| Whole Turkey
- Basic Brine
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Originally
posted: 11/01/2001
Last updated:
02/28/2008 |
Summary
- Buy a natural, 12-14
pound turkey. Don't use a self-basted turkey when brining.
- Brine in a salt and
brown sugar solution for 8 hours.
- Smoke at 325-350°F
until 160-165°F in the breast, 170-175°F in the thigh, approximately
2-1/2 to 3 hours.
- Cover loosely with
foil and let rest for 30 minutes before carving.
- Collect the pan
drippings for making gravy.
Let's
be honest...a natural turkey can be very dry and bland, especially the white meat. Traditionally we've
used gravy to address this problem, but recently people have been
turning to flavor brining to add moisture and flavor to whole turkey. You
can learn more about flavor brining and the science behind it in the All
About Brining topic.
The brine
I've used here couldn't be simpler--just water, kosher salt, and
brown sugar. The
mixture adds flavor and moisture to the meat, but does not make the meat taste overly
salty or sweet.
After
brining, I applied a Creole seasoning, but you can use your favorite
barbecue rub. Just don't go overboard on the salt in the rub, since the
turkey has already been seasoned by the brine.
I originally
posted this topic based on a turkey I cooked on March 18, 2001, but I've
revised the topic based on a more recent attempt on December 7, 2002.
As
always...click on any of the pictures to
view a larger image.
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Selecting And Preparing The
Turkey
This is a 12.17 pound
Albertsons Natural Turkey, just your basic, frozen supermarket turkey.
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When buying a turkey for
brining, choose a natural turkey, not a self-basted bird that's been
injected with a solution of salt and other flavorings. Look for the
words "natural", "no additives", and "minimally processed" on the
label. See Turkey Selection & Preparation for more details. |
Choose a 12-14 pound turkey
and thaw according to the
package directions. Remove and discard any leg
restraint, then remove the giblets from the
neck cavity and the neck from the body cavity. Trim away large areas of fat
or excess skin around the body cavity, and cut off the tail. Rinse thoroughly inside and out, and pat dry with paper
towels.
The turkey is now ready for
brining.
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Brining The Turkey
There are three things you need to
do in preparation for brining:
- Find a non-reactive container large
enough to hold the turkey.
- Making sure the container
will fit in your refrigerator.
- Determine how much brine
you must prepare to completely submerge the turkey in the container.
See
All About Brining and
Food Grade Plastic Containers For Brining for information about selecting an appropriate
container, including alternatives like ice chests or turkey roasting
bags inside non-food safe containers. These pictures show a 4-gallon plastic
barbecue sauce bucket that I got for free from a local barbecue joint.
Remember that the bigger the
container, the more brine you'll have to make, so try to match the size of the
container to the turkey.
To determine how much brine
to prepare, place the turkey into the container and cover with
cool water. Remove the turkey from the container and measure the water--that's
the amount of brine you'll need. For a 12-14 pound turkey, 2-3
gallons of brine should be sufficient.
Two gallons of brine were
required for this turkey. Here's the recipe I
used. As I said before, it couldn't be simpler.
Basic
Turkey Brine
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1
gallon cold water
1 cup Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt
1/2 cup dark brown sugar, packed |
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Mix in a non-reactive container until dissolved. Makes 1 gallon of brine.
Substitute 3/4 cup Morton Kosher Salt or 1/2 cup table salt for Diamond
Crystal. |
Notice in Picture 1 that I
included about 4 cups of ice cubes as part of the 2 gallons of water used to
make the brine. This is an optional step that helps cool the brine.
Put the turkey in the brine
breast side down. Place a heavy plate or bowl on top to keep the bird submerged,
if necessary. Brine for 8 hours.
Since brining does not preserve
meat, the turkey and the brine solution must be kept below 40°F throughout the entire brining process.
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Applying The Rub
About an hour before you
plan to start cooking, remove the turkey from the brine. Rinse the bird
under cool running water and pat dry with paper towels. This removes sugar
from the skin and prevent burning during cooking.
Tuck the wings under the body to keep them out of
the way during cooking. For a neat appearance, pin the neck skin down to the back using toothpicks or
skewers, and tie the legs together using kitchen twine.
Apply a light coat of
canola oil or other vegetable oil to the turkey, then sprinkle with your
favorite rub inside and out. Remember, go light on the salt in the rub.
I used a Creole seasoning
inspired by one I saw on the deep-fried turkey episode of Martha Stewart
Living.
Creole
Turkey Rub
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2
TBSP Konriko Creole Seasoning
2 tsp granulated garlic
2 tsp freshly ground black pepper |
1
tsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried oregano leaves
4-5 bay leaves, medium size |
Grind
the thyme, oregano and bay leaves in a spice grinder. Combine with other
ingredients and mix thoroughly.
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Let the turkey stand at
room temperature while you light the cooker.
