brine container

[cromag]

Is it ok to brine a whole turkey in a stainless steel stock pot? Don't have time to get a 5 gallon bucket and this cooking pot is what I have on hand.

 

[eman]

I would think that it would be fine .

 

[deannc]

A stainless steel container is safe for brining.  You want to avoid materials like aluminum and copper.

 

[cromag]

I added 1 1/2 gallons of water with my seasoning and the turkey is almost covered, should I add more water to completely cover the turkey?

 

[rw willy]

The parts of the bird that are not covered by brine, won't get brined!  You need to submerge the bird..

 

[eman]

yes the bird should be covered

 

[cromag]

got it.. Now if it doesn't snow tomorrow like they say I'll be smoking the bird.. 

 

[meateater]

Stainless is ok for brining but not for curing, your good to go. I like to brine mine breast down since thats the thickest part. Don't forget the qview.

 

[pops6927]

Weight it down with a half-filled zip-loc bag of water to keep it submerged.

 

[digitaldallas]

How about a kitty litter bucket lined with a garbage bag?

 

[mballi3011]

It sounds like everyone here is giving you some really good advice so brine your bird and make sure that it is submerged at all times. Than smoke it to maybe 165° in the breast and then dig in and enjoy. Oh yea don't forget the Q-view for your peeps too.

 

[cromag]

Of all the days for snow it happens today!!! My temps are hanging at 210-215 should I find a way to shelter the smoker?

 

[bamaboy]

Do you have a welding blanket or something with a high heat theshold?or you could just block the wind from your smoker with plywood or something.I am not as far north as you are but this usually works for me.

 

[jirodriguez]

If your smoker is an offset smoker with a side firebox you can use a welders blanket (if you have one), or even a canvas painters drop cloth, a wool blanket, or a natural fiber sleeping bag (NO synthetic fibers!). The reason you can do this is the cooking chamber won't be getting hot enough to burn stuff and is balanced by the extreme cold outside of the cover.

If you have a vertical smoker (with the fire in the bottom) you don't want to use anything less than a welders blanket, the vertical smokers walls get much hotter. If you have a hardware store nearbye you can see if they have the foil backed hot water heater wraps, those work well for both typs of smokers.

 

[cromag]

my horizontal smoker and gas grill are sheltering my UDS against the house and it's holding 245 now... we're all good 

 

[cromag]

Couple q-views to come.. I may not use cider in the injection next time.. it's too strong.

 

[cromag]

http://img23.imageshack.us/i/imag0097k.jpg/
http://img254.imageshack.us/i/imag0098a.jpg/

http://img819.imageshack.us/i/imag0099g.jpg/

 

[thelorax31]

I just brined in a stainless steel 2 gallon pot. It is non reactive and works just fine. Like others said, avoid the non reactive pots.

 

[beer-b-q]

An excellent brine container is an insulated igloo water cooler.

 

[deannc]

An excellent brine container is an insulated igloo water cooler.

     I was just reading a great article somewhere on using an igloo.  The guy would freeze a gallon milk junk of water, pour the brine in the igloo, then the bird.  He would then set the gallon jug on top of the bird serving two purposes, 1) held the bird down in the brine and 2) it kept the brine temp down to 40°.