Thanksgiving Preparations Are Underway!

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solaryellow

Master of the Pit
Original poster
SMF Premier Member
Jul 26, 2009
2,893
63
Orlando, FL
I dragged the big smoker home this afternoon. I plan on doing two turkeys, two different stuffings, a no-boil mac and cheese, and a whole a bunch of other stuff on it.

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Damn thing makes my house look small.

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Since I had the camera out, here is a pic of my refrigerator collection. The chest freezer is hiding behind the third refrigerator.

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Fuzzy sausages.

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Still needs more cleaning.

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Last batch of peppers dehydrating in the plywood smoker. Check out how dark the interior has become. It has 100 lbs of summer sausage headed its way next weekend.

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More to come...

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Great Toys!...JJ
 
LOL - I have one whole wall of my garage dedicated to cooking 5 shelves floor to ceiling - takes up the whole wall 
 
Joel.

Your neighbors are going to have a very large cow! So What, ya got room on the smoker.
 
Joel.

Your neighbors are going to have a very large cow! So What, ya got room on the smoker.


I figure by the time the letter from the HOA arrives the smoker will already be back at my buddy's place.
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We picked up our two fresh turkeys from Whole Foods last night. We have a 12 lbs and a 13 lbs bird. Got home and started to prepare them for smoking. I like to use Tip's Slaughterhouse brine with a few little tweaks to it.

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Then I made a nearly fatal mistake by not thinking to put the container in the refrigerator before adding additional water and the larger ziploc bag full of water to keep the birds submerged. My back was killing me trying to carry the thing out to the garage.

I also add ice cubes to cool the water.

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Gonna hit the sheets about 7pm tonight and get back up at 2am to get the smoker going.
 
We picked up our two fresh turkeys from Whole Foods last night. We have a 12 lbs and a 13 lbs bird. Got home and started to prepare them for smoking. I like to use Tip's Slaughterhouse brine with a few little tweaks to it.

b8100458_DSC_0001_001.jpg


c692c5cb_DSC_0003_001.jpg


3191db26_DSC_0006_001.jpg


Then I made a nearly fatal mistake by not thinking to put the container in the refrigerator before adding additional water and the larger ziploc bag full of water to keep the birds submerged. My back was killing me trying to carry the thing out to the garage.

I also add ice cubes to cool the water.

f51d9e4b_DSC_0009_001.jpg


Gonna hit the sheets about 7pm tonight and get back up at 2am to get the smoker going.
This is the first year I'm going to try smoking a turkey, I've also never brined one before. You mentioned Slaughterhouse brine, why do you prefer that one? We do our Thanksgiving on Sunday so my plan is to brine the birds from Friday morning till Saturday morning, then I'll inject them with an applewood smoke marinade and put em in the fridge till Sunday morning. Is it ok to brine them that early?
 
 
This is the first year I'm going to try smoking a turkey, I've also never brined one before. You mentioned Slaughterhouse brine, why do you prefer that one? We do our Thanksgiving on Sunday so my plan is to brine the birds from Friday morning till Saturday morning, then I'll inject them with an applewood smoke marinade and put em in the fridge till Sunday morning. Is it ok to brine them that early?
 


I have tried a number of brines over the years and I happen to really like Tip's. I do modify it a little bit and I do not do the injection or spritz part. It really is a matter of personal taste. Here is the link to Tip's brine http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/a/tips-slaughterhouse-recipes-for-poultry

As for the length of time to brine, that again is a matter of personal taste and the ingredients. If it was a very salty brine I wouldn't brine it for very long. The amount of time you are proposing would allow for equilibrium to be reached.
 
Turkeys have been on for an hour now. Also put a couple pork shoulders on to test some ideas to cut our cook times at events down. And for breakfast I put some italian sausage meatballs on for two hours, which went on a hoagie roll and covered with a 6 cheese italian blend and a little mustard (sorry, no marinara was available) and it was damn good.
 
I have tried a number of brines over the years and I happen to really like Tip's. I do modify it a little bit and I do not do the injection or spritz part. It really is a matter of personal taste. Here is the link to Tip's brine http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/a/tips-slaughterhouse-recipes-for-poultry

As for the length of time to brine, that again is a matter of personal taste and the ingredients. If it was a very salty brine I wouldn't brine it for very long. The amount of time you are proposing would allow for equilibrium to be reached.
Thanks for the help, I'm looking forward to trying something diffirent this year. I just hope I don't screw it up! :)
 
 
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