So my wife relented and asked me to smoke the turkey for this Thanksgiving! I thought a cured brined bird would be the way to go but I hadn't even looked at what she had brought home until last night. I was thinking something in the range of 12 pounds would be about right. But she had gone completely overboard and bought this 22 pound monster!
Oh well: For the brine I gallon of water was brought to a boil with:
1. Juice and peal of one orange.
2. Juice and peel of one lemon.
3. 1.5 cups non iodized table salt.
4. 3 tsp. Cure #1
5. 2 tbs. fresh ground pepper
6. 1 cup brown sugar.
7. ¼ cup Zatteransâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s Crawfish Boil
8. 2 tsp. Tony Chacheryâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s
9. 1 tbs. Adolphâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s
10. 15 smashed cloves of garlic
11. 1 tbs. Onion powder
12. About 2 tbs. Sage.
13. 3 tbs. dried parsley
14. 1 tbs. fresh chopped ginger.
Following the boil, I allowed it to chill for two hours and added:
15. 1 tbs. of Cherry Pepper sauce.
16. 2 tbs. Soy Sauce.
17. 1 pint Apple Cider Vinegar.
18. 1 gallon apple juice from concentrate.
The brine was chilled by the addition of the frozen apple juice concentrate and ice to make up the one gallon of Juice. The resulting brine was poured into a Turkey basting bag along with the bird. I'm figuring on leavening it until tonight, 24 hours dwell time, and then rinsing it off and letting it dry in the fridge until early Thursday morning. I might inject some butter under the skin tomorrow night if I get time and I'll slather the whole thing with Mayo too. I was thinking of hanging this monster on my turkey fryer rack with a beer can up it's butt to boot. I use a NBB vertical smoker so I can hang the bird in the chamber and tie up the wings and legs to keep it pretty.
But as to temp and time I'm reading all sorts of different things here and this is a bigger bird than most. I'll be using pecan and a bit of cherry for the smoke. Does 300-325ºF sound right? I was thinking that 3-4 hour in smoke would be enough, and then finish in the oven, I don't want to over smoke it and I want it moist. I planed to pull it out when it hits 155-160ºF in the thick of the breast.
Does this sound like a good plan? Should I use different temps or times? I've never done a whole turkey in the smoker and this one is bigger than recommended. 325ºF is also hard to hold in a NBB smoker, I may need to use two chimneys of lump along with the wood... Any and all suggestions will be appreciated.
I sure don't want to mess this up and get her upset on Thanksgiving, she's a German / Irish/ Cherokee Indian/ red head! That means she's pure hell when things don't go as she planed.....
Jimbo
Oh well: For the brine I gallon of water was brought to a boil with:
1. Juice and peal of one orange.
2. Juice and peel of one lemon.
3. 1.5 cups non iodized table salt.
4. 3 tsp. Cure #1
5. 2 tbs. fresh ground pepper
6. 1 cup brown sugar.
7. ¼ cup Zatteransâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s Crawfish Boil
8. 2 tsp. Tony Chacheryâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s
9. 1 tbs. Adolphâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s
10. 15 smashed cloves of garlic
11. 1 tbs. Onion powder
12. About 2 tbs. Sage.
13. 3 tbs. dried parsley
14. 1 tbs. fresh chopped ginger.
Following the boil, I allowed it to chill for two hours and added:
15. 1 tbs. of Cherry Pepper sauce.
16. 2 tbs. Soy Sauce.
17. 1 pint Apple Cider Vinegar.
18. 1 gallon apple juice from concentrate.
The brine was chilled by the addition of the frozen apple juice concentrate and ice to make up the one gallon of Juice. The resulting brine was poured into a Turkey basting bag along with the bird. I'm figuring on leavening it until tonight, 24 hours dwell time, and then rinsing it off and letting it dry in the fridge until early Thursday morning. I might inject some butter under the skin tomorrow night if I get time and I'll slather the whole thing with Mayo too. I was thinking of hanging this monster on my turkey fryer rack with a beer can up it's butt to boot. I use a NBB vertical smoker so I can hang the bird in the chamber and tie up the wings and legs to keep it pretty.
But as to temp and time I'm reading all sorts of different things here and this is a bigger bird than most. I'll be using pecan and a bit of cherry for the smoke. Does 300-325ºF sound right? I was thinking that 3-4 hour in smoke would be enough, and then finish in the oven, I don't want to over smoke it and I want it moist. I planed to pull it out when it hits 155-160ºF in the thick of the breast.
Does this sound like a good plan? Should I use different temps or times? I've never done a whole turkey in the smoker and this one is bigger than recommended. 325ºF is also hard to hold in a NBB smoker, I may need to use two chimneys of lump along with the wood... Any and all suggestions will be appreciated.
I sure don't want to mess this up and get her upset on Thanksgiving, she's a German / Irish/ Cherokee Indian/ red head! That means she's pure hell when things don't go as she planed.....
Jimbo