Opinions wanted, Brine, Inject, or both?

farmall400 · Dec 23, 2011

Greetings folks. I'm another new guy at smoking turkeys. I planned on doing a cajun inspired smoked turkey. I've never brined or injected a turkey before, what typically works best? Stronger flavor with injection? More consistent flavor with brine?

Just wondering what input others have. Thanks!

SmokinAl · Dec 23, 2011

I like to brine them & then inject them too I use chicken broth & melted butter for the injection and a salt sugar brine with Montreal chicken seasoning.

tyotrain · Dec 23, 2011

I have done birds just about every way you can think of.. Bringing works best for me..

How To Make Poultry Brine:

What is a brine: One of the great things about brining is that there are so few rules. Most brines start with water and salt — traditionally, 3/4 pound of salt per gallon of water, but since we’re not concerned with the brine as a preservative, you can cut back on the salt. The amount of brining time is likewise not set in stone. Even a little brining is better than none.

What type of salt to use in brine: Kosher salt and table salt (without iodine) are the most common salts used in brining. Sea salt can be used, but it tends to be quite expensive. I usually use coarse kosher salt.

A cup of table salt and a cup of kosher salt are NOT equal. Table salt weighs approximately 10 ounces per cup and kosher salt weighs approximately 5 to 8 ounces per cup (depending on the brand). If using kosher salt in a brine, you must use more than 1 cup to achieve the same "saltiness" you would get from 1 cup of table salt.

Here is the one i use

2 cups vegetable stock
2 cups orange juice
4 cups water
1/4 cup kosher salt
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoon black peppercorns
3 bay leaves

In a medium stockpot bring the vegetable stock, 2 cups of water, salt, brown sugar, peppercorns, and bay leaves to a boil. Maintain a boil till all the salt and brown sugar has been dissolved.Once the brown sugar and salt have been dissolved shut off the heat and add in the remaining ingredients. Put in fridge to cool down Than add your bird..

Have fun and Happy smoking

raptor700 · Dec 23, 2011

I like to do both,

I brine my turkeys for 5 days, then inject before smoking.

mballi3011 · Dec 24, 2011

Ok think about it Brining takes out the old brine that the factory uses and replace it with some good brine. Now you want to inject the bird with something else other then what you just spent all night putting into the bird and replace it with.....................What.........why brine in the first place???????

farmall400 · Jan 2, 2012

Well, I went with a cajun brine and it turned out great. The bird had a cajun/smoky flavor.

Here's the recipe I used for brine:

1/2 cup paprika
1/4 cup chile powder
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon dried thyme
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon cayenne powder
1 1/2 cups kosher salt
1/4 cup light brown sugar
4 whole cloves garlic
2 fresh bay leaves
1 large onion, quartered

Also smoked a West Dakota Kobe beef brisket which was pull apart juicy awesome, it was a good weekend.

Thanks for your comments, tyotrain I'll certainly try that poultry brine some time.

raptor700 · Jan 2, 2012

raptor700 said:
I like to do both,

I brine my turkeys for 5 days, then inject before smoking.

mballi3011 said:
Ok think about it Brining takes out the old brine that the factory uses and replace it with some good brine. Now you want to inject the bird with something else other then what you just spent all night putting into the bird and replace it with.....................What.........why brine in the first place???????

I inject with the brine

sprky · Jan 2, 2012

Wow I don't know how I missed this earlier but I did. I normally brine and inject.

Here's how I do mine;

Poultry Brine

1 1/2 Gallon Apple Juice
5/8 Cup Kosher Salt (5 oz)
3/4 Cup Dark Brown Sugar (6 oz)

1/2 Cup Morton’s Tender Quick (4.5 oz) or 2 Tbsp DQ cure #1 (1.5 oz)
1 Tbsp Garlic Powder ( .3 oz)
1 Tbsp Onion Powder ( .3 oz)
1 Tbsp Cajun Spice ( .5 oz) (Louisiana Cajun Seasoning)
1 Tbsp Celery Seed ( .3 oz)
1 Tbsp Pickling Spice ( .4 oz)

1 1/2 tsp Ground Cloves ( .2 oz)

Instructions

1. Place all spices in spice grinder and grind fine.

2. Place 4 cups of apple juice in a 4 quart sauce pan, add Salt, Sugar, cure, and spices heat and stir until completely dissolved.

3. Turn off heat, cover, and cool to room temp.

TIP do steps 1-3 ahead of time to allow chilling in refrigerator or freezer.

4. In a large stock pot, combine remaining apple juice with the concentrated brine.

5. Wash turkey inside and out, making sure you have removed the innards, and tail.

6. Inject turkey 5% by weight with brine injection

Brine injection

1/2 Gallon Apple Juice
3 Tbsp + 1 tsp Kosher Salt (1.67 oz)
1/4 Cup Dark Brown Sugar (2oz)

2 Tbsp + 2 tsp Morton’s Tender Quick (1.5 oz) or 2 tsp DQ cure #1 ( .5 oz)
1 tsp Garlic Powder ( .1 oz)
1 tsp Onion Powder ( .1 oz)
1 tsp Cajun Spice ( .17 oz) (Louisiana Cajun Seasoning)
1 tsp Celery Seed ( .1 oz)
1 tsp Pickling Spice ( .13 oz)

1/2 tsp Ground Cloves ( .06 oz)

Instructions

1. Place all spices in spice grinder and grind fine.

2. Place 2 cups apple juice in sauce pan, add salt, sugar, cure, and ground spices.

3. Heat to low simmer and stir till all salt and sugar is dissolved.

4. Remove from heat and cool

5. Mix in remaining apple juice

6. Inject turkey with 5% by weight

7. Place turkey in turkey roasting bag neck down.

8. Place turkey in cooler large enough to hold turkey and pack ice around turkey roasting bag.

9. Pore brine into turkey roasting bag. Remove as much air as possible from turkey roasting bag and tie off.

10. Let turkey soak for 1 to 5 days.

11. Remove turkey from brine and rinse well inside and out

12. Dry turkey with paper towels inside and out.

13. Inject turkey with poultry injection.

Poultry Injection

1 Package Zesty Italian Dressing mix

1/4 tsp Ground Cloves

1 tsp Cajun Spice (Louisiana Cajun Seasoning)

1 1/2 tsp Garlic Powder
1 1/2 tsp Celery Seed

1 1/2 tsp Pickling spice

1 Tbsp Dark Brown Sugar
4 Tbsp melted non salted Butter
2 C Apple Cider

              Instructions

1. Place all spices, and dressing mix in spice grinder and grind fine.

2. Heat Apple cider till butter is melted

3. Mix in ground spices, and sugar.

4. Heat in microwave for 1 1/2 min on high.

5. Allow to cool while preparing turkey

6. Inject turkey all over.

clyde79 · Jan 2, 2012

i brine and inject with the brine, friends and family love the results

farmall400 · Jan 6, 2012

I'll have to try the brine injection next time. The brine smelled great.

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Opinions wanted, Brine, Inject, or both?

farmall400

Newbie

SmokinAl

SMF Hall of Fame Pitmaster

tyotrain

Master of the Pit

raptor700

Master of the Pit

mballi3011

Gone but not forgotten. RIP

farmall400

Newbie

raptor700

Master of the Pit

sprky

Master of the Pit

clyde79

Smoke Blower

farmall400

Newbie

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