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Mister Coaster · 11-07-2006, 11:56 AM

Smoke it, baby! I posted this a long time ago, but here it is again...

I tried this a few years back, and I'll never have an old dried-out Thanksgiving bird again. I also INSIST on cooking the turkey if I'm going anywhere other than my home for Thanksgiving. Sorry I don't have pictures

First, determine just how much room your cooker has to work with. My Patio Classic has a very high dome lid, which will accomidate a 20+ pounder. You don't want to get some mega bird only to discover it doesn't fit on your grill.

Next, spend the extra money and geat a FRESH, all-natural, NOT self-basting turkey. Yeah, they cost more, but in the longrun, it simply makes a better bird. If you can only get a frozen one, make sure it does not have a salt solution added. This may be disguizes as being called "enhansed." If it's in there, the label legally must say so, so look all over to be sure.

The next step is a long one, brining. You'll need a 5 gallon "food-safe" bucket for this. The orange multi-purpose buckets from Home Deopt work for this, just make sure you sanitize it before use. Next you'll need to determine how much brine you need to completely submerge the bird. Depending on size 2-3 gallons is usually enough. Now it's time to prepare the brine.
This is the basic brine for each gallon needed.
1 gallon cold water
1 cup Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt
1/2 cup dark brown sugar, packed
From there, you can get creative. You cah chop up a few apples in the blender and add those to the brine, for a subtle sweetness. You can add anything you think would give a little flavor to the brine.
A frozen bird will need to be completely thawed prior to brining. Remove all giblits, plastic cooking guage, leg restraints or whatever else may be attached to the bird before placing into the brine. We want bird, the whole bird, and nothing but the bird in the brine.
Keep the bird brined in the refrigerator anywhere from 12 - 48 hours, depending on how much salt and sugar you want to introduce into the meat. I usually let mine go for about 28 hours. You may be asking "What's the point of buying a no salt added bird if I'm just going to brine it, thereby adding salt to the turkey?" Good question. The difference is the fact that YOU control exactly how much salt goes into the turkey, not them. The longer the brine time, the more salt goes in. Also the enhansed birds will have far more salt than what we are looking for.

When the bird is done brining, remove from brine, rinse with cold water and fire up the coals. Prepare the cooker for a higher-heat cook, indirect heat, about 300 - 350 degrees. Unlike ribs, pork shoulder or brisket, these higher temps to not adversly affect turkey meat.

Rub me up! Prepare a dry rub for the turkey, here is the mix...
2 TBSP Spice Hunter brand Cajun Creole Seasoning (or any salt-free cajun spice you can find)
2 tsp granulated garlic powder
2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried oregano
4-5 bay leaves, medium size
You'll need to grind up the bay leaves as fine as you can get them. Mix all ingredients well. Apply a thin coat of olive oil to the turkey and apply the rub to all parts, as evenly as possible. Use the whole batch of rub and get a good overall coverage.

Add smoke woods of your choosing. Hickory and mesquite are the strongest, and I don't use them. I use oak, cherry, apple, citrus, maple or alder. When the cooker is in it's optimal range, start cooking. You may want to wrap the wings in foil so they don't get too crispy.

Using a digital probe thermometer, guage the doneness in the thickest part of the breast. In general, you are looking for 165 in the breast or 175 in the thigh. A brined bird will cook rather quickly, so don't be surprised if a small turkey is done in a little over 2 hours. When this has been achieved, remove from cooker, wrap well in foil, wrap in old towells, and place in an ice chest without ice. Rest turkey for at least 30 minutes. It can survive in this configuration for 4 hours or more, and still remain piping hot. When ready to eat, remove and enjoy!

11-07-2006, 11:56 AM	#11 (permalink)
Mister Coaster Big & Brassy Location: The "Canyon"	Smoke it, baby! I posted this a long time ago, but here it is again... I tried this a few years back, and I'll never have an old dried-out Thanksgiving bird again. I also INSIST on cooking the turkey if I'm going anywhere other than my home for Thanksgiving. Sorry I don't have pictures First, determine just how much room your cooker has to work with. My Patio Classic has a very high dome lid, which will accomidate a 20+ pounder. You don't want to get some mega bird only to discover it doesn't fit on your grill. Next, spend the extra money and geat a FRESH, all-natural, NOT self-basting turkey. Yeah, they cost more, but in the longrun, it simply makes a better bird. If you can only get a frozen one, make sure it does not have a salt solution added. This may be disguizes as being called "enhansed." If it's in there, the label legally must say so, so look all over to be sure. The next step is a long one, brining. You'll need a 5 gallon "food-safe" bucket for this. The orange multi-purpose buckets from Home Deopt work for this, just make sure you sanitize it before use. Next you'll need to determine how much brine you need to completely submerge the bird. Depending on size 2-3 gallons is usually enough. Now it's time to prepare the brine. This is the basic brine for each gallon needed. 1 gallon cold water 1 cup Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt 1/2 cup dark brown sugar, packed From there, you can get creative. You cah chop up a few apples in the blender and add those to the brine, for a subtle sweetness. You can add anything you think would give a little flavor to the brine. A frozen bird will need to be completely thawed prior to brining. Remove all giblits, plastic cooking guage, leg restraints or whatever else may be attached to the bird before placing into the brine. We want bird, the whole bird, and nothing but the bird in the brine. Keep the bird brined in the refrigerator anywhere from 12 - 48 hours, depending on how much salt and sugar you want to introduce into the meat. I usually let mine go for about 28 hours. You may be asking "What's the point of buying a no salt added bird if I'm just going to brine it, thereby adding salt to the turkey?" Good question. The difference is the fact that YOU control exactly how much salt goes into the turkey, not them. The longer the brine time, the more salt goes in. Also the enhansed birds will have far more salt than what we are looking for. When the bird is done brining, remove from brine, rinse with cold water and fire up the coals. Prepare the cooker for a higher-heat cook, indirect heat, about 300 - 350 degrees. Unlike ribs, pork shoulder or brisket, these higher temps to not adversly affect turkey meat. Rub me up! Prepare a dry rub for the turkey, here is the mix... 2 TBSP Spice Hunter brand Cajun Creole Seasoning (or any salt-free cajun spice you can find) 2 tsp granulated garlic powder 2 tsp freshly ground black pepper 1 tsp dried thyme 1 tsp dried oregano 4-5 bay leaves, medium size You'll need to grind up the bay leaves as fine as you can get them. Mix all ingredients well. Apply a thin coat of olive oil to the turkey and apply the rub to all parts, as evenly as possible. Use the whole batch of rub and get a good overall coverage. Add smoke woods of your choosing. Hickory and mesquite are the strongest, and I don't use them. I use oak, cherry, apple, citrus, maple or alder. When the cooker is in it's optimal range, start cooking. You may want to wrap the wings in foil so they don't get too crispy. Using a digital probe thermometer, guage the doneness in the thickest part of the breast. In general, you are looking for 165 in the breast or 175 in the thigh. A brined bird will cook rather quickly, so don't be surprised if a small turkey is done in a little over 2 hours. When this has been achieved, remove from cooker, wrap well in foil, wrap in old towells, and place in an ice chest without ice. Rest turkey for at least 30 minutes. It can survive in this configuration for 4 hours or more, and still remain piping hot. When ready to eat, remove and enjoy! __________________ If you have any poo... fling it NOW!