Should I brine? cookbook? recipes?

[Coastal77]

This will be my first time smoking turkey (and only my second time smoking ever). I don't know a reliable site or cookbook for smoking turkey, or smoking in general. Do you all recommend brining turkey or not? Either way, please share how you would recommend to smoke turkey and a good cookbook or website to look up how to smoke.

 

[chopsaw]

Search results for query: smoked turkey

 

[pa42phigh]

Like chopsaw said Lots of great information in search here’s an idea from my files https://docs.google.com/document/d/18dD4EIg8JT0Ji8aT8lNlhxavdk3kF-CLN6SRBPpvrjg

 

[chef jimmyj]

Welcome. You ARE on the best Site to learn how to Smoke Meat. After this Turkey, check out the Free 5 Day eCourse. Then Search for your Smoker to learn more about it and what modifications can improve the function. Then Search the meat your would like to smoke.
What Smoker do you have?

This info can help get you started...JJ

Juicy Smoke-tastic Chicken and Turkey

Here is a Brine and Rub that is a Favorite with members of my Family. I like Apple and/or Hickory with Chicken or Turkey. We determine doneness by measuring the Internal Temp (IT) in the thickest part of the Breast and Thigh, 155* and 175*F respectively. For a One Step Smoke with Crispy Skin the birds have to be smoked at a temp of 300-325°F. You can figure about 15 minutes per pound to reach the desired IT. Electric smokers usually only go to 275°F. With these you will be smoking at the most common temp range of 225-275°F. You can figure on about 25 minutes per pound cook time + or - 5 minutes depending what part of the range you choose. Usually the skin will not crisp so if the skin is not Crisp enough when the IT is 145*F in the Breast, put the Bird in a 425*F Oven to finish cooking to 155* and Crisp the Skin...JJ

Families Favorite Brine

1/2C Kosher Salt

2T Paprika

2T Gran. Garlic

2T Gran. Onion

2T Dry Thyme

2T Black Pepper

1C Vinegar (Any)

1-11/2Gal Cold Water to cover Chix

1/2C Brown Sugar, Optional

1T Red Pepper Flake Optional

Mix well and Soak the Bird over night or up to 24 Hours.

Remove the Chix, rinse if desired and pat dry with paper towels.

Place in an open container in the refrigerator overnight or up to 24 hours for the Skin to dry.

This will give a crispier skin when Smokng or Roasting...

Mild but WildTurkey Rub

1/4C Raw Sugar

2T Paprika (I use Smoked if I'm just Grilling)

1T Gran. Garlic

1T Gran. Onion

2tsp Bell's Poultry Seasoning or other

1tsp Ground Coriander Seed (2-3tsp Whole seed, fresh ground)

1tsp Black Pepper

1tsp Mustard Powder

1tsp Allspice

1/2tsp Cumin

Optional: 1T Kosher Salt * Leave out if you Brined the Bird!

Mix well. You can put directly on the skin or mix with Butter, Oil or Bacon Grease and rub on and under the Skin.

Place a pan with some veggies under the Turkey to make some Gravy. Here's a recipe.

Smokey Turkey Gravy

1- Lg Onion,

4-5 Carrots,

3-4 Ribs Celery

3-4 Peeled Cloves of Garlic

Toss them in a pan under the Turkey, and let the whole deal Smoke for one hour,

THEN add 4-6 Cups Chicken Broth,

1/2tsp Dry Thyme (4-5 sprigs Fresh)

1/2tsp Dry Sage (2 sprigs Fresh)

1-2 ea Bayleaf

Finish the Smoking process to the IT you want.

While the Turkey is resting, dump the pan juices, veggies and all into a 2-3Qt Sauce pot and bring the Jus to a boil, lower the heat and simmer 20-30 minutes. Strain out the veggies and let the Jus rest a minute or so for the Fat to rise. Skim off the bulk of the fat then using strips of paper towel laid on top of the Jus then quickly removed, take off the last little bit of fat.Bring the Jus back to a simmer. Mix 2T Flour and 4T Chicken Broth for each Cup of defatted Jus. Whisk together to make a Slurry with no lumps, add a little additional Broth if needed. Whisk the Slurry into the simmering Jus, bring back to a simmer and cook 5-10 minutes to cook out the flour taste and fully thicken the Gravy. Adjust the seasoning with Salt and Pepper and serve.