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Stoking The Cooker
Light the cooker using
the Standard Method described on the
Firing Up Your Weber Bullet page. Two chimneys of
charcoal should be
sufficient for three hours of cooking in the 325-350°F range under normal
weather conditions.
I began
by dumping a Weber chimney full of
hot Kingsford charcoal briquettes into the charcoal chamber, then
spreading another
full chimney of unlit briquettes over the lit coals.
When the coals were good
and hot, I placed three medium-sized chunks of dry apple wood on the fire
and assembled the cooker. Choose a mild smoke wood that will compliment
the mild flavor of turkey.
I put the empty,
foil-lined water pan in place and set all the bottom vents
at 50% open. I set the top vent 100% open and left it that way throughout
the entire cook.
After assembling the
cooker, I immediately put the turkey on the top cooking grate, breast side
up, then inserted a Polder probe thermometer
vertically into the deepest part of the breast, parallel to the breast
bone.
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Details Of The Cook
Roast the turkey at 325-350°F until it reaches 160-165°F in the breast and
170-175°F in the thigh, about 2-1/2 to 3 hours for a 12-14 pound turkey. Remember that a brined turkey
tends to cook a little faster than an unbrined one, so keep a close
eye on the internal meat temperature. This is where a
probe thermometer like the Polder comes in handy.
The cooker was well over 350°
when I put the turkey on, but it dropped to 337°F within 10 minutes.
I did not baste or turn the turkey during cooking.
If you take a close look
at this
photo, you'll notice that I placed the turkey
in a smoking bag, sort of a stretchy cheesecloth bag used for smoking hams
and turkeys. This was an experiment to see if the bag would moderate the
browning of the skin. It did, to some extent, but a layer of
regular cheesecloth would work just as well. Frankly, I can't recommend
that you try this. Your turkey will look just fine without using
cheesecloth or foil to control skin color.
Here's how the cooker and
meat temperatures went during the three hour cook:
| Time |
Lid
Temp |
Meat
Temp |
Vent
1
% |
Vent
2
% |
Vent
3
% |
| 9:55am |
- |
42 |
50 |
50 |
50 |
| 10:05am |
337 |
44 |
50 |
50 |
50 |
| 10:15am |
344 |
48 |
50 |
50 |
50 |
| 10:30am |
341 |
64 |
50 |
50 |
50 |
| 10:45am |
348 |
75 |
50 |
50 |
50 |
| 11:00am |
357 |
87 |
50 |
50 |
50 |
| 11:15am |
354 |
100 |
50 |
50 |
50 |
| 11:30am |
356 |
109 |
50 |
50 |
50 |
| 11:45am |
357 |
120 |
50 |
50 |
50 |
| 12:00pm |
350 |
131 |
50 |
50 |
50 |
| 12:15pm |
348 |
140 |
50 |
50 |
50 |
|
12:30pm |
344 |
149 |
50 |
50 |
50 |
| 12:45pm |
339 |
158 |
50 |
50 |
50 |
|
1:00pm |
327 |
165 |
50 |
50 |
50 |
Note that the vent percentages represent
the way I set the vents at the time indicated.
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C'est Si Bon!
At 1:00pm, the thermometer
registered 165°F in the breast. I placed the turkey on a
rimmed baking sheet, covered it loosely with foil, and allowed it to rest
for 30 minutes before
carving. The internal temp rose 7°F to 172°F during this time.
Picture 1 shows the
result. Right out of the cooker, the skin looked a little dry, but was
nice and moist after the rest under foil.
I carved the turkey following the
steps outlined on the Turkey Selection &
Preparation page. Using an electric knife, I cut the breast meat into
perfect 1/4" slices, as shown in Picture 2.
The meat was very
moist, tender, and flavorful throughout, especially the breast meat. The
Creole spices provided just a little bit of heat, and the skin was nice to
eat thanks to the high cooking temperature.
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Collecting Pan
Drippings For Gravy
Line the empty water pan with a single sheet of wide, heavy duty aluminum foil, but suspend the foil 1-1/2" above
the bottom of the pan so it does not touch. This prevents the pan
drippings from burning. Assuming you don't oversmoke the turkey, the
drippings will be perfect for making gravy--in fact, they're already
seasoned by any rub applied to the turkey.
As you remove the turkey from the cooker, pour the accumulated juices
inside the body cavity into the water pan. You can also use the juices
left in the bottom of the pan after letting the turkey rest before
carving. It's not uncommon to end up with about 1-1/2 cups of drippings. |
Butterball Turkey Tips
If you have
questions about anything having to do with turkey, visit the Butterball
Web site. The site features turkey preparation info, grilling tips,
carving techniques, recipes, and a frequently asked questions page.
Another
great resource is the Butterball Turkey Talk-Line (800-BUTTERBALL) which is
staffed by Butterball specialists during the months of November and
December.
Other
Turkey Links
Back to Cooking Topics
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