Turkey in the smoker?

[Moose-Hunter]

While cleaning out the junk in the garage attic, I came across my old Brinkman electric smoker which gave me the idea to do a turkey here in the next few days... My neighbor gave me a new bag of hickory chunks and the frozen bird is just a few steps away.

It's been years since the last time I broke this bad boy out and would rather not end up with smoked saddle. Would you be so kind as to give this guy a shove in the right direction? Tips? Tricks? Any help would be greatly appreciated!!

[Kidd]

You'll get a lot of advice on this one and I'll give a simple recipe. But before you start, make sure to clean the smoker with a wet rag to remove any old dust and soot. Nothing can screw up a good piece of meat worse than an old dirty smoker.

Turkey's are easy:

Place the turkey inside a cooler and pour enough water in the cooler to cover the bird.

Remove bird and put in two cups of salt. (I never use more than two cups as I'm not smoking the bird to cure it, I smoke it and eat it.

Put an equal amount of sugar - two cups, stir with hand until salt and sugar dissolve.

Put turkey back in cooler/water and let sit overnight (a 10 pound turkey takes about 8 hours) in a refrigerator, or if cold enough outside, leave it in your garage.

Remove turkey, rinse, pat dry and place back into the refrigerator uncovered. Let it sit in there for about an hour or until a shiny film encompasses the bird. This film keeps the meat moist by retaining the juices within the bird

Light coals, wood or gas, whatever your smoker is, and keep the temperature close to 225 - 250.

During cooking, baste the turkey with melted butter a few times as it smokes.

A good ballpark time is about 30 to 40 minutes per pound, or when the thick part of the thigh reaches 175 degrees, and the breast is at least 165 degrees.

Good luck

[LABS4ME]

try Joel Nelson's recipe... I just did it the other day... delicious!

http://www.fishingminnesota.com/forum/ub...LL_#Post1377981

Good Luck!

Ken

[Tippman]

Has anyone used High Mountain's poultry brine? Results?

[croixflats]

Sugestion for brineing Bird. Use one of thse 5 gal igloo water coolers. Add enough brine to cover bird. Before Adding bird add Ice to get water cold then add bird then add more ice. Put lid on ice and your good for brinng up to 24 hours

[LABS4ME]

High Mountains poultry brine is excellent. Used it many times.

Good Luck!

Ken

[Mark Christianson]

Another good tool for brining is to use a deep fryer pail.

Load er up and stuff it in the fridge for a few days.