I did a nice 13 lber for Thanksgiving alongside an 18 lb oven-roasted turkey. Originally we were just going to do the oven turkey because my family is skeptical about smoking meat and didnt' want our day ruined. At the last minute, I ran out and bought a small turkey and threw it in a simple brine overnight.
Brine was a very simple salt/sugar concoction with a few sprigs of chopped up sage/thyme/rosemary/savory. Kind of a waste since they imparted no taste. For the oven roasted turkey, I used the slaughterhouse brine I found on here.
I also injected the smoked turkey with Tony C's creole butter, and then sprinkled Tony C's around the turkey. The oven turkey just got some salt/pepper.
Smoked it at 225* (started out at 250 but it was climbing up wayyy too fast) with apple chips. Took a bit over 6 hours to finish. it seemed like it climbed up to 135-140 super fast (2ish hours), and then took another 4 hours to climb to 160.
End result? This turkey was AWESOME. It was completely finished, and the oven turkey only picked at in comparison. My family was eating crow (and delicious turkey) after they admitted how great the smoked flavor was. My only complaint was the skin never got crispy - I even finished it in a 400* oven until it was sizzling, but that didn't do it. Also, I'm done with doing special brines. They never, ever seen to take on the brine flavor - only the juiciness that it gives. It's sad because the slaughterhouse brine smelled fantastic, but the turkey didn't take on any of the flavor. I've noticed this every time I've ever done a brine.
Sorry I didn't get more pictures, there was a rampage to eat as soon as it came out :D
For reference.. my dad's oven turkey on the left, my turkey on the right. I think I won!
Thanks fellas, couldn't of done it w/out ya
Brine was a very simple salt/sugar concoction with a few sprigs of chopped up sage/thyme/rosemary/savory. Kind of a waste since they imparted no taste. For the oven roasted turkey, I used the slaughterhouse brine I found on here.
I also injected the smoked turkey with Tony C's creole butter, and then sprinkled Tony C's around the turkey. The oven turkey just got some salt/pepper.
Smoked it at 225* (started out at 250 but it was climbing up wayyy too fast) with apple chips. Took a bit over 6 hours to finish. it seemed like it climbed up to 135-140 super fast (2ish hours), and then took another 4 hours to climb to 160.
End result? This turkey was AWESOME. It was completely finished, and the oven turkey only picked at in comparison. My family was eating crow (and delicious turkey) after they admitted how great the smoked flavor was. My only complaint was the skin never got crispy - I even finished it in a 400* oven until it was sizzling, but that didn't do it. Also, I'm done with doing special brines. They never, ever seen to take on the brine flavor - only the juiciness that it gives. It's sad because the slaughterhouse brine smelled fantastic, but the turkey didn't take on any of the flavor. I've noticed this every time I've ever done a brine.
Sorry I didn't get more pictures, there was a rampage to eat as soon as it came out :D
For reference.. my dad's oven turkey on the left, my turkey on the right. I think I won!
Thanks fellas, couldn't of done it w/out ya
