Today I Gave Everybody the Bird

[ChileRelleno]

My first smoked Thanksgiving Turkey.
Turned out pretty danged good if I do say so myself, and so did the family.
Not too pretty, the way they injected solution made the skin tear during cooking, but I'm not eating the aesthetics of the bird.
The skin wasn't crispy/crunchy, but it wasn't chewy either, a perfect median of scrumptious flavor.
Juicy, tender and delicious, great smoke/rub flavor.

Happy Thanksgiving Everybody!

#18 Bird
Brined
Spatchcocked
Butter under skin
Generously rubbed
Butter basted
325' for 3.5 hours, Hickory smoke for the first hour or so

Rub
.5C Smoked Paprika
1C McCormick Montreal Chicken
.25C each Seasoned salt, Garlic herb, Onion powder
2T each Sage, Rosemary, Thyme and Oregano

Full Menu
Oven Roasted Turkey
Smoked Turkey
Homemade Giblet Gravy
Roasted Ham
Corn casserole, Stuffing, Green Bean casserole, Loaded Mash Taters
Rolls/butter, Cranberry/Apple relish, asst Fruit & Veggie trays
Apple, Pumpkin, Pecan, Chocolate pies
Pumpkin Pecan bread


1st basting at 2hrs, 138' internal temp



Done at 3.5 hours, Breast and thighs arrived at almost perfect temps at the same time.





Ready for the Table

[David Hall]

Those smoked birds look absolutely delicious!
Well don John.

[Tightlines667]

That looks great.  I may have to try that with a wild bird for Xmas dinner.  What kind of brine did you go with?

[ChileRelleno]

Those smoked birds look absolutely delicious!
Well don John.

Thanks.

That looks great.  I may have to try that with a wild bird for Xmas dinner.  What kind of brine did you go with?

There is only one brine recipe, 1C Kosher Salt per gallon of water.
All of the other stuff in brines do not actually penetrate the meat, and it is the salt in brines that actually do the work that brines are supposed to accomplish, i.e. drawing moisture into the meat.
Seasoning the bird is done directly via injection or rubs.

My wife does the salt, brown sugar, white wine, apple cider vinegar, onion, garlic, peppercorns and a half a dozen different spices.
All carefully measured, boiled, cooled and half of which doesn't actually get used.

Me, I fill my biggest stock pot with two gallons of water, dump in 2C of kosher salt, stir well and done.

[Tightlines667]

Those smoked birds look absolutely delicious!
Well don John.

Thanks.

That looks great.  I may have to try that with a wild bird for Xmas dinner.  What kind of brine did you go with?

There is only one brine recipe, 1C Kosher Salt per gallon of water.
All of the other stuff in brines do not actually penetrate the meat, and it is the salt in brines that actually do the work that brines are supposed to accomplish, i.e. drawing moisture into the meat.
Seasoning the bird is done directly via injection or rubs.

My wife does the salt, brown sugar, white wine, apple cider vinegar, onion, garlic, peppercorns and a half a dozen different spices.
All carefully measured, boiled, cooled and half of which doesn't actually get used.

Me, I fill my biggest stock pot with two gallons of water, dump in 2C of kosher salt, stir well and done.

Simple.

[BryanC]

There is only one brine recipe, 1C Kosher Salt per gallon of water.

How long do you leave it in the brine at this concentration?

[ChileRelleno]

There is only one brine recipe, 1C Kosher Salt per gallon of water.

How long do you leave it in the brine at this concentration?

Anywhere from 3-8 hrs depending on how much time I have.