Apple-Brined Whole Turkey


 
This recipe was good last year, this year, and will be good for the rest of your life! It's definitely a keeper. It's so good, I can't get by trying anything else.
 
You can use this with chicken or cornish hens, but the brining time will be way less. No more than 8 hours I would speculate, someone else would probably know times better than I. It makes a huge amount, to cover a good sized turkey, so you could do multiple chickens and hens with this amount.
 
Originally posted by Greg Kemp:
How long did you cook it?

Pan/no pan, v-rack...how was the bird on the grate?

If you had only one thermometer where would you place it...thigh or breast?

Your carving looks good.
Click to expand...
Should take 2-1/2 to 3 hours at 325-350*F.

Cooked directly on the top cooking grate, flat on its back. No turning. Empty water pan.

I always monitor in the breast. If the thighs look underdone when separated from the carcass during carving, just throw them in a 450*F oven for 10-15 minutes to finish. See Solving Common Turkey Problems in the Turkey Selection & Preparation article.

To get those neat slices, I remove each breast portion in a single piece, then cut using an electric knife. See Carving in the aforementioend article.

Regards,
Chris
 
AWESOME!

I just finished my first turkey on my WSM and I used this recipe because of all the posts on this site that claimed it was the best. . . and it is.

The skin seemed a little rubbery for my liking though. Do you think that had to do with the fact my cooker was around 330 degrees the whole time and sometimes even dropping a little lower than 325? I had all my vents open, but it was a cool, damp day here today and I just couldn't keep the temp up at 340-350.

By the way, I just got my Maverick ET-73 thermometer in yesterday and I am so glad I did. It kept me from having to constantly go outside to check on the cooker. Not to mention, I didn't raise the lid once during the entire cook and the bird was perfectly done with perfect color.
 
Great, Kevin. Glad it worked for you.

Yes, skin texture goes hand-in-hand with cook temp usually. Next time you can start with more lit coals and see how you do with that. If you're in mid-flow, all your vents are open, and you are still not getting the temps you want you can try adding more air for the fire. Flip your door upside down so the knob is on the bottom (I leave mine like this all the time). Open the door and prop it open a few inches with a piece of scrap PVC, 2x4, metal pipe, whatever. (Tomorrow look around for something appropriate and stick it somewhere so that it's handy.) See how that works for you.

Have a great next cook.
 
Thank you Chris! That came out great. Spent $7.00 on ingredients though but worth every penny. We used a 15 lb. turkey just to warm up for ThanksGiving. It was so moist and tasty 12 friends we had ovey were impressed. Took 15 lb. bird 2.5 hours at dome temp of 350 solid, breast meat got to 175 pulled it off and put in cooler covered in foil and wrapped in towel and watched the temp of breast creep up to 180 all by itself and then back down again to serving temp.

I used some red oak and guava wood with kingsford and bge lump mix.

Drip pan only breast up in v rack.

Not sure how long it would take a 20 lb. bird. That will be next month.

Thanks for the recipe and tips.

Aloha!

Greg Kemp

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Well, you've convinced me to do one this way, another one in the fryer, injected with cajun butter. I have never used a pan, guess it's a good idea for the drippings. One thing I always do is tuck the wing tips under. The wings, just like Martha Stewart, are my favorite part, along with the dark meat.
 
One more question concerning this method. Could you run the WSM without the waterpan? Just let the drippings fall into the coals. Would be easier to get to the desired temp and less cleaning at the end(maybe).
 
Hi Paul, I didn't use a water pan put had a pan for drippings. Makes good gravy. Threw away aluminum pan no clean up or messy charcoal grate.

One change I need to mention though...we used apple CIDER instead of apple juice because it was not as sweet and more tart. The recipe already calls for 1 lb. of sugar.

We were all amazed at the color. First time it came out like this.

Aloha!

Greg Kemp
 
More is definitely not better where brining is concerned. There comes a point of diminishing returns. Too long, and the meat (poultry) can take on an unacceptable saltiness, or, worse, become mushy.
 
I tried the recipe yesterday and pretty much followed it to a T. It still turned out with rubbery skin, but the turkey itself was great! It was my test run for Thanksgiving.
Does anyone think separating the skin from the meat itself prior to cooking will make much of a difference? Or does cooking it at the higher end of the 325 - 350 degree range give a better chance of making it crispy??
 
I kept mine at 350 solid the whole time and skin was not rubbery. See pic above. It was real tasty and we ar doing the same recipe for thanksgiving!

Aloha!

Greg Kemp
 
Michael, I've had some success with gently pulling the skin away from the meat and replacing it before cooking to help the skin texture. I think I picked that hint up on Cooks Illustrated. I've done that more with chicken, actually, as I almost always wrap my smoked turkeys in foil and let them rest breast side down before serving or delivering them, thus even if the skin gets crisp it loses the crispness during the resting time. Crisp skin is hard (for me) to get without drying out the bird. If the skin is tender and easily "biteable", I'm happy with that.

Keri C
 
I plan on rotisserie-cooking a turkey for the holiday, any concern about brining a turkey before this cooking method? I've seen other's mention that the sugar content can cause burning...

Does the brine need to be adjusted?

Thanks!
 
Not at all. I've done this method twice with this brine. Just make sure your temp. is around 325 degrees and don't open the lid. I don't use a water pan, just a drip pan.
 
WHAT KIND OF WOOD DID YOU USE TO SMOKE THE TURKEY? WHAT IF I CAN ONLY KEEP THE TEMP. BETWEEN 250 & 300 CAN I ADJUST THE COOKING TIME?
 
Hi,are all you guy's using fresh unpumped birds?I'm having trouble finding one and wanted to try this for T-day.Could I just use a Butterball?I would think I could just cut back on the brine time or the salt? thx
 
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