Holiday Turkey 2017

[zwiller]

In the interest of full disclosure, the deed is done but had no time to post. I will update as time allows...

12lb bird, $.49/lb at Kroger during Thanksgiving. 1-1/2G Pop's Brine (cured) regular strength. Injected well all over and brined for 4 days. I wanted to see the effects of a longer than 2 day brine. I sat 2 heavy plates over it after the pic to keep submerged. Worked well.

 

[SmokinAl]

That should be a real hammy turkey!
Keep us posted!
Al

 

[zwiller]

Actually, I think Pop's has dialed the haminess in perfectly here. Just slightly hammy. I am basically using Marianski's tech and he calls for 3oz #1 per/G which is about 3x Pops.

Before heading into the smoker, the bird was drained and rinsed with fresh water so no surface salt. I could maybe have done better. (more on that later) New to my turkeys is the pellicle or drying stage. 130F for 3 hours. i think I will do an overnight rest in fridge in addition to the drying stage next time.

 

[zwiller]

Temp bumped to 150F and 2 rows AMNPS filled with cob. Here we are about halfway. Color is already better than anything I ever did in 20+ years. Book says to smoke 5 hours and then raise temps to finish bird at 165F IT. I kinda expected 7-8 but was waaay off. I bumped to 180F and there was little movement over several hours so finally bumped to 200F and hit IT. It was somewhere near 15-18hours total. All fuzzy due to lack of sleep LOL. Next time I will go 5 hours (140 IT) and right to 200F aiming for 12hr total. Best to start first thing in AM me thinks.

 

[zwiller]

Time to pull her. I am hangover and sleep deprived... Merry Christmas! It was 20F outside so I let her rest in garage a few hours until cool. Cut off netting, then popped into the fridge for an overnight uncovered rest. Was hoping for a little more color but already, the color, the smoke, the bird is smelling 10X better than anything I ever did. Many thanks to all the folks posting their tricks and secrets! "Catherine, if this turkey tastes half as good as it looks, we're all in for a real treat"!

 

[zwiller]

Being that I basically had a week invested in this bird I dragged out the DSLR and a holiday themed tray for the money shot...

 

[challenger]

That's it?!? How was the bird?

 

[zwiller]

Easily the best I've ever done. That said, the exterior was a just a little too salty. I think the pellicle/drying stage might be to blame. I may need to incorporate a rinse rest or reduce the salt. Not sure which. The deepest parts were perfect but the exterior just over the edge. Not ruined, just too much. Not sure if anyone saw my other posts, but a cured turkey like this is not something you serve for TG dinner. It's way too rich. This style lends itself to be served as an appetizer. Very gourmet. I am definitely on the path to perfection here. Just needs a tweak. I owe a huge thank you to Pops for sharing that brine and also his use of corn cob. The combination of the cured brine and cob lend to a real classic flavor with very professional results.

 

[chopsaw]

I just saw this . Not sure how it got missed ,,, that looks fantastic !!

I just did a 8lb chicken . Not salty at all . For 1 gal I used 1/2 cup kosher salt .

 

[zwiller]

Pops full strength brine is 1C per G _table_ salt. I believe kosher is considered about half the weight of table per volume so I effectively used 4x as much as you. I plan to try the Low Salt (1/2C) version next bird but I could see ending up splitting the difference at 3/4C. Once again, totally edible and not ruined just too much for our tastes on the exterior.

I want to ensure that folks realize this was a low temp smoke and the net I used (reused from packaging) will not tolerate temps over 210F. I also need to install a ring in the top of the MES if I want to hang stuff as the bird barely fit.

 

[indaswamp]

Nice bird. Great color. The longer rest after brine will help with the saltiness as the salt is still traveling deeper...