First brine and first smoked turkey

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patcap

Meat Mopper
Original poster
Aug 11, 2009
157
10
Southwest Louisiana
I want to have a smoked turkey for my shift Christmas party this year, so I decided to have a test run. I bought a turkey of about 11 lbs and decided to inject and brine, so I used the brine and injection recipes from travcoman45. I added a little lemon juice to the brine though. we'll see how that turns out. Also, I'd like some opinions about whether I should also put a rub on it or just smoke it as is with the brine and injection marinade??

Turkey fresh from the store:


Washed and the neck and giblets removed:


In the brine and in the ice chest until tomorrow:


More to follow tomorrow......
 
Well using Tip's brine and injection it will definitely add lots of flavor.
I would rub with oil before going into the smoker and you could always throw on a little salt, pepper and garlic but wouldn't need it with the flavors of the injection/brine.
Good luck, hope you love it
PDT_Armataz_01_34.gif
 
Is there a reason that you are brining and injecting the turkey? Is the brine just a saline solution that you made with no flavor?
 
I have always brined my turkeys but I have never injected them also. If your are brining why cann't you just add some of the seasoning you want to use into your brine wouldn't that work just as well. Now I have always injected my turkeys that I'm gonna fry but not smoke.
 
That is exactly my though process as well. The first time I brined I followed an Emeril recipe and it added a LOT of flavor to my chickens. By all means brine and RUB your turkey, but I'm not so sure about brining AND injecting. How much sodium do you want in that thing?
 
Brine it, rinse it, inject it, give it a coat a rub inside an out, smoke, eat, nap!

The brine adds moisture an flavour, the injection is different then the brine an adds flavour deeper in the meat, the rub inside gives ya seasonin from another direction an the rub on the outside flavours the skin.
 
I've cooked my share of turkeys, and have always injected them, with everything from butter and seasoning mixes to store bought Creole Butter and have always had excellent results.

I will qualify that that was before I became a member of SMF and learned about brining. I've cooked two turkeys in the past two weeks testing my home built smoker for the company T-Day party tomorrow, and just haven't taken the time to brine. I've been following all of the Turkey postings and it keeps coming up from all of you experts, so I've promised myself for Thanksgiving Day, I will take the time. I'm going to try and take pics of all of it and post tomorrow.

Back to the original thread... my only thoughts would be: If brining pulls the salt and seasoning in like I'm understanding it to do, I would just use a mild injection - butter and maybe onion and garlic powder instead of salt. I can't cook anything without garlic and onion.
Tracey
 
Brining is one thing , you can inject with flavor that would not otherwise get deep into the meat. I.E. non-salted butter, basil, thyme, tarragon, sage, dill, cayenne, brown sugar, miracle whip......... and the list goes on. Just my honest opinion folks, just a suggestion. :)
 
My brine is lower in salt then some an my injection has no added salt, not needed in the injection. My rub is lower in salt to, gotta keep the blood pressure under control. This combination just works, thats why I use it on turkey's. Ya don't need the injection necessarily on chickens, them bein a smaller bird, but the injection sure adds alot ta the turkey's.
 
Alot of that Creole Butter has Proplyn Glycol (SP) I.E. Anti freeze in it. Its in the ingredients, I wouldnt use it myself. I make my own from scratch. Its cheaper and alot better. Unsalted butter and what you want in it will go a long ways.
 
Pat how big of a ziplock bag is that? I'm planning on doing two turkeys and just want to make sure I get the right size bag to hold a 12lb turkery.
 
The bag is a jumbo size, is made by Hefty, and it's 2 1/2 gallons. It's perfect for the 11 pounder and about 1 1/2 gallons of brine solution. It leaves virtually no air left in the bag.
 
pulled from the brine, rinsed, rubbed with olive oil, and dusted with black pepper and garlic. Just waiting for the smoker to get to about 300 deg.
 
while I'm smoking my first turkey, I decided to tempt fate and try my first fattie as well. I have a large amount of breakfast sausage I had made from one of my wild hog kills, so I figure what the heck.

pressed out sausage:



onions, green onions, garlic, smoked jalapeno cajun sausage, scrambled eggs, and cheese to go in it



rolled and ready to go. This sausage is pretty crumbly, so I had to put it in a basket.
 
Skin looks lighter than what I usually pull from my smoker. Might be the camera (or something else). Might have been the oil coating, too. Nonetheless, looks good. How'd it turn out?
 
I was a little concerned about that too, but I trusted my thermos and pulled it anyway. I think it was cooked perfectly. The juices were clear and the meat firm and moist. I think I will alter the brine and/or injection marinade next time though. I'd like it just a little bit saltier. maybe just brine it for a little bit longer. All in all though it tastes pretty darn good.
 
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