Rosemary Brined Turkey

[Michael C.]

I bought an el cheapo turkey at Walmart for $.89 lb. I decided to brine it with a brine package from Fire and flavor. The brine mix had a boat load of rosemary with lots of peppercorns too. It smelled great. Brined over night, rinsed, then air dried overnight. Day of smoking, mother nature had other ideas. Faced with very strong Sana Anta winds with gust up to 60 mph, no way I was able to using my 14.5" smoker for this cook. My wind break would not even hold up with this amount of wind. Into the oven it went. Roasted at 350F until breast reached 165f, rested for 45 minutes under foil. Carve, tasted man o man, was this bird very moist and juicy. The flavor was great. Can't wait to use this brine mix again with better smoking weather. Here are the pics.

IMG_5525 by flyboymlc, on Flickr

IMG_5519 by flyboymlc, on Flickr

IMG_5520 by flyboymlc, on Flickr

IMG_5521 by flyboymlc, on Flickr

IMG_5522 by flyboymlc, on Flickr

IMG_5523 by flyboymlc, on Flickr

IMG_5524 by flyboymlc, on Flickr

 

[Bob Bass]

Looks Good, Michael !

Not much outdoor smoking for the few days...
46mph & 51mph gusts just west of you in Valley View Park area.

 

[Tony B]

I bought an el cheapo turkey at Walmart for $.89 lb. I decided to brine it with a brine package from Fire and flavor. The brine mix had a boat load of rosemary with lots of peppercorns too. It smelled great. Brined over night, rinsed, then air dried overnight. Day of smoking, mother nature had other ideas. Faced with very strong Sana Anta winds with gust up to 60 mph, no way I was able to using my 14.5" smoker for this cook. My wind break would not even hold up with this amount of wind. Into the oven it went. Roasted at 350F until breast reached 165f, rested for 45 minutes under foil. Carve, tasted man o man, was this bird very moist and juicy. The flavor was great. Can't wait to use this brine mix again with better smoking weather. Here are the pics.

IMG_5525 by flyboymlc, on Flickr

IMG_5519 by flyboymlc, on Flickr

IMG_5520 by flyboymlc, on Flickr

IMG_5521 by flyboymlc, on Flickr

IMG_5522 by flyboymlc, on Flickr

IMG_5523 by flyboymlc, on Flickr

IMG_5524 by flyboymlc, on Flickr

Looks great! I like rosemary flavoring.

 

[Rich Dahl]

Looks great. Windy here in Arizona too and a cold 29 here.

 

[Cliff Bartlett]

Your turkey looks outstanding Michael. Sorry those winds ruined your day. Sure hope that Thomas Fire is nowhere near you. It just sucks to have to worry about wildfires this time of year.

 

[JayHeyl]

You're right, that is a LOT of rosemary. I've come to think of rosemary as one of the more underappreciated herbs. You almost never see it in recipes, yet it adds wonderful flavor to lot of dishes. As you discovered, it's great with poultry. I use it a lot with pork too.

I've found rosemary very easy to grow and have had some in the garden for the last several years. There's nothing like walking out to the garden and snipping whatever fresh herbs you need. I've found many of them also freeze quite well, allowing you to have almost-fresh herbs all year long. Rosemary freezes extremely well, being almost indistinguishable from fresh once thawed.

 

[Michael C.]

Thanks everybody, the winds really picked up today, suppose to last at least till Saturday, here is a picture on my way home looking west towards Los Angeles.

IMG_0865 by flyboymlc, on Flickr

 

[JeffG]

Nice looking bird Michael, like the brine.... the 14.5 is silently waiting for your next turkey adventure.