Smoking a turkey.

[dravery]

I've never smoked a turkey before, and now that I look, I can already see I should have brined it.  

The package says "all natural, up to 6% water retained from processing"  I have no idea what that means, but I suspect it means no brine.  

I put on my nitrile examination gloves and tore out the gonad and the other bit.  I stuffed the bird with two cans of artichokes and several whole cloves of garlic, some Rainier, and a whole onion to plug up the bird's funny business.  Then I rubbed the bird with some olive oil (there's only one kind that matters, so I'm not going to bother specifying) and herbs.

Finally I added a bit of salami barding, just to keep the moisture balanced.

Like I said though, I didn't brine.  Should I just grab a shovel and bury it before anyone tries to eat it?

 

[austinl]

I like brining whole birds but I have done many fine turkeys with nothing more than a dry rub.  I wouldn't pay much attention to that "solution" on the package.  When I started brining I thought that solution would interfere with it so I did two cheap chickens in an experiment (one soaked in ice water for a few hours first and the other not) used the same brine on both and I couldn't tell any difference between them after they were cooked.

 

[smokinhusker]

Smoke away...it should be fine!

 

[BGKYSmoker]

I didnt brine my turkey i did last week and it turned out fine.

 

[bama bbq]

I like to brine birds miself because It's a good way to get some flavor deep into the meat.  ...but it's not required and I am sure you'll have a great meal.  The best part about this grand experiment of ours is we get to eat our mistakes.

 

[so ms smoker]

  Just make sure you take it out at 165 degrees, and all should be good

Mike

 

[dravery]

Do you use a bucket or what?  How long to you brine for.  Sodium Nitrate or Sodium Nitrite?  Does the curing receptacle need to be covered?

 

[bama bbq]

I brine mine overnight in a turkey frying pot with salt, brown sugar, pepper, etc.

 

[teeznuts]

Use a food grade bucket with a lid if possible. Google "tip's slaughterhouse brine" or try it in the search engine here on smf. There's no nitrite or nitrate in it. I use it several times a week when I rotisserie my whole chickens. Good stuff!

 

[daveomak]

Do you use a bucket or what?  How long to you brine for.  Sodium Nitrate or Sodium Nitrite?  Does the curing receptacle need to be covered?

DR, morning....  Here is a turkey leg I brined in salt and cure #1 and smoked.....  The cure makes it pink, the salt keeps it moist...  Some folks wouldn't eat pink turkey....  Dave

 

[austinl]

I have not tried using cure in my poultry brines yet.  I use a NSF food-grade 5-gal. bucket to hold enough for a turkey and standard brines are for every gallon of water: 1 cup sugar, 1 cup kosher salt, plus whatever you want to flavor it with (in my experience you can go pretty crazy on flavors and will not overdo your finished cooked product).