# Turkey Brine for smoking



## WV_Crusader (Nov 4, 2020)

So never brined a Turkey  before so went on a limb and ordered Tacticalories Gobbler Hollow brine kit.

For those who have brined and smoke, I’ll take all the help I can get!

Smoking on a GMG Daniel Boone.


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## BGKYSmoker (Nov 4, 2020)

Did you get a fresh turkey

Most store bought like BB have been injected already with smutzy solution stuff


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## WV_Crusader (Nov 4, 2020)

SFLsmkr1 said:


> Did you get a fresh turkey
> 
> Most store bought like BB have been injected already with smutzy solution stuff


Fresh from local farm.


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## chilerelleno (Nov 4, 2020)

A very basic brine that tastes good, tenderizes and helps retain a lot of moisture.
*The Brine*
2gal Water
3C Kosher Salt
1C Brown Sugar
1/2C of my basic rub
Simmer the water, dissolve the salt, then the sugar/rub.
Let it cool and then refrigerate.
Bag the bird/brine and marinade for 8-12 hours.

My wife makes a brine with all sorts of herbs and spices, wine, onions and more.
Still, the base is water and salt, everything else is just flavorings.

But I can tell you that I prefer an injected Turkey over brined.
I like a basic Cajun Spice, it's just butter and cajun seasoning.
Or Cajun Apple Butter, butter, cajun Spice and apple juice.
Also, any of the Tony Chachere's injectable marinades are good too.


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## uncle eddie (Nov 4, 2020)

My go to brine is not much salt (maybe 1 cup) as I buy butterball and other processed injected turkeys...but the rest is deliciousness

1/2 gallon vegetable stock
1 tbsp each of sage, rosemary and thyme (or 3 tbsp of poultry seasoning)
mix all, bring it all to a boil...
add ice to cool so you have like 3/4 gallon of brine now.  

REGARDLESS OF THE BRINE USED:  Brine turkey overnight minimum, 24 hours is best.


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## chilerelleno (Nov 4, 2020)

See my recipe index under Rubs, Sauces Glazes and Marinades.





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## WV_Crusader (Nov 4, 2020)

So with limited space in my fridge would putting the bird and brine in a food safe bucket in a cooler with ice all around the outside of bucket work? I’d keep tabs on ice and add as needed.


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## chilerelleno (Nov 4, 2020)

WV_Crusader said:


> So with limited space in my fridge would putting the bird and brine in a food safe bucket in a cooler with ice all around the outside of bucket work? I’d keep tabs on ice and add as needed.


Yes, but a cheap oven bag works great for containing the mess, preventing unintended contamination and its easy to bleed air out of the bag and thus have the turkey 100% covered in the brine.
I'd put a bag in the bucket.

I usually empty a vegetable drawer in the fridge, and put my bagged turkey in it.
It's like a bucket.


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## WV_Crusader (Nov 4, 2020)

chilerelleno said:


> See my recipe index under Rubs, Sauces Glazes and Marinades.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



So many to choose from, I’ve gotta try that squirrel  recipe soon!


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## WV_Crusader (Nov 4, 2020)

chilerelleno said:


> Yes, but a cheap oven bag works great for containing the mess, preventing unintended contamination and its easy to bleed air out of the bag and thus have the turkey 100% covered in the brine.
> 
> I'd put a bag in the bucket.
> I usually empty a vegetable drawer in the fridge, it's like a bucket.



I never would have thought about the drawer idea! Thanks!!!


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## zwiller (Nov 4, 2020)

Smoked turkey is and will probably always be my favorite smoke.  I spent many years trying various things and without hesitation recommend Pops brine.  I prefer the low salt version.


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## noboundaries (Nov 4, 2020)

I go light on the salt in a brine. A secret I always include in my brine is 1 tsp Prague Powder #1. I'm not curing the bird, but that little bit of curing salt gives the smoked bird a very slight ham flavor that folks love.


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## tallbm (Nov 4, 2020)

I do equilibrium brine so that I nail the salt and can brine for many many days and never worry about getting to salty.
The idea is that you get an even amount of salt in the meat and water so it can never ever be too salty no mater how long it brines.
It's simple measure the weight of the Turkey AND the weight of the water to cover the turkey (1 gallon of water = 8 pounds = 128oz of weight) and that is your total weight amount.  I just add water and when it gets close to covering I dissolve my salt/sugar in the water I add towards the end since I can easily know how much to add ( I keep track of how much water I add as I go). I then stir it all around at the end.

