Thanksgivingbris one of my favorite times of the year. Cool temperatures, football, familybrand a big feast are the perfect excuse to fire up the backyard smoker. Outdoorbrcookers provide the best environment to craft a finely cooked bird as thebrinfusion of smoke will elevate the quality of your meal. Follow the steps below to ensure your holidaybrcook is a success.
Shopping
Ibrlike a fresh smaller bird in the 10 – 12 pound range. A frozen turkey willbrwork, but give it ample time to thaw in the refrigerator. This can take severalbrdays. The smaller birds cook a little faster, and they seem to be more tenderbrand juicy. Once the bird is thawed and ready for cooking it’s ready forbrbrining. Be sure to remove the giblets and neck.
Brining
Thebrnext step is to brine the bird. Brining is the process of submerging a proteinbrin a mixture of salt, sugar, and spices in order to create a juicer and morebrflavorful product. I prefer a cold brine where the ingredients are mixedbrin cold water. My basic recipe is listed below.
1br Cup Kosher Salt
1br Cup Brown Sugar
1/2br Cup Garlic Powder
2br Cups Pineapple Juice
2-4br Quarts Water (enough to cover bird)
Thebrturkey needs to be submerged in the brine for 10-14 hours. A small cooler,brlarge Ziploc bag, or bucket works well. I prefer the small plastic bucketsbravailable at Home Depot or Lowes. They come with a lid and fit nicely into thebrfridge. A 10lb turkey will fit in abr2-gallon bucket. I put the dry ingredients in the bucket, add thebrpineapple juice, water, and then whisk thoroughly to ensure spices arebrdissolved. Put the bird neck side down if using a bucket, or breast side downbrif sitting in a cooler or bag. Immediately place your turkey in the fridge.
Whenbrthe brine is complete, RINSE THE BIRD THOROUGHLY inside and out. You need tobrremove the brine solution or the final product will be too salty to eat. Pat thebrturkey dry with a paper towel.
Seasoning
Cooking
Forbrthis cook, we want to place the bird breast side up in a roasting or disposablebrfoil pan.
Getbryour Smoker, Big Green Egg, or Gas Grill to a temperature to 275 or 300. If cooking on a gas grill, use a two-zonebrset-up. Once your fire has settled into it’s temp, add your smoking wood. Forbrpoultry, I prefer to use "lighter" woods such as apple or peach. However,broak, hickory, and pecan will also work. (I'd suggest staying away from mesquitebrfor this cook)
Anbrhour into the cook, add about 3 cups of apple juice to the bottom of thebrroasting pan and cover the turkey with tin foil. The apple juice will help addbrmoisture to our cook, and the foil will prevent the bird from being overbrsmoked. After covering, cook the bird an additional 2 or 2.5 hours.
Thebrabsolute KEY to a great bird is cooking it to the proper internal temperature.brFor poultry, the breast needs to read 165 degrees in order to be fully cooked.brThe dark meat will be in the 175 – 180 range. To accurately monitorbrtemperatures, I rely on either a remote thermometer such as the Maverick ET732,bror a quick read gauge like the PT100. If you cook regularly, one of these toolsbris a must.
Oncebrthe breast has reached that magical temp, pull from smoker and lest rest forbrabout 30 minutes.
Youbrare now ready to serve and eat.
Rusted Truck Ranch finds exceptional joy in providing the best backyard experience for family and friends. We offer CookingClasses, Catering, and BBQbrGear. ContactbrKyle and book a Signature BBQ Experience today!