I put these 2 birds into 1-gallon each of Pop's pickle 6 days prior to smoking. I normally don't show most of my birds, but since the ones from last week came out very interesting to look at, and tasted pretty darn good as well, I figured I'd recreate with pics. Most of the time the birds come out of the smoker with a beautiful golden color to the skin, since I've been doing them like this, the skin almost has a camo pattern to it. I'm attributing this to the POWDERED spices I've recently started using in place of the whole spices and herbs that I've used in the past.
I started off with the following DRIED items for 2-gallons of Pop's curing solution:
2 - TBS Mexican oregano
2 - TBS thyme
2 - TBS basil
1 - TBS whole peppercorns
2 - bay leaves
![IMG_9624[1].JPG](/media/img_9624-1-jpg.538470/full?d=1507248306)
In the past I would just dump these into the brine bucket after bruising them a bit. I'm not sure why, but several weeks ago I put all of the herbs into my spice grinder and turned them into a powder. That's when I started noticing a difference in the skin color, and also in the flavor of the meat itself.
After grinding it up, I divide it in half and then in half once again. I place 1 of the quarters into a dry bucket, and then place the bird in on top of the powder, then another 1/4 on top of the bird. Once the bird is in and dusted, I pour the brine/cure into the cavity of the bird and fill to the top.
![IMG_9625[1].JPG](/media/img_9625-1-jpg.538471/full?d=1507248306)
![IMG_9626[1].JPG](/media/img_9626-1-jpg.538474/full?d=1507248306)
![IMG_9627[1].JPG](/media/img_9627-1-jpg.538475/full?d=1507248306)
![IMG_9628[1].JPG](/media/img_9628-1-jpg.538484/full?d=1507248306)
These were covered and rested in the refrigerator for 6 days before smoking. Once I removed them from the brine, all I did was rinse them off and stick them into a stockinette. Smoked at 250 with apple until I hit an IT of 165.
![IMG_9671[1].JPG](/media/img_9671-1-jpg.538486/full?d=1507248306)
![IMG_9673[1].JPG](/media/img_9673-1-jpg.538487/full?d=1507248306)
![IMG_9674[1].JPG](/media/img_9674-1-jpg.538488/full?d=1507248306)
In the pics above you can see the "camo" effect I'm talking about. Not the usual golden color I get with the whole herbs. Ideas?
No plated shots of these since they were cut into quarters and vac packed for meals later in the week. But the flavor was amazing compared to normal brine and cure, and really a must better flavor than just using the whole herbs.
I started off with the following DRIED items for 2-gallons of Pop's curing solution:
2 - TBS Mexican oregano
2 - TBS thyme
2 - TBS basil
1 - TBS whole peppercorns
2 - bay leaves
In the past I would just dump these into the brine bucket after bruising them a bit. I'm not sure why, but several weeks ago I put all of the herbs into my spice grinder and turned them into a powder. That's when I started noticing a difference in the skin color, and also in the flavor of the meat itself.
After grinding it up, I divide it in half and then in half once again. I place 1 of the quarters into a dry bucket, and then place the bird in on top of the powder, then another 1/4 on top of the bird. Once the bird is in and dusted, I pour the brine/cure into the cavity of the bird and fill to the top.
These were covered and rested in the refrigerator for 6 days before smoking. Once I removed them from the brine, all I did was rinse them off and stick them into a stockinette. Smoked at 250 with apple until I hit an IT of 165.
In the pics above you can see the "camo" effect I'm talking about. Not the usual golden color I get with the whole herbs. Ideas?
No plated shots of these since they were cut into quarters and vac packed for meals later in the week. But the flavor was amazing compared to normal brine and cure, and really a must better flavor than just using the whole herbs.
