Some what of a long questions about turkey/brine and cure

[grouse]

I have been given 22-24 14lb turkeys.  I want to smoke them and finish them off. 

Have enough room to hang all of them and smoke them.I can do them all at once, my smoker is large enough, or do them in batches as they thaw/brine/cure.   What i don't want to do is smoke them all in the same brine/cure. 

so what are your favorite brines and cures?
 

What are your smoke times?

Favorite woods?

do you do them whole or split them?

My smoker is 3x3x8h. Amazn pellet fired by propane. 

 

[daveomak]

I'd try 2-3 different brines, seasonings, dry rubs etc.... do a taste test... and then do more birds.... maybe 4 birds the first smoke... nothing worse than 18 turkeys you don't want to eat.... Be sure to use cure #1 if you are planning on smoking less than 225 ish degrees... don't want to grow any botulism in those birds...

Dave

 

[palladini]

Youtube has plenty of recipes for brining a turkey as well as use your search engine to find some.  Using the search engine, a 1.5 million results are returned.

 

[chef jimmyj]

How about a straight answer to your questions...

Here is a Brine and Rub that is a Favorite with members of my Family. I like Apple and/or Hickory with Turkey. Pitmaster's Choice Pellets are great too. With 14Lb birds you can smoke them whole. Measure the Temp in the thickest part of the Breast and Thigh, 165° and 175°F respectively. 300-325°F is optimum and you can figure 20 minutes per pound. If you want more low and slow smoke at 250°F. The skin will not be crisp so when the IT is 145°F in the Breast, put the Bird in a 425°F Oven to finish cooking to 165° and Crisp the Skin or crank the heat in the smoker to 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...

Bubba Chix Rub

1/2C Raw Sugar

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

1T Cayenne

1T Gran. Garlic

1T Gran. Onion

1tsp Black Pepper

1tsp Wht Pepper

1tsp Allspice

1tsp Bell's Poultry Seasoning or Thyme

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

Reduce Cayenne to 1teaspoon if less heat is desired.

 

[grouse]

 
How about a straight answer to your questions...

Here is a Brine and Rub that is a Favorite with members of my Family. I like Apple and/or Hickory with Turkey. Pitmaster's Choice Pellets are great too. With 14Lb birds you can smoke them whole. Measure the Temp in the thickest part of the Breast and Thigh, 165° and 175°F respectively. 300-325°F is optimum and you can figure 20 minutes per pound. If you want more low and slow smoke at 250°F. The skin will not be crisp so when the IT is 145°F in the Breast, put the Bird in a 425°F Oven to finish cooking to 165° and Crisp the Skin or crank the heat in the smoker to 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...

Bubba Chix Rub

1/2C Raw Sugar

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

1T Cayenne

1T Gran. Garlic

1T Gran. Onion

1tsp Black Pepper

1tsp Wht Pepper

1tsp Allspice

1tsp Bell's Poultry Seasoning or Thyme

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

Reduce Cayenne to 1teaspoon if less heat is desired.

Thank you very much.  That is what i was hoping for.  Thank you for the help

 

[grouse]

 
Youtube has plenty of recipes for brining a turkey as well as use your search engine to find some.  Using the search engine, a 1.5 million results are returned.

Thank you for the outstanding recommendation.  Out of that 1.5 million recipes maybe 100 might after pages of searching apply to cold smoking and finishing.  1000 might be of dubious nature.  1000 will be from jerktards that know less about smoking than my arse hairs.   I do appreciate the thought of going back through googles search engine for the 30th time in the last few months.  I mean it may be slower than asking for help on a directly related sub forum of a directly related cold smoking forum.  But hey as the new guy what the phvck do i know?

 

[grouse]

I'd try 2-3 different brines, seasonings, dry rubs etc.... do a taste test... and then do more birds.... maybe 4 birds the first smoke... nothing worse than 18 turkeys you don't want to eat.... Be sure to use cure #1 if you are planning on smoking less than 225 ish degrees... don't want to grow any botulism in those birds...

Dave

Thanks Dave,  That is the plan,  It depends on how they thaw, I guess. I do plan on using pink salt 1 on them.  I will eventually finish them off in my traeger.  I have not been able to heat the smoke house to 225+ for any period of time.  I have a few things enroute that should change that. 

That being said i have smoked a fair number of turkeys on the traeger, this is just my first time doing it via the cold smoke. 

 

[daveomak]

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/newsearch?search=turkey+recipes&=Search

I did a search of "turkey recipes" using our search bar.... Soooooo..... here are a few more ideas to "chew on".... Dave

 

[reinhard]

Thanks Chef and Dave for the ideas.  I've got a few in the freezer as well. Reinhard

 

[chef jimmyj]

Grouse, I missed that you wanted to do some Cured and cold smoked. While I have never cold smoked poultry, this recipe from Viper, although hot smoked, is popular and you will find adding adding 1T Cure #1 per gallon of my brine will add some great flavor as well. Sounds like an interesting project...JJ

SMOKED TURKEY LEGS close to Disney Style

The brine:
2 cups tender quick salt
1 cups brown sugar
2 tbsp. onion powder
2 tbsp. garlic powder
4 bay leaves
2 gallons water
6 turkey legs [totally submerged in brine]*
Sweet paprika
 

Mix all brine ingredients together in a non reactive container.
Put the turkey legs in the brine and place the container in the
refrigerator. Let stand for at least 48 hours.*

Remove legs from the brine and wash with cold water to remove excess.
Then soak in cold water 1 hour.
Rub the legs with a small amount of sweet paprika. Put legs in
smoker and set temperature for 225 degrees F. Smoke for at least
five hours.Untill Internal temp is 165-170 degrees.