The purpose of Smoking the Vegetable for 1 hour before adding the Broth and Herbs is...The Smoked vegetables Roast in the Dry heat concentrating their Flavors and Sweetness giving the finished Jus a Richer, Deeper, Full Flavor.

Serve the sliced Turkey with plenty of Gravy and Enjoy...JJ

 

[Winterrider]

Do you all recommend brining turkey or not

I do brine my turkeys overnight. Helps retain a lot more moisture. Spatchcocked will get you quicker and more even cooking.
Chopsaws link will get you a lot of info.

 

[sandyut]

I do brine my turkeys overnight. Helps retain a lot more moisture. Spatchcocked will get you quicker and more even cooking.
Chopsaws link will get you a lot of info.

same here - I always use the Slaughterhouse brine.

 

[M3 Pete]

The second thing I ever smoked was a turkey. I have a 30-inch electric smoker, so the turkey has to be relatively small, 10-13 pounds. I used this recipe and it worked really well, but I'm sure the recipes above will give you great results too.

https://blog.cavetools.com/best-brine-recipe-for-smoked-turkey/

In fact, I smoked two turkeys for Thanksgiving, the first was a test to make sure I could do it and nobody would starve on the big day, and the other a few days later. I used the same brine, which I kept refrigerated, and added a bit of salt and sugar and water to make up for what the first turkey absorbed. Since nothing can really grow in a brine, I felt pretty safe doing it.

Because the max temp on an electric smoker is 275, the skin was a bit rubbery, the only downside. On my next turkey I might try the oven trick that Chef jimmyj gave above.

 

[SmokinAl]

It really depends on what brand of turkey you buy, most are already brined & injected. We like Butterball turkeys, and we inject them with Tony C’s marinade, we like the jalapeño/butter one, but be advised his injections do contain a lot of salt. So if your on a low salt diet, this would not be a good choice, but the flavor is amazing!
Good luck!
Al

 

[Coastal77]

Welcome. You ARE on the best Site to learn how to Smoke Meat. After this Turkey, check out the Free 5 Day eCourse. Then Search for your Smoker to learn more about it and what modifications can improve the function. Then Search the meat your would like to smoke.
What Smoker do you have?

This info can help get you started...JJ

Juicy Smoke-tastic Chicken and Turkey

Here is a Brine and Rub that is a Favorite with members of my Family. I like Apple and/or Hickory with Chicken or Turkey. We determine doneness by measuring the Internal Temp (IT) in the thickest part of the Breast and Thigh, 155* and 175*F respectively. For a One Step Smoke with Crispy Skin the birds have to be smoked at a temp of 300-325°F. You can figure about 15 minutes per pound to reach the desired IT. Electric smokers usually only go to 275°F. With these you will be smoking at the most common temp range of 225-275°F. You can figure on about 25 minutes per pound cook time + or - 5 minutes depending what part of the range you choose. Usually the skin will not crisp so if the skin is not Crisp enough when the IT is 145*F in the Breast, put the Bird in a 425*F Oven to finish cooking to 155* and Crisp the Skin...JJ

Families Favorite Brine

1/2C Kosher Salt

2T Paprika

2T Gran. Garlic

2T Gran. Onion

2T Dry Thyme

2T Black Pepper

1C Vinegar (Any)

1-11/2Gal Cold Water to cover Chix

1/2C Brown Sugar, Optional

1T Red Pepper Flake Optional

Mix well and Soak the Bird over night or up to 24 Hours.

Remove the Chix, rinse if desired and pat dry with paper towels.

Place in an open container in the refrigerator overnight or up to 24 hours for the Skin to dry.

This will give a crispier skin when Smokng or Roasting...

Mild but WildTurkey Rub

1/4C Raw Sugar

2T Paprika (I use Smoked if I'm just Grilling)

1T Gran. Garlic

1T Gran. Onion

2tsp Bell's Poultry Seasoning or other

1tsp Ground Coriander Seed (2-3tsp Whole seed, fresh ground)

1tsp Black Pepper

1tsp Mustard Powder

1tsp Allspice

1/2tsp Cumin

Optional: 1T Kosher Salt * Leave out if you Brined the Bird!

Mix well. You can put directly on the skin or mix with Butter, Oil or Bacon Grease and rub on and under the Skin.

Place a pan with some veggies under the Turkey to make some Gravy. Here's a recipe.

