Smoking a turkey tomorrow

Never smoked a turkey. Recipe?

Leftover smoked turkey makes some of the best turkey salad you will ever eat.

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Never smoked a turkey. Recipe?

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I wet brine and this is what I use:

3 cups Apple Juice or Apple Cider---whichever you prefer
2 gallons water
4 Tbsp. Fresh Rosemary
5 Cloves garlic minced
1 1/2 cups Kosher Salt
2 cups brown sugar
3 Tbsp. peppercorns
5 Bay leaves
Peel 3 oranges and use them, but peel them thin to not have a lot of the white pith.

Bring all ingredients to a boil and cook for about 5 minutes. Shut it off and allow to come to room temperature.

Remove giblet packet and neck from the turkey and place it in a large container. Once the brine comes to room temperature, pour it over the bird and refrigerate. Make sure the bird is fully submerged. I use 12-15 lb. birds and this works out just right.

I let this marinade overnight and then remove the bird from the brine, lightly rinse off with fresh water and pat dry. Put the bird back in the fridge uncovered for several hours to dry out the skin a bit.

When the smoker is ready, I lightly oil the bird with some olive oil and season it inside and out with a mix of salt, pepper, some garlic powder, fresh herbs of your liking-----I like fresh rosemary.

Smoke it between 30-40 minutes a lb., but best to use a meat thermometer to check for doneness. In the meaty part of the thigh, 165 degrees. In the breast 160 degrees. I loosely cover the turkey when the breast gets to 150 with foil to continue cooking. Remove once done and let rest for at least 1/2 hour before carving.

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dry off and allow it to sit in the fridge uncovered until tomorrow morning to slightly dry out the skin

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Smart


I just did one last week the same way and I also spatchcoked it. Was incredible in taste and moisture. I never had a turkey get eaten so quickly. mine was a 15 lb.