1.) bluecat - 11/28/2016

I decided it was time to smoke a bird again. I'm always trying to improve upon what I learned from the last time. With the addition of a secondary refrigerator I was able to brine Mr. Turkey without the need for ice bottles and such in a big cooler. I parked him in a wine making tub and let him soak in the goodness for two days.

Here is the recipe I came up with:

1 c brown sugar
1 c salt
1 3/4 gal cold water
quart of chicken broth
spices sage, rosemary, thyme, 2 lemons (squeezed)


for each additional gallon of water needed
1/2 c brown sugar
1/2 c salt

I only needed two gallons to get him to submerge.

After a day I rolled him over in the tub.









Once he was brined, I rinsed him off. The bird hit metal at 4:00 am. Wasn't sure how long it would take to smoke a 20 pound bird but didn't want to chance it. Guests were coming at 2:00. I figured 8 hours would do it.

As it turned out, it reached temperature (170) around 10:00 am. So I took him out of the smoker and made an aluminum foil tent for him to stay warm. It worked. Turkey was warm and moist.







Without a doubt the best turkey I have eaten. It was more than moist. I wrapped the legs and wings with aluminum foil about 3 hours in to the smoking process as to try and cut down on these parts being too dry to eat. They were actually my favorite pieces and I ended up eating both legs and a wing. I was able to keep the temperature between 250 and 275 the whole time. Really is a simple process once you get it down...like anything else.

Had buttermilk pie for dessert. Yum.


Next up, Christmas brisket.

2.) Swamp Fox - 11/28/2016

How big was the turkey?

You wrapped the legs and wings while the bird was in the smoker, and while they were on the bird?

What kind of salt? (For measurement.)


If you'd added parsley, you could have sung Simon and Garfunkel while you were carving. :wink

Tell me what your measurements were on the herbs.

What would be your smoke and resting times now that you're on a track you like?



BTW, that looks really, really yummy.

3.) Swamp Fox - 11/28/2016

I may have some more questions later...LOL

4.) bluecat - 11/28/2016

[QUOTE=Swamp Fox;45591]How big was the turkey?

You wrapped the legs and wings while the bird was in the smoker, and while they were on the bird?

What kind of salt? (For measurement.)


If you'd added parsley, you could have sung Simon and Garfunkel while you were carving. :wink

Tell me what your measurements were on the herbs.

What would be your smoke and resting times now that you're on a track you like?



BTW, that looks really, really yummy.[/QUOTE]

It was a 20lb bird.

Yes, I wrapped the wings and the legs with aluminum foil while the bird was in the smoker.

I used 1 cup kosher salt. Not sure if regular salt would have made a difference but my wife bought some kosher salt last year that was very fine and I wanted to use that up. Kosher salt shouldn't be fine in my opinion.

I didn't provide measurements on the herbs cause I just kind of eyeballed. So I'm guessing maybe 1/8 cup of each? Sorry I was so vague.

I smoked 6 hours (4am - 10am) and it rested for 4 hours. I was shooting for an 8 hour smoke but I overestimated how long it would take. I sort of panicked when it got done so early so the aluminum foil tent was the answer.

The internal temp is your guide rather than a set amount of smoke time. There is plenty of smoke flavor regardless of when you take it off the smoker.

5.) bluecat - 11/28/2016

Also, I didn't use any exotic woods. Just some logs I had laying around that got chainsawed into little blocks and then split with a hatchet. I think the smaller chunks help keep the heat down but you have to watch the smoker more often.

I went through a large amount of wood - one large tub.

6.) bluecat - 11/28/2016

[QUOTE=Swamp Fox;45591]

If you'd added parsley, you could have sung Simon and Garfunkel while you were carving. :wink

[/QUOTE]

Actually that got brought up a few times when relatives ask me the ingredients. :-)

7.) bluecat - 11/28/2016

This is an older picture but it shows you my setup with an iron pot filled with water. That bird was a wild one, the one I just smoked was a butterball.

8.) Swamp Fox - 11/28/2016

[QUOTE=bluecat;45593]
I used 1 cup kosher salt. Not sure if regular salt would have made a difference but my wife bought some kosher salt last year that was very fine and I wanted to use that up. Kosher salt shouldn't be fine in my opinion.

[/QUOTE]


That's why I asked. I read recently that different brands of any particular type of salt have different properties, or maybe grain size was the only one. But grain size was definitely a variable, which of course affects measurement.

The article recommended choosing one particular brand (and type of salt) and using it for all your cooking so you'd eventually know exactly what to expect.


Who knew?


Having had to go through a series of about six decreasing salt measurements in my last brining project before finally landing on a recipe that I could serve guests, I thought I would take a shortcut this time and inquire. :wink

9.) DParker - 11/28/2016

[QUOTE=Swamp Fox;45602]That's why I asked. I read recently that different brands of any particular type of salt have different properties, or maybe grain size was the only one. But grain size was definitely a variable, which of course affects measurement.

The article recommended choosing one particular brand (and type of salt) and using it for all your cooking so you'd eventually know exactly what to expect.[/QUOTE]

That's one of the things that Alton Brown always harps on, and it makes sense when you think about it.

That bird looks tasty as hell, Bluecat. I'm going to try that next.

10.) bluecat - 11/28/2016

I will mention that I ordinarily like to salt and pepper turkey at the table but I did not add anything. It needed nothing. The brine really came through and it wasn't too salty.