Two turkeys, two methods

[ChadVKealey]

I've been charged with preparing two turkeys for a large family gathering. I usually spatchcock and cook on my 18" DIY WSM (18" kettle with a Cajun Bandit stacker) at ~350 with no smoke wood. In the past, some have registered a dislike for this "smoked" turkey (there's not that much smoke flavor, but these folks are specifically looking for the "traditional" oven-roasted turkey). A small number like the way I've prepared it.

So, my goal is to cook two 12-14 pound birds ("fresh" turkeys I'm picking up at the butcher tomorrow), one on a grill/smoker and one in the oven. I'm treating it as a sort of blind taste test because a few in attendance have never had any turkey I've prepared. I want to prep them as identically as possible so the only difference is the cooking method. To that end, my plan is to:

1. NOT Spatchcock either of them
2. Use Alton Brown's "dry brine" (kosher salt, rubbed sage, dried thyme, allspice and black pepper) on each
3. Roast one in the oven (start at 425 for 45 minutes, turn down to 325 until the breast hits 160, then rest)
4. Cook the other either on the 18" contraption or rotisserie on my performer.

My questions/concerns are around the brining/salting. Wet brine vs dry brine...is one particularly better for one cooking method over the other? FWIW, I have wet brined and grilled and didn't notice any real difference in the flavor or texture of the meat, but did notice that the skin was always like leather (never crisped, was chewy or gummy). That's why I switched to the dry brine method.

By contrast, many years ago, before getting my first WSM, my typical method was wet brine and oven roast (starting hot, then turning down) and that intense heat at the start really made for some fantastic skin.

So, if you were to take on this challenge, would you brine/salt/prep them exact the same despite the different cooking methods? Or would you wet brine the oven-bound bird and dry brine the other?

 

[John Saldana]

Cooked two turkeys last year, one in the oven and the other deep fried, guess which one was the favorite.

 

[timothy]

That's what I usually do also.
The Wife has to have her oven stuffed one.