4th of July turkey suggestions?

salsashark

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Jul 2, 2008

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• Jun 30, 2009

• #1

I got volunteered to help with our 4th of July BBQ... My buddy's making a brisket and a pork shoulder, I volunteered to make a turkey and a batch of ABTs.

I was wondering if anyone has any creative suggestions for seasonings for the bird? I'm planning a brine, then rubbing it before it goes into the smoke, I'm just looking for something special and have been creatively impaired this year.

Thanks

 

sumosmoke

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• Jun 30, 2009

• #2

Travcoman45 had a recipe for a honey butter glaze on his chicken ... bet that would taste good on a bird.

On edit: here is the link: http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/for...y+butter+glaze

 

salsashark

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• Jun 30, 2009

• #3

That does sound good.... now I'm thinking a sweet n spicy kind of thing. Take the honey butter and mix in some spice... hmmmmmmm

 

bmudd14474

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• Jun 30, 2009

• #4

you can inject it to add some depth of flavor.

 

the dude abides

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• Jul 1, 2009

• #5

Check out Shooter Rick's "World Famous" Snakebitten Chicken rub. He's also got the recipie for an injection here...
http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/for...ht=shooterrick

Also, look at how FireitUp did a brine with it for several different poultry things. It all looks great, here...
http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/for...ad.php?t=78718

I've seen dozens of posts about Shooter Rick's stuff and not a one of them had a single bad thing to say about it. I'd give this stuff a shot. If not for this turkey, sometime soon.

Good luck and let us know what you decide. And oh yeah, take some pictures!

 

countrysmoked

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May 20, 2009

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• Jul 1, 2009

• #6

Sounds like you are on a good track, you could try a beer n butter injection or some kind of spicy injection and rub with a sweet brine. I usually just inject mine with the brine I soak it in and rub with veg oil before smoking. Looks like you have a good start on this bird, let us know how it turns out and don't forget the Q-View.

 

planeguy

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Jun 5, 2009

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Long Island, NY

• Jul 1, 2009

• #7

I am sure you could try this for smoking a turkey.

I usually deep fry 2 turkey's for Thanksgiving and use a rub :
2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoon black pepper
2 teaspoon chili powder
2 teaspoon garlic powder
2 teaspoon onion powder
2 teaspoon dried thyme
2 teaspoon sugar
4 teaspoons paprika

(Measurements are for my smoked chicken, up the receipe for a turkey)

Then I inject the turkey with
1 can of College Inn chicken broth
2 tablespoons of garlic powder or 2 ounces of garlic oil
1 tablespoon salt
4 tablespoons of favorite hot sauce
1 teaspoon cayenne
3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

Mix really well to disolve garlic powder & salt.

 

rivet

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• Jul 1, 2009

• #8

Can't say enough about ShooterRick's Copperhead Snake Bite Poultry Rub. Good stuff and definitely a must try item for anyone. Not just for poultry either. I've used it on salmon, pork sausage and pork chops and it does wonders there too.

 

salsashark

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• Jul 1, 2009

• #9

Thanks for all the suggestions... I think I'm going with a little bit of all of the above.

I'm going for a "Bee Sting" Turkey! A little bit hot, a little bit sweet... should be good. I'll post up everything when I get rolling. Oh, and with the QView of course!

 

salsashark

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• Jul 10, 2009

• #10

OK... It's been a bit crazy since the 4th, but I finally got some time to respond.

So I ended up doing 2 birds
1. Cajun brine, the a good coat of cajun seasoning w/ a little extra cayenne thrown in for good measure, then mopped w/ a honey butter glaze during smoking.

2. Citrus brine, covered in a generous amount of lemon pepper, then spritzed w/ OJ & Jim Beam during the smoke

Here's how it went down...

The victims:

After several hours:

Prepped for surgery:

Citrus on the left, Honey butter cajun on the right:

 

salsashark

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• Jul 10, 2009

• #11

And since I had all that heat in the smoker... wouldn't want it to go to waste!

Packed up and ready to go:

Oh, and not even ten minutes after pulling the ABTs... I guess I won't have to worry about letting the smoker cool down!

 

salsashark

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• Jul 10, 2009

• #12

P.S.

I did all of this on Friday for a Saturday Q.

When I got to my friend's house, I used his grill to warm everything up. When I pulled the first tray of ABTs, you'd thought I'd just chummed the waters! The sharks circled and the feeding frenzy was on!

Not a single ABT and only about a 1/2Lb of turkey made it through the Q! Was a great BBQ.

 

rivet

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• Jul 10, 2009

• #13

Congratulations! Welcome to the club of popular feeders

Once you have done a smoked turkey and some ABT's word will get out and you will be doing a lot more feeding, my friend~

 

salsashark

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• Jul 10, 2009

• #14

Too late for that... :)

I think I single handedly forced my local grocer to start ordering more jalapenos!