TALKIN' TURKEY!! (The official/unofficial turkey thread)

[banjo73]

I just realized the turkey I purchased has already been injected with sodium. I am afraid it is too late to find a NON injected turkey and thaw it and brine it for Thanksgiving isn't it?

 

[dadsr4]

I just realized the turkey I purchased has already been injected with sodium. I am afraid it is too late to find a NON injected turkey and thaw it and brine it for Thanksgiving isn't it?

Rub it, cook it and enjoy. Why rush?

 

[Bob in St. Louis]

Rub it, cook it and enjoy. Why rush?

Agreed. You'll be fine. Smoke that sucker and enjoy every juicy bite.
Remember, if it's cooked to proper temp, it may still have pink juice.
Eat it. Pink does NOT mean it's undercooked.
You'll be fine (assuming your gauge is correct).

 

[Big George's BBQ]

I just realized the turkey I purchased has already been injected with sodium. I am afraid it is too late to find a NON injected turkey and thaw it and brine it for Thanksgiving isn't it?

There is a post by Wampus on page 4 of this thread that has a link to Smokinokie
Check it out He wrote a piece called Turkey Brine 101 It will help you with this

 

[Bob in St. Louis]

There is a post by Wampus on page 4 of this thread that has a link to Smokinokie
Check it out He wrote a piece called Turkey Brine 101 It will help you with this

Here's the thread that he links to:
http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=120732

 

[Big George's BBQ]

I would like to make a correction Smokin'Okie has a great write up - Turkey 101 not Turkey Brine 101

 

[DR]

Does anyone not brine and still have great results?

 

[daninnewjersey]

Does anyone not brine and still have great results?

This turkey got nothing more than olive oil and black pepper. Was super juicy...

 

[Bob in St. Louis]

Does anyone not brine and still have great results?

Me..

 

[dadsr4]

Does anyone not brine and still have great results?

All the time. Some I rub under the skin, but most I rub the skin with sesame oil and salt and pepper it before the cook.

 

[Untraceable]

Going to be headed the Sous Vide route this year. will see how it goes.

 

[Big George's BBQ]

I re sanitized my food safe bucket Made up PatioDaddio's Ultimate Thanksgiving Turkey Brine put the lid on and put it in a 3--38 degree fridge. Will pickup the fresh turkey tomorrow and after I rinse it I will put it in the brine until Wed night. I will then take it out rinse it off past it dry and put it in the fridge uncovered for about 16 hrs and then I will get it ready to cook The weather looks like it may cooperate so I can cook it on the Egg

 

[Jason TQ]

24lb'er got a little dry brine tonight. Also got a 20lb ham curing in the fridge :-D

 

[BruceKWHP]

I'll be doing a Trader Joe's fresh brined turkey this year, no room in fridge for my 5 gallon brine bucket with all the side dish fixins my wife bought, She and one of my daughters are now vegans...

I will give it a herb butter rub, Inject it, and put in in my UDS... at 15 pounds spatch'ed up it usually cooks in less than 2 hours.... always comes out good!

 

[DR]

Ok guys I'm tackling my first smoked birds. After trying to read as much on here as i can, here is my plans. let me know your thoughts.

(2) 15 lb turkeys
injecting one with a broth herb combo and the other with creole butter
rubbing both birds with garlic herb butter on top of the skin as well as under the skin
light rub with some salt and pepper added in
plan on smoking them on the jamb @325-350* for approximately 3 hours???

Looking for 160* in the breast and 170* in the thigh??

Im am busy as hell the leading up to the cook and have decided not to brine as i just don't have the time.

Any changes? Also are y'all smoking them directly on the grates or do you put them in a pan and smoke them?

Thanks, DR

 

[Jason TQ]

Ok guys I'm tackling my first smoked birds. After trying to read as much on here as i can, here is my plans. let me know your thoughts.

(2) 15 lb turkeys
injecting one with a broth herb combo and the other with creole butter
rubbing both birds with garlic herb butter on top of the skin as well as under the skin
light rub with some salt and pepper added in
plan on smoking them on the jamb @325-350* for approximately 3 hours???

Im am busy as hell the leading up to the cook and have decided not to brine as i just don't have the time.

Any changes? Also are y'all smoking them directly on the grates or do you put them in a pan and smoke them?

Thanks, DR

I've been seeing around 3-3.5hrs when spatchcocked cooking 350'ish (depending on size of bird). I love injecting and both yours sound great. My last turkey was straight on the grates, but I'll also do on a rack in a full pan which saves some drippings (though a lot can evaporate/burn off) and also makes moving around a little easier if you want to spin the bird

 

[General Lee]

20#er too big to do on a 22 inch Weber?

 

[Bob in St. Louis]

20#er too big to do on a 22 inch Weber?

Nope, you'll be fine.

 

[akoda]

I just picked up my bird. It's a heritage black, weighs in at 21#s. That should be enough for two

I'll be dropping it in my brine tomorrow and smoking it on the Shirley Warming box on Thursday.

We used to do the heritage breed, never frozen, yadda yadda. I didn't notice any difference to the "Natural's" from Kroger, which is what I bought on Tues. 2 14lb birds for $30 total.

 

[frognot]

Gotta work tomorrow night so just finished smoking a 14 lber (used Patio Daddio's brine recipe) to take to my niece's house Thursday. Just wanted to thank Kempis for starting this thread five years ago and thanks to all who contributed to it.