Chet Johnson
TVWBB Super Fan
This was my first turkey on the WSM so I was taking it slowly. My reasoning was that I could get more creative later. I was very pleased.
I picked up a 12# fresh, natural, turkey at albertsons. I had been looking for duck, but "fortuna non". Anyway...
I used the basic brine for about 8 hours or so and then let the skin dry overnight in the refrigerator. I did not add any rub. Just the brine. I'm glad that I didn't which I'll get to later.
Two weber chimneys of charcoal and three hunks of apple, and I was on the road. I waited until all the charcoal was ashed over. Dropped the bird on the top grate and watched the temps. It started at 360* and over the course of three hours gradually drifted down to about 320*. All vents were wide open except for the one with the guru adapter which was functionally 1/3 open (I did not use the guru).
I pulled the bird when the temp measured 165 in the breast and 175 in the thigh and let it rest for about 45 minutes covered with foil.
Oh, my It was tasty. The breast meat had a good tooth and very juicy. It also had a very light pink color near the skin which I attribute to the brine. I don't think the smoke really penetrated the skin that much.
Lesson one to apply next time: It was slightly on the salty side. I'll rinse the next one more thoroughly. All my rubs so far contain salt so adding my normal rubs would not have been a good idea.
Lesson two for next time: The skin could have been a little bit crisper. Not much, but slightly. It is probably worth the effort to crank up the heat to 375+ for the last 30-45 minutes to finish it off.
Those are small things. I'm very pleased with the results.
I picked up a 12# fresh, natural, turkey at albertsons. I had been looking for duck, but "fortuna non". Anyway...
I used the basic brine for about 8 hours or so and then let the skin dry overnight in the refrigerator. I did not add any rub. Just the brine. I'm glad that I didn't which I'll get to later.
Two weber chimneys of charcoal and three hunks of apple, and I was on the road. I waited until all the charcoal was ashed over. Dropped the bird on the top grate and watched the temps. It started at 360* and over the course of three hours gradually drifted down to about 320*. All vents were wide open except for the one with the guru adapter which was functionally 1/3 open (I did not use the guru).
I pulled the bird when the temp measured 165 in the breast and 175 in the thigh and let it rest for about 45 minutes covered with foil.
Oh, my It was tasty. The breast meat had a good tooth and very juicy. It also had a very light pink color near the skin which I attribute to the brine. I don't think the smoke really penetrated the skin that much.
Lesson one to apply next time: It was slightly on the salty side. I'll rinse the next one more thoroughly. All my rubs so far contain salt so adding my normal rubs would not have been a good idea.
Lesson two for next time: The skin could have been a little bit crisper. Not much, but slightly. It is probably worth the effort to crank up the heat to 375+ for the last 30-45 minutes to finish it off.
Those are small things. I'm very pleased with the results.
