First turkey

[coz]

Did my first turkey yesterday,actually did 2 and a couple pheasants and a Italian fatty.Brined the birds 18 hours.The one for us was excellent.The other was cooled and put in a ziploc bag for my wifes co worker.Pics hopefully will turn out good

 

[coz]

finished bird

 

[coz]

Well I goofed up and posted same bird twice in finished.Anyways the bird was excellent with an edible skin very moist,flavorfull bird.I dont remember where I read it but what I di for the skin was soak cheesecloth in butter and covered the bird and hourly recoated.I didnt get finished pics of the pheasants but here they are before hittin thee smoke.

 

[joed617]

Looks good Coz. I don't see no goofing up here.. We all goof up once and a while it's when we get goofy that could be a problem.. Nice looking birds.. thanks for sharing the pics.

Joe

 

[up in smoke]

Beauoootiful color! :oops:

 

[cajun_1]

Coz...could you please give more details on your smoke? Rub, temp etc. Want to do a turkey this comming holiday.
Thanks

 

[coz]

Cajun, the rub was a boughten one called Famous Daves Chicken rub.I am going to make my own rub one of these days as some of the posted ones look real good.I took the bird off at 165* and let it rest for about 20 minutes before cutting.As I said in an earlier post I used cheesecloth dipped in butter to cover the bird and hourly soaked it and the skin came out nice.I used cherry wood chips in my GOSM.I was very happy with it for my first attempt.I think I quit adding smoke when the internal temp hit 140ish.This is the 1st time in my life I was sorry we ran out of leftover turkey.It made awesome lunch sammies on rosemary bread.

 

[cajun_1]

Thanks Coz...Gonna try this one...What brine did you use ?

 

[coz]

1 Gallon Water
1 Cup coarse Kosher Salt
3/4 Cup Soy Sauce
1/2 Cup White Sugar
1/2 Cup Brown Sugar
1/2 Cup Honey
1/2 Cup Apple Cider Vinegar
4 Tblsp Black Pepper
3-4 Tblsp Chopped Garlic
1 Tsp Allspice
1 Ounce Morton's Tenderquick (optional)

. Heat water/salt/sugars to rolling boil. Take off burner, add other ingredients.
. Allow mixture to cool before placing meat into solution. Place 10-12 lb. Turkey in non reactive container and cover with brine.
. Refrigerate for minimum of 24 hrs, preferably 48 hrs.
. Remove turkey from the refrigerator and discard brine. Rinse turkey 3 times, pat dry and lightly rub skin with mayonnaise. Apply light coating of Cookshack Spicy Chicken Rub.
. Place Turkey in Smoker and smoke cook @200 Degrees for one Hr per pound. With 4 oz. wood. I like cherry or apple wood for my turkey.
. Smoke until internal temperature of breast reaches 160-165. Remove from smoker to rest for 30 minutes before slicing.
I used the optional tenderquick as it was suggested.I dont remember where this one came from but it has been terrific on turkey,cornish hens and pheasants.I am sure there are simpler recipes but I do like this one.

 

[smokingn00b]

I'm doing this recipe tomorrow. It sounded so good I thought it was worth a shot. I've got it brining right now. We're having 16 people over for a Christmas party and I'm doing one turkey on the smoker and one in the oven. We'll see which goes quicker.

 

[coz]

Make sure you let us know how it turned out!

 

[jaynik]

looks great to me! Nice texture on that skin...