and savory, injected with a garlic honey butter and smothered with a pepper blend. Mr. Hyde is hot and spicy, injected with Datil honey, Buffalo sauce, and butter usually rubbed with red hot dry rub.
Once injected and rubbed they are smoked at 225°f until the inner thigh reads 180°f. I use a blend of fruit tree and pecan wood for the smoke. I started out with an electric masterbuilt smoker but as the size of the turkeys grew so did my needs for a large smoker. This Pitboss Lockhart has served me well the last few years and offers the nerdy things I need like wifi control.
Now, I’m a stickler for traditions and this one is here to stay. You know a tradition has taken hold when you tell your kids you might try something different this year and they go “Oh my god dad, we have to have Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde!”
I hope you and your families are creating traditions that last and if you decide to try the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde turkey shoot me a picture on any of my socials.
Happy thanksgiving DB