Water for smoking a turkey?

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Hi all, I have a 10 pound normal non-basting turkey. I am using a rub and not a brine. My concern is: should I use water in the pan in order to keep it moist as it does not self baste? I am choosing a rub over a brine so it will not have the added juices. Will it be too dry with an empty water pan? Thanks for all replies.
Steve in Ontario (a good ol' Canadian boy)
 
Water in the pan won't add any moisture to the meat.

I would go without water.

I'm a little confused by your reason for doing a rub rather than a brine. What do you mean by "so that it will not have the added juices?" Do you mean you don't want to have apple juice? If so, why not do a brine without apple juice? The only required ingredient in brine is salt. Everything else is optional.
 
I was probably confusing you with my added juices comment. What I meant was that I am going to use Cherry Wood for smoking the turkey, what I've read is that if you use a non-self basting turkey you should consider a brine, but I also read that if you use a brine then you should not use a rub. I would like to use a rub recipe that I found for added flavour. Can I use a simple brine and a rub also? If so, what would you recommend for a brine?
Thanks
Steve
 
Steve,

Water in the pan is for a heat sink only, it will not add any moisture to anything cooking. It absorbs heat only when doing a low and slow cook. I would also use a empty foil lined pan like David says. That will let your temps rise up around 300 or so which is better for a turkey. Without using a brine it could possibly dry out just a bit but not much. A beine helps flavor the meat as much as keeping it moist. You can make a brine with anything you like. I use a brine and a rub both most of the time but have done several without the brine and get good results, just not as good. The added juices in a brine is what I want when I have the time.

Randy
 
Steve, I should have waited a few more minutes .

Yes you can use both a brine and rub. Check the recipe section here for everything from basic and simple with a few ingredients to a very flavorful 24 hour brine. The cherry wood will be fine also.

Randy
 
The apple juice brine in the cooking topics above on this site is a very good brine for turkey or any poultry for that matter.

You can rub when brining, but I would recommend no salt in the rub, since you will already have salt in the brine. So I would recommend that you make your own rub rather than use a prepared rub, since they all contain salt as far as I know.
 
The thing about getting flavor into turkey meat, a rub isn't as effective as a brine, since every slice of meat may have a sliver of outside meat, or maybe none at all, and a lot of interior meat. So maybe four out of five bites you take out of turkey meat will not have any exterior meat at all, esp. breast meat. The brine will carry whatever flavors you add all the way throughout the meat, so it is a more effective method than a rub for getting flavor to a large bird like commercial turkey.

But like I said above, you can do both, just skip the salt in your rub.
 
You guys are a great help, thanks so much for your input. Most of the brine recipes I see call for some salt, I am going to make my own rub but I will forego any added salt in that. I will probably do the apple brine and try it with the Cherry Wood for smoke. I was primarily concerned with moisture in the meat, your answers have helped in that regard. I will also foil the pan and not use any water. Do I have it right so far?
Thanks
Steve
 
That sounds just right. The brine will add flavor and moisture to the meat. It should cook around 3 hours at 300 degrees. Just be sure and cook until internal meat temps are 180 degrees. Could be 2 1/2 hours could be 4 depending on cooker temps. Good luck with it and let us know how it turns out. We like photos also.

Randy
 
Some of us can't do a brine, because we're on low-sodium diets. I Can't have the salt because of Meniere's disease. If I get too much salt, I can get vertigo attacks that leave me incapacitated. So brine is very much out.

Any suggestions for folks like me?
 
Pete,

If you can't brine, then I would recommend cooking at higher temps and using really good thermometers to monitor your internal temps. You'll want to be vigilant at not exceeding the done temps.

You might also consider alternatives to whole turkeys. A turkey breast could be marinated and smoked to very good effect. You want about 3 parts acid to 2 parts oil. For the acid you can use lemon juice, lime juice, orange juice, good quality vinegar, etc. For the oil, I like using at least 50% good quality extra virgin olive oil. Add some fresh herbs like thyme or a little rosemary, some minced garlic, white pepper, some ancho chili, and you are on your way to a very flavorful turkey breast. I like to smoke roast at 400.
 
I've done turkeys in Weber Kettles with excellent results. THe time I did one in a smoker, it was dry. Since the WSM doubles as a kettle, maybe I'll do it that way.

Or just do a couple of pork loins.
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