Is injection or brine necessary?

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pg77

Fire Starter
Original poster
Jan 30, 2017
69
20
Staten Island
I’m smoking a turkey for the first time in thanksgiving. I’ve found several recipes with just a rub, aromatics inside, butter and oil. Is it necessary to either brine or inject the turkey or will a rub with water pan keep the turkey moist enough.
 
I brine all my turkey. Wet brine gets 24 hours, dry brine gets 36-48 hours.

Suggest you get 2 turkey breasts and try one with brine and one with just a rub. Turkey breast is on sale right now in my area for $1.29/#.
Then you'll know what works best for you and your smoker/grill.
 
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They are not absolutely necessary, not by any means.
But they do contribute a lot of flavor and allow for a much larger margin for error during cooking.

A nice compound butter placed under the skin all over the bird goes on long ways.

Smoking your bird on a rack over a tray of aromatic vegetables and herbs, with a little water or broth, also contributes a lot.

And I'm of the opinion and experience that spatchcocking the bird makes all this easier and more effective.
 
I do not advocate doing a first run for TG. Much can go wrong. Now, if you other proteins or wife has one in the oven and you can play around, OK.

Both of these are hotly debated but here's my take:

Brine or inject YES. Huge impact.

Water pan NO. Water pan will have no impact in the moisture of the birds. Pulling at proper IT is EVERYTHING.
 
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Most supermarket birds are already injected with a salt solution. You can add more, but it's not necessary to keep the bird moist. The biggest factor is to not overcook the bird. Spatchcocking helps make it easier to cook more evenly, and quartering allows you to pull each part at the right time.
 
chilerelleno chilerelleno pretty much summed up exactly what I was going to say. Its not necessary but I think you will be happy if you decide to. Check out tips slaughterhouse brine. Been using it for a long time with great results.
 
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I’m smoking a turkey for the first time in thanksgiving. I’ve found several recipes with just a rub, aromatics inside, butter and oil. Is it necessary to either brine or inject the turkey or will a rub with water pan keep the turkey moist enough.

For something you can eat that will make a turd, no it is not necessary.

For a guaranteed flavorful and not-dry bird then YES it is necessary along with NOT overcooking the bird.

It's up to you now on how you want to go with it but I have eaten a lifetime of poorly prepped and cooked turkey to know that brining or injecting is the only way to go for me :)
 
Cooked alot of whole birds on a weber kettle years ago . Salt and pepper on the skin , butter under the skin , and the cavity stuffed with onions and celery . Never used a therm , just checked firmness to see if it was done . Always came out good .

Now days I use Pop's brine on all my poultry . Whole birds and parts . Even wings . Just the difference between good and great .
I cook mine whole , but I tie up the legs and run the string around the wings and breast . That way cooks even , and don't look like a cheap date the morning after .
 
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I do believe my best results have been injecting the breast, rubbing the cavity with a brown sugar rub (I have a great recipe if you would like to check it out), oiling the skin. Then pull when breast hits 155 and dark meat is 180.

of course, it is all subjective!
 
I do believe my best results have been injecting the breast, rubbing the cavity with a brown sugar rub (I have a great recipe if you would like to check it out), oiling the skin. Then pull when breast hits 155 and dark meat is 180.

of course, it is all subjective!
I would appreciate the recipe. Thank you
 
I like to inject mine. Tony’s Jalapeño butter is a good commercial one. You can make a mix of butter , broth and spice. This year I am using Butcher BBQ Bird booster for my inject.
 
I prefer to brine and spatchcock my birds. I like to use a sweet brine and a heavy wood like hickory so my bird has tons of flavor. I usually use 3/4 hickory and 1/4 cherry wood. I brine my bird for about 24 hours but then I let it air dry in the fridge for at least 8 hours before smoking. If you put a wet bird in the smoker you will end up with soggy skin. I spatchcock my turkey before it goes in the brine so that doing it later doesn't smush out all the juices. I do about a 15lbs bird. Here is my method.
BRINE:
3 C. water
1.5 C. real maple syrup
3 TBSP kosher Salt
2 TBSP lime juice
1 TBSP fresh ginger, sliced
2 tsp whole mustard seeds
4 garlic cloves, sliced
2 bay leaves
1 small hand full whole mixed peppercorns (about 15)

Bring to a boil and then removed from heat and let cool to mix the flavors.

I line a 5 gallon bucket with a turkey oven bag and then add the bird and the cooled brine. Then I push all the air out to make sure the turkey is fully covered. I live in Missouri and can usually just leave it in the garage but if the weather is looking warm I just put a little ice around the bag to keep it safe. When I pull it out the next day I will reserve about a cup of brine and boil it with 2 tbsp of butter and use it as an injection before cooking.
COOK DAY:
What you need: 2 red apples, 1 red onion, 2 cinnamon sticks, some fresh sage and fresh rosemary
1) Start you smoker and take a drink of scotch(NOTE: This does nothing for the turkey but its usually early, cold and I know my MIL is coming over). Smoker temp is going to 350.
2) While your smoker is heating up rub down your turkey with your favorite rub (I use Pappy's Red), and inject your bird with your reserved brine. I like to fill the holes with little slices of apple or garlic to keep the juices in.
3) Rough chop a couple of apples and a red onion and toss them all in a pan with the cinnamon sticks, sage and rosemary. This pan will go directly below the turkey and will act as a drip pan.
4) Put the bird straight on the rack with the drip pan below. I do not add water as I find that it makes the skin soggy. The apples and veggies have so good moisture and will also help add some flavor.
5) I get my smoker to about 300 and let her go until the thermometer reads 155.
6) At 155 I crank the heat up as high as I can go. (around 400) and brush with herbed butter to crisp the skin.
7) At 160 the the turkey comes off and I set it aside covered to rest for about 30 min. (DO NOT CARVE A FRESH OFF THE HEAT ANYTHING OR YOU WILL WATCH YOUR HARD WORK LEAK ALL OVER YOUR COUNTER AND YOU MIL WILL GIVE YOUR WIFE A "WE HAD SUCH HOPES FOR YOU" LOOK)

I hope all your TG's are great!

One thing to keep in mind is that this is how "I" do it. In the end it really comes down to your preference and the best way to figure that out is spend a few Saturdays and a few six packs trying new things. I know there isn't time for that before TG but really what I'm getting at is that there isn't a "correct" answer. So relax and enjoy the process (along with some good brews) because that is what smoking is all about.

(My brine recipe is my tweaked version of Richard McPeake's Maple Brine. He has a couple of great books on smoking. This one comes from "Backyard BBQ the Art of Smokology")
 
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