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Do you brine when you smoke a turkey?


peshewah

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I've not tried brining but then I've always used the pre-brined turkeys like Butterball.

I've done a few turkeys on the Weber with the charcoal piled around the perimeter and a drip pan in the center full of water with some spices mixed in. Turkey oiled in olive oil and rubbed with a few spices. Chicken broth put in the cavities to keep good and moist. Some mesquite chunks in with the charcoal and roast until the meat thermometer says it's done. I think turning over once or twice. Bakes faster than in the oven.

Still need to try one on the smoker.

The last time Alea and myself did one for Thanksgiving, everybody liked it much better than the anemic by comparison bird Saint Ruth (SWMBO's mom) did in the oven. Oohs and ahhs for our turkey off the grill and few if any comments for Saint Ruth's. Haven't been allowed to do one since. Excuse being it's too much bother - even after we left our old but very functional Weber with a new grate at the out-laws. Sad. Alea enjoys cooking the turky on the grill but her grandmother won't let her as she can't handle the fact that ours was much better and prettier. Of couse Saint Ruth probably wasn't too happy that I boiled quite a few mesquite chunks in her expensive cookware claiming it was an old Swedish tradition to boil some of the cooking wood. It smelled wonderful and the resulting water was used in the drip pan. That was quite a few years ago. No need for 2 turkeys these days since the father out law lives in Florida far away from Saint Ruth in Indiana.

I'd scan (yes, before we had a digital camera) and post a picture if I could find one.

So naturally she's complaining she doesn't have enough oven space but are we allowed to fire up the Weber? Heck no, she's cooking the turkey the day before. So instead of hot juicy turkey fresh off the gill we get warmed up turkey for Thanksgiving. I'm sure it'll still be good but could be so much better....

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I just turned out the best smoked turkey and chicken I've ever done.

Brine recipe: for two gallons of brine

1/2 C table salt (no iodine)

2 C brown sugar

1 C Southwest Chipotle Seasoning (by tones)

http://www.samsclub.com/shopping/navigate.do?dest=5&item=200274

Chipotle Seasoning ingredients: Salt, Chili Pepper and other spices, Dehydrated Red Bell Pepper, Dehydrated Onion, Sugar, Dehydrated Garlic, Spice Extractives, and Extractives of Paprika (as color).

This brine recipe is far lighter on salt than the standard recipe, but to my taste was just right.

I brined two turkey breasts and two chickens, (all cut in half) for four hours.

smoked with applewood for 3 hours at 225.

This was my second attempt at brining poultry. The first was more than five years ago. I did some chicken, which was way to salty for my tastes, though my company thought it was OK. Never had gotten around to trying again adjusting the salt down.

One thing, as brined, this recipe would have more salt than the 1/2 cup. The Tones seasoning has salt, which is the first ingredient listed, but don't know how much salt would be in the one cup.

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My wife talked me out of brine because the last one I smoked was at a wedding and it was completely gone. I never got even a taste of it. Everyone said it was the best they had. I think they were just hungry. So again, my wife injects a "Honey Suckle" 20lb bird and I just put it on the smoker using apple wood and a pan of water under it. I hope I can stay up to finish the job. We will be taking the bird to my mother-in-law's house about an hour north of here.

But this Xmas I am going to try the brine.

Thanks guys for all the in-put and God Bless you, your family, and our service men and women on this Thanksgiving.

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