How to Cook Peking Style Turkey | A REMARKABLE Holiday Feast!

Learn how to cook a whole turkey, Peking Style! This approach results in a delicious, crispy skinned, smoke roasted Thanksgiving turkey that’s sure to impress your family and friends this holiday season … or really, year ’round! For more Thanksgiving Recipes, Cooking Techniques & Ideas, check out our 100% free “Turkey Day Domination” Resource page linked here: https://stellaculinary.com/cooking-videos/cooking-techniques/thanksgiving-day-video-playlist

HOW TO A COOK TURKEY PEKING STYLE

Turkey in general is a bland meat, which gives us the opportunity as cooks to create lots of fun and unique flavors. Yet when it comes to the most delicious way to prepare and cook a turkey, smoke roasting is hard to beat. Throw in a couple tricks taken from Chinese cooking a la Peking Duck, and you have a unique centerpiece for your Thanksgiving Day table.

THE METHOD

1⃣ DRY BRINE

Liberally season turkey inside & out with 1.5-2% kosher salt, based on the turkey’s total weight. For example, if you have a 14 pound turkey, multiply 14 by 16 ounces to get the Turkey’s total ounces in weight (14 X 16 = 224 ounces). Multiply 224 by 1.5% (0.015) which yields 3.36 ounces of salt (I would round to 3.5). For metric, simply take your weight in grams, and multiply as above.

Optionally, you can also add half a percent sugar by weight of the turkey, which will help to balance out the salt, and add another layer of flavor. (224 x 0.005 = 1.12 ounces).

Hang salted (dry brined) turkey in fridge for at least 12 hours, but for best results, 48 hours or longer.

Alternately, if you’re a fan of the wet brine, I recommend 5% salt, 3% sugar, and 0.5% baking soda, based on the total WEIGHT OF THE WATER needed to completely submerge the turkey. Cover turkey in wet brine for 24-36 hours, rinse, and hang for an additional 24 hours.

2⃣ SCALDING

Scald the turkey skin with boiling water as shown in the video. This will cause the collagen in the skin to dissolve, which allows the skin to more thoroughly crisp.

3⃣ AROMATICS

Stuff turkey with aromatics of choice. In this video I use 2 cinnamon sticks, 2 star anise, 5 green onions, and 1 orange. Close the cavity with wooden skewers as demonstrated in the video, trimming off any pieces of skewers sticking out of the turkey. Prop the turkey wings away from the back using another skewer secured with butcher’s twine, as shown in the video.

4⃣ GLAZING

Combine 1 cup Grade A maple syrup with 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar, plus a few dashes of soy sauce and a pinch of salt. Bring to a simmer to dissolve.

Hang turkey so it’s fully suspended in the air, and brush glaze all over the exterior of the turkey. Allow glaze to set a room temperature for 15 minutes, apply a second coat, and rest for another 15 minutes. Repeat brushing and resting process for a total of 3 to 4 coats. Reserve leftover maple-cider glaze for your sauce.

5⃣ HANGING

Hang the turkey in your fridge for a minimum of 12 hours, and up to five days. The longer you hang the turkey, the drier the skin will become. Drier skin = crispier skin. Crispier skin = more delicious skin.

6⃣ SMOKE ROAST TURKEY

Hang the turkey on your smoker set to 325F / 163C, and roast until a probe thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the breast reads 150F / 66C, about 15 minutes per pound of bird.

There are lots of different smokers and BBQs on the market, and all of them can be set up to hold the above temperature for long periods of time with a little bit of know-how. Look up how-tos on your individual smoker to dial in and hold the appropriate temperature.

In this video, I use a 22″ Classic Weber Kettle with a Smoke EZ Extension ring. Further-more I use a Pit Viper fan attached to a FireBoard controller to help me effortlessly maintain my temperature.

FOR THE WOOD, I use Pecan, which I really enjoy with poultry in general. If I had cherry wood, I would have used that instead, as I love the rosy color it gives the turkey skin, which really makes it resemble the Peking Style duck.

Of course, if you have a specific wood preference, use that. However, I do find fruit woods such as apple, cherry, pear & peach, along with more subtle fruit woods like pecan & walnut, work the best when smoking turkey.

When turkey has finished cooking, hang over a pan to catch the drippings for your sauce, and allow to rest for at least 1 hour before carving.

7⃣ SAUCE

* 2 Cups roasted Turkey Stock
* 1 Cup glazing liquid from above
* 1 Finger Ginger, Sliced
* 1 Orange, zest & juice
* 2 Table Spoons Corn Starch
* 2 Table Spoons Water

* Make sauce as demonstrated in video.

TOOLS & EQUIPMENT USED

* 22″ Weber Kettle (affiliate link) – https://amzn.to/2qJJdZh
* Smoke EZ Extension Ring
* Pit Viper Fan
* FireBoard Controller

Alternately, you can use a bullet or barrel style smoker, which will actually work better than my setup.

* Pit Barrel Cook (affiliate) – https://amzn.to/2CFZX6a
* Weber Smokey Mountain (affiliate) – https://amzn.to/2pfjd7F

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!