Simple Equilibrium Brine:

Take that weight amount (water + meat weight) and add 2% salt, so weight x .02 = amount of salt needed
Simple.  You can never over salt the meat, it brines perfectly to hold water and never be dry... unless u overcook it hahaha.

Now if you want to do a cured and smoked Turkey (my recommendation for smoking one).


Take that weight amount, again weight of bird/meat and weight of water,  and add 2% salt (weight x .02 = amount of salt needed).
Take weight amount and add 1% sugar
(weight x .01 = amount of sugar needed)
Take weight amount and  Cure #1, this is not a percentage but a straight calculation:
( weight x .05 oz of cure #1 = amount of cure needed)
I also add some garlic powder, onion, and black pepper to the mix for additional flavor but not needed at all.  I eyeball it.

Brining turkey takes a big bucket and a lot of fridge space.  If you spatch cock a turkey and use a meat tote its a bit easier to fit in the fridge and easier to brine. 
*Meat Lug:*








						Game Winner 7 in Meat Lug | Academy
					

Mix large quantities of meat with help from the Game Winner 7 in Meat Lug, which is made of food-grade PE for safety in the kitchen. Complete with a handle f...




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I hope this info helps :)


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## callmez (Nov 5, 2020)

Big fan here of Jeff's buttermilk brine with a turkey breast. I brine overnight and smoke a skinless breast with hickory, wrapping in foil after 2 hours and skipping the butter-herb part.  I'm not yet ready to post my cooks here, but when I get there the first one will probably be my take on this. The wife is always asking for another smoked turkey breast.

Buttermilk Brined Smoked Turkey


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## TuckersBarbeque (Nov 5, 2020)

The big thing about brine for me is the texture.  If you brine it too long the meat ends up looking like a McD's chicken nugget... just a mash of meat.  The salt in all it's glory does help bind water molecules to protein molecules, but does tend to start breaking the proteins under large concentration and time.  
I always err on the short side of things because texture is very important to me.
Just my two cents, good luck man!  You spatchocking or full up stuffed?


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## Kevin DeShazo (Nov 5, 2020)

First thing, look for the lowest salt content turkey you can find. The more salt thats been added to the turkey, the saltier it will be after brining. We end up with a store brand turkey which is 6-7% salt, where as bigger name ones are in the 12% range. Below is the link to the brine we use and then smoke it over something that compliments the bourbon and tea. Oak or mesquite works, Id love to try it over orange chips but those are hard to find for the MES. We also do not do the honey butter portion of the recipe, just the brine. 









						Orange-Tea-Bourbon Brined Turkey With Honey Mustard Butter
					

Get Orange-Tea-Bourbon Brined Turkey With Honey Mustard Butter Recipe from Food Network




					www.foodnetwork.com


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## JC in GB (Nov 5, 2020)

What 

 tallbm
 said.  Whenever I brine meat I always use the weight of water and meat to determine my salt/sugar/cure amounts.

You can never go wrong if you go by weight.  If you use metric weights it is even easier.

I use 10% of the weight of the meat in water and brine the meat in a vacuum bag.  Works well and saves space.

JC


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## HalfSmoked (Nov 5, 2020)

Lot of good suggestions here as with most things here on the forum. But a good point made by noboundaries an tallbm is adding cure #1 especially if the turkey is over 12lbs. You should get to 140 IT by 4 hours if not you are safe by using the cure #. 

Warren


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## HalfSmoked (Nov 5, 2020)

Thanks for the like JC in GB it is appreciated.

Warren


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## WV_Crusader (Nov 5, 2020)

Thanks for the awesome recommendations and I have Prague #1 so this will be great!


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## tallbm (Nov 5, 2020)

WV_Crusader said:


> Thanks for the awesome recommendations and I have Prague #1 so this will be great!



Oooh on a turkey once I mix in the salt, sugar, and cure #1 I take some of the solution with my injection needle and inject the liquid into the breast especially. I inject in all other parts but I basically hedge my bet for cure penetration.  Cuts down the curing time a ton.
For a cured turkey I cure/brine probably a min of 4 days with the injection so it gets cured all throughout the breast.

I smoke my cured turkey (and chickens) at 325F so the skin behaves.  The cure is to get that smoked turkey (hammy) flavor that is so loved with smoked turkey.  The added benefit is that if u are doing a very big turkey u don't have to worry about it hitting 140F in the breast in 4 hours because the cure covers u there BUT this is the rare case where we dont care about the cure doing that job.  We want the cure to give us the magical cured smoke turkey flavor :)


Don't make the mistake of smoking your turkey under 315F smoker temp and wind up with rubber skin :) Rubber skin will disappoint u so crank up the heat :)


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