*Large turkey legs will require 3 full days to be fully brined
and flavored. Smoking time at 225 degrees F will be about
6 1/2 hours.

 

[timberjet]

I don't want to break the rules here but you should take a look at amazingribs.com. That guy has assembled the ultimate last word on turkey cooking, smoking, frying etc. I have use a few of his brines and they are always top notch. Hopefully this won't show up as a link and I won't get in trouble with the mods.

 

[oldschoolbbq]

Grouse, there's been an increase of folks wanting the taste of Cedar Plank on their Birds ,and that can be accomplished by using Juniper Berries in your Brine.  As with any flavor profile you add to the Brine , It can be changed and manipulated ... I had thought of doing one similar to JJ's Recipe and adding a( tbls) of cracked berries to the mix , Should be interesting .

Stan

 

[grouse]

 
Grouse, there's been an increase of folks wanting the taste of Cedar Plank on their Birds ,and that can be accomplished by using Juniper Berries in your Brine.  As with any flavor profile you add to the Brine , It can be changed and manipulated ... I had thought of doing one similar to JJ's Recipe and adding a( tbls) of cracked berries to the mix , Should be interesting .

Stan

That i can do. the smoker is cedar, and i have plenty of berries.  I will give that a go.  I also plan on a orange terriyaki brine. 

 
Grouse, I missed that you wanted to do some Cured and cold smoked. While I have never cold smoked poultry, this recipe from Viper, although hot smoked, is popular and you will find adding adding 1T Cure #1 per gallon of my brine will add some great flavor as well. Sounds like an interesting project...JJ

SMOKED TURKEY LEGS close to Disney Style

The brine:
2 cups tender quick salt
1 cups brown sugar
2 tbsp. onion powder
2 tbsp. garlic powder
4 bay leaves
2 gallons water
6 turkey legs [totally submerged in brine]*
Sweet paprika
 

Mix all brine ingredients together in a non reactive container.
Put the turkey legs in the brine and place the container in the
refrigerator. Let stand for at least 48 hours.*

Remove legs from the brine and wash with cold water to remove excess.
Then soak in cold water 1 hour.
Rub the legs with a small amount of sweet paprika. Put legs in
smoker and set temperature for 225 degrees F. Smoke for at least
five hours.Untill Internal temp is 165-170 degrees.

*Large turkey legs will require 3 full days to be fully brined
and flavored. Smoking time at 225 degrees F will be about
6 1/2 hours.

Thank you.  I plan on smoking them and then finishing them off till IT hits temp in my traeger. If my new propane burner comes, I will try and bump up the heat in the smoker which is my preference. After that i will part them out for my lunch meat and other bits for soups, stews, and just plain old dinner. 

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/newsearch?search=turkey+recipes&=Search

I did a search of "turkey recipes" using our search bar.... Soooooo..... here are a few more ideas to "chew on".... Dave

Thanks Dave i will give it another look.  I just finished cutting 20lbs of venison for my second batch of jerky. 

 

[grouse]

Well here is the result. Pre-smoke

1504059_553685981388382_1931246587_n.jpg

• grouse
• Dec 15, 2013

10lbs of venison pastrami
20 brined/cured turkeys
2 plain jane turkeys

Plans:

cold smoke over night
Tomorrow hot smoke till done internal temperature

then separate the thighs for soups, the legs and wings for taco's and enchiladas, breasts for lunch meats.
 

the brines and cure was based off Chef's recommendation.  I did some adding and subtracting of flavors.   I basically did 2 of each brine, One with out apples and oranges and one with.  I also did two with the mortons tender quick recipe he recommended.

We shall see how it goes.    
 

 

[daveomak]

Cold smoking any meat, that does not have cure #1 in it, is a breeding ground for botulism.... I would not do that.... and I can't recommend it..... It is not safe.....

Dave

 

[grouse]

Dave. It is 30 degrees out. Ony the two plane jane do not have cure 1. The rest do. Tomorrow everything will be hot smoked

 

[daveomak]

I didn't realize your smoker was at 30 deg.... Sorry.....

Dave

 

[grouse]

Heh, no problem.

 

[grouse]

So it was along day yesterday. Got them all up to 140 right quick, and then did a slow rise up to 165. 

In this pic you can see 22 smoked turkeys on the right, and about 20+ live ones at my deer feeder on the left. 

1486741_554425244647789_1112422345_n.jpg

• grouse
• Dec 17, 2013

I pulled the pastrami out last night. It was fantastic. Sorry no pics of that.

I pulled one bird for the kids to see.  Then i gave them a few test slices.

1452088_554425204647793_2051729433_n.jpg

• grouse
• Dec 17, 2013

1525333_554425167981130_679616344_n.jpg

• grouse
• Dec 17, 2013

1501843_554425144647799_1991523028_n.jpg

• grouse
• Dec 17, 2013

1524579_554425124647801_827681610_n.jpg

• grouse
• Dec 17, 2013

 

[grouse]

On the second day of Ur, I Turkimus Maximus,  Cemented my empire on the smoked remains of my foes.

Breast meat for sandwiches

1497656_554619331295047_1593149615_n.jpg

• grouse
• Dec 17, 2013

Legs,Thighs, and wings for soups, tacos, enchiladas.

 

1468626_554619311295049_400231677_n.jpg

• grouse
• Dec 17, 2013