Smokey Turkey Gravy

1- Lg Onion,

4-5 Carrots,

3-4 Ribs Celery

3-4 Peeled Cloves of Garlic

Toss them in a pan under the Turkey, and let the whole deal Smoke for one hour,

THEN add 4-6 Cups Chicken Broth,

1/2tsp Dry Thyme (4-5 sprigs Fresh)

1/2tsp Dry Sage (2 sprigs Fresh)

1-2 ea Bayleaf

Finish the Smoking process to the IT you want.

While the Turkey is resting, dump the pan juices, veggies and all into a 2-3Qt Sauce pot and bring the Jus to a boil, lower the heat and simmer 20-30 minutes. Strain out the veggies and let the Jus rest a minute or so for the Fat to rise. Skim off the bulk of the fat then using strips of paper towel laid on top of the Jus then quickly removed, take off the last little bit of fat.Bring the Jus back to a simmer. Mix 2T Flour and 4T Chicken Broth for each Cup of defatted Jus. Whisk together to make a Slurry with no lumps, add a little additional Broth if needed. Whisk the Slurry into the simmering Jus, bring back to a simmer and cook 5-10 minutes to cook out the flour taste and fully thicken the Gravy. Adjust the seasoning with Salt and Pepper and serve.

The purpose of Smoking the Vegetable for 1 hour before adding the Broth and Herbs is...The Smoked vegetables Roast in the Dry heat concentrating their Flavors and Sweetness giving the finished Jus a Richer, Deeper, Full Flavor.

Serve the sliced Turkey with plenty of Gravy and Enjoy...JJ

How many pounds is your brine and rub for?

 

[chef jimmyj]

Since nothing can really grow in a brine, I felt pretty safe doing it.

It is Not Recommended that you Reuse Brines! There are a whole host of Bacteria that are Salt and Acid Tolerant. At a minimum they can spoil the brine and taste of your second Turkey. In the worst case, you can put yourself at risk.
We wouldn't Soak ourselves in Old Dirty Bathwater! Why would you do that to your Turkey? ☺ Brine ingredients are Cheap. You are worth much more to US....JJ

 

[chef jimmyj]

How many pounds is your brine and rub for?

I Brine 2 Roasting Chickens and up to 20 Pound Turkeys, overnight, in that Brine.

The Rub makes about 1/2 Cup, plenty for a large Turkey.
NOTE: If you will be Smoking over,300°F, leave Out the Sugar! It can burn...JJ

 

[tallbm]

This will be my first time smoking turkey (and only my second time smoking ever). I don't know a reliable site or cookbook for smoking turkey, or smoking in general. Do you all recommend brining turkey or not? Either way, please share how you would recommend to smoke turkey and a good cookbook or website to look up how to smoke.

Hi there and welcome!

You are getting great info here. I think chef jimmyj broke it down with a ton of info for ya.

My $0.02 is that I always brine. I do what is called an equilibrium brine which guarantees you can never oversault your bird.
The magic of an equilibrium brine is that you get the weight of the bird AND the weight of the water (water weighs 8pounds per gallon). Take that total weight and convert to ounces or grams and then multiply by 0.02 (which is 2%) and that number is the weight of salt you need to dissolve and use. At 2% you shouldnt oversalt an "enhanced" bird (I never have) so u can brine like this no matter what.
Then do the same thing but at 0.01 (1%) for regular sugar or brown sugar you dissolve in.
I dissolve by saving some water and putting in a blender and doing it this way which is the fast way :) Then I pour that in and stir it around. It doesn't have to be a perfect dissolving as it will continue to dissolve while brining in the fridge... it always does for me this way :)

Finally add black pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder and any other seasonings you want by eyeballing it to the brine if you like OR once the bird is done brining you can season the bird with pepper, onion, garlic, etc. EXCEPT DO NOT season with salt, you already salted the bird.

As for smoking this is super important and Chef JJ hit on it.
Smoke at 325F smoker temp if you can so your skin is edible. This is just how poultry skin works. If you smoke at under that temp you will likely get rubbery or leathery inedible skin. If you smoke under 275F you can basically guarantee some form of rubber/leather skin.

Also DO NOT baste or spritz the bird unless u want to keep the skin from cooperating with you, this is not the oven AND you already brined the bird to avoid it drying out so don't waste the time it hurts your smoked bird.

If you smoke at 325F a 22 pound bird takes right at 4 hours to smoke when NEVER opening the door and taking the bird to 163-165F Internal Temp (IT) deep in the breast meat.

I hope this info helps :)