And....I'm brining.


 
J

Jim Eglseder

New member
Stopped by a local turkey farm tonight and picked up an 18.5 lb. bird for t-giving. I've never had a fresh bird so I'm pretty excited.

Mixed up a basic brine of 3/4 cup of Morton's kosher salt, 1/2 cup of dark brown sugar per gallon of water. I put it in an oven roasting bag and the brine covered the bird completely. I've never done a bird this large but I plan to brine for 24 hours, and then let drain/dry until about 9-10am Thursday morning.

I'm aiming for 4-5pm completion.

I've successfully done ribs, briskets, shoulders and chickens, but not a turkey. My buddy and I did do a test 8 pounder about 6 weeks ago and it was the most amazing thing I've ever had.

I'll keep you guys updated.
 
Good luck with that. I'm doing nearly the identical bird for Thanksgiving (a bit larger maybe) but I'm without my smoker so I'll be baking my bird. I'm so psyched to see how it comes out and I'm hoping it gets raves reviews.

Post pics when you are done.
 
good luck guys!! I'm "on the brine" as well. I opted to go with the JD-Maple Syrup brine. My bird is a bit smaller (14lbs) as we have another bird and ham showing up for dinner. Will try to post before the beers start to flow on turkey day
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I'm doing a 12.5 pounder on my 18 inch WSM. This is my first turkey ever. I'm using John Kass' from the Chicago Tribune apple juice recipe (search "kass brining" on YouTube). Bird went in the brine 11am tuesday morning. I will take it out, rinse and air-dry around 11am wednesday and smoke with Royal Oak lump and apple wood on Thanksgiving. Wish me luck.
 
About 12 hours into the apple brine here on a 12#'er myself. It's not supposed to be smelling delicious at this point I hope
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Took the turkey out of the bag, cleaned it up, and it was soaking in brine by about 6:00 last night. (Tuesday)

This is my first turkey and am scared to death that I am going to mess up Thanksgiving!
 
Good luck to all doing a turkey tomorrow! I have the same fear of ruining Thanksgiving but, I learned that if you try to stay true to your temperatures and motto that "its done when its done" our turkeys will come out great.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Jeff Langer:
Took the turkey out of the bag, cleaned it up, and it was soaking in brine by about 6:00 last night. (Tuesday)

This is my first turkey and am scared to death that I am going to mess up Thanksgiving! </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Jeff,

My first turkey is brining too. I put it a cooler with brine and in the frig yesterday. After about 30 min I stuck my ET-732 probe in the brine but too far. Got brine in the probe and it promptly showed over 200 degrees! They don't tell you to not immerse the probe in liquid for nothing. $33 later and two 6' probes are on the way. Sure hope I don't screw up anything else.

Your bird will be fine. Life's too short to worry.

Scotty W.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Russ Harris:
I'm doing a 12.5 pounder on my 18 inch WSM. This is my first turkey ever. I'm using John Kass' from the Chicago Tribune apple juice recipe (search "kass brining" on YouTube). Bird went in the brine 11am tuesday morning. I will take it out, rinse and air-dry around 11am wednesday and smoke with Royal Oak lump and apple wood on Thanksgiving. Wish me luck. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Russ, Keri C on this site has a great apple brine recipe. Do a little searching . It's well worth it
 
Brining makes cooking the turkey more forgiving because of the moisture the bird retains. Plus ,the cook is quickened by the extra moisture. Not that you can't over cook the bird but it gives you a lot more latitude than you think. Enjoy the cook guys
 
I'm in the same boat. Brined a 19 lb bird for 24 hours. Air drying right now in prep for smoking tomorrow. I'm going to try some hickory and a little mesquite. Planning on roasting neck and parts with it for gravy and catching drippings in a pan on lower rack.

Good luck to all!
 
Anyone using water in the pan? I've seen some do and some don't!

Have I mentioned how worried I am about ruining Thanksgiving?
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I have my turkey in Keri C's apple juice right now. I will be pulling it soon to give it at least 12 hours to air dry. I will also be useing the a foiled pan during cook as the way Chris shows doing it in his how to video. I wish you all good luck on your cooks and Happy Thanksgiving!
 
I've got my turkey in the brine just counting down the hours till I fire up the smoker. I've had my WSM for about 3 months and have had some great success so far. I'm suprised my wife gave me the go ahead to smoke the turkey for her family on Thanksgiving.

I went with a kosher salt and brown sugar brine right off the site. If this goes well, I'll try another one next time with some Jack Daniels brine.

For a 20 pound bird, how long on the smoker, assuming 325?

Top or bottom rack?

Nothing in the water pan, just catch the drippings? I was thinking apple juice, but sounds like no, just dry.

Wish me luck!


MJK
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">I'm going to try some hickory and a little mesquite. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

John,

That sounds pretty bold for poultry. Turkey is easy to over smoke, and those are two heavy artillery woods. If you've done this before, ignore my advice and do what you know you like, but if you haven't done this before, I'd recommend a little lighter wood, like fruit woods or maple or oak. Or make sure you only put a couple chunks on.

Good luck, and enjoy!
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Matt Sanders:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">I'm going to try some hickory and a little mesquite. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

John,

That sounds pretty bold for poultry. Turkey is easy to over smoke, and those are two heavy artillery woods. If you've done this before, ignore my advice and do what you know you like, but if you haven't done this before, I'd recommend a little lighter wood, like fruit woods or maple or oak. Or make sure you only put a couple chunks on.

Good luck, and enjoy! </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

+1 to that. Fruitwoods are great on poultry - try apple and/or cherry, and not too much.

Good luck everyone!
 
Thanks for the advice. Unfortunately, I only have alder and cherry in chips. I didn't think they'd smoke long enough. I've done mesquite with poultry before. You just have to make sure not to use too much.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by JimK:
+1 to that. Fruitwoods are great on poultry - try apple and/or cherry, and not too much.

Good luck everyone! </div></BLOCKQUOTE>I used mostly oak with some cherry and a little mesquite and my bird came out great. I think mesquite goes well with fowl as long as you don't over do it.

As to the original subject, I brined a fresh open range bird over night. I probably should have bought a day earlier to allow more time in the brine as well as time to dry off (which is something I'm hearing about for the first time this year.) I used hlf and half water and apple juice to which I added salt, brown sugar and spices.
 
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