Time For My Turkey Questions........

[pne123]

I bought a turkey on sale after the holiday to practice w/. It is a young turkey from raley's (bel-air). It is about 11 lbs. The label indicates that it was injected w/ a 8 1/2% juice solution of broth and salt.

Should I brine this bird even though it was already injected w/ a solution?

what is your favorite brine for turkey?
What wood do you like to use?

This is just for a fun so I am not in a panic but do not want to completely waste my time or ruin my $7 bird

 

[deejaydebi]

You have two options:
1 soak it in plain water for a few hours to help remove some of the salt and then brine with about 1/2 the normal salt.

2 Don't brine and just inject with butter and your favorite spices.

http://www.deejayssmokepit.net/Turkey.htm

 

[homebrew & bbq]

I did a turkey that size for Thanksgiving. It had 9% "flavor solution". Injected it with a mix of 4 TBS melted butter, 1 cup chicken broth, 2 TBS lemon juice, 1/2 tsp garlic powder and a little salt and pepper. I covered the breast with strips of bacon to keep it from drying out. The bird got stuffed with quartered onions, lemons and oranges.

It was really moist and juicy and it disappeared in a hurry.

Hope this helps.

 

[bbq bubba]

Basically a pre-brined bird..........ready for smoke!!

 

[pne123]

This injection sounds like something I would like.

I will be after crispy skin so I was going to go w/ a 350deg temp so i do not think i will do the bacon on top. maybe just some butter and little spice or EVOO. I will probably use cherry wood. cuz i have it and have not used it yet. I do also have apple and hickory.

will the bird get more smoke if i leave the cavatity empty? i will not be doing a stuffing but should I put anything in the cavatity? apples? or just leave it empty?