smoked turkey

[bigben]

if it wasn't enough that we had turkey for lunch and supper on Thursday we decided to have smoked turkey for Sunday night supper.  See in PA our deer season opener was today.  we all head to the cabin the night before and normally snack all night.  someone got the idea to do turkey and I said I would smoke one.  here is the recipe and I can tell ya this is the juiciest turkey I have ever had.  nothing compares to it.  

3 qts apple juice
2 qts water
3/4 cup mortons kosher salt
1lb of brown sugar
3 oranges cut up in quarters
8 cloves of garlic
15 cloves

10-15lb turkey thawed preferably one with not solution injected into it.  Check the label and it will say if it has a solution to enhance flavor.  get one without.  

Boil the apple juice, salt, and brown sugar to dissolve the dry ingriedients. only boil for one minute.  no need to go any longer.  Place mixture into food safe container preferably a 5 gallon bucket.  

Crush cloves of garlic and peal and throw in while mixture is still hot.  cool then add the turkey cloves and oranges.  Squeeze orange into container and drop in the orange and peel.  Add water till bird is covered which is roughly 2qts.  If ya want use more apple juice.  Let brine for three days.  keep in fridge or in a cooler.

The morning your gonna cook it drain brine.  

Get your smoker to 300 deg and smoke till breast is 165 and drumsticks are 170.  Bird will continue to cook for a bit as well after finished.  I smoked it with hickory wood in a propane smoker.  I also put olive oil on the outside of the skin and then seasoned the skin with garlic powder and black pepper.  if you are not big on smoked items brine your bird anyhow and cook it in the oven.  Also don't be afraid to do this on wild game.  Works great on chukar, pheasant, and other chicken type birds.  Heck do it to chicken as well.  

[Hawks Feather]

That looks mighty tasty.   

Jerry

[Jeb]

Nice looking turkey  . Got a question for you......what kind of light are wearing in your avatar ?
                                                     Jeb

[FinsnFur]

Oh man, I feel like I could eat that whole thing right now. That looks delicious.

[KySongDog]

What was the 15 cloves of in the recipe?   

Looks pretty tasty. Might have to try that. 

[Bills Custom Calls]

Here Semp

http://www.indepthinfo.com/cloves/

Back when I was youngster Mom used to use them for tooth aches also

[KySongDog]

Thanks.   

I asked my wife and she says "Yeah, we got that."    I was thinking more cloves of garlic.   

[msmith]

Man that looks and sounds good Ben! My smoker won't go to 300. I could smoke one for a while then finish in the ove I suppose.

[bigben]

if it can make it to 250 then you should be fine.  it just takes longer that way.  it takes 4 hours to do one at 300 deg and to tell ya the truth it was more like 280 or so.  I was having problems hitting it in my smoker as well.  until the grease caught fire and then it spiked to 500 quick.  LOL. 

[bigben]

its a predator light jeb.

[bigben]

did some smoked chicken on sat at our family cabin.  brined it in a variation of the brine above.  this time it was simple.  one big bottle of no sugar added applejuice.  3 oranges halfed, bulb of garlic, cup of salt, and a lb of brown sugar.

the results were the same.   

[FinsnFur]

8:30 in the morning and your posting pics like that. Which make me want some lunch. 
Dangit Ben

[bigben]

were an hour closer to lunch time over here so it is like brunch. 

[FinsnFur]

  Ok
We got to come up with a way to hide these from the weight watchers crowd

[bigben]

do you realize how satisfying it is to eat a whole chicken for lunch?  I do.  I did give two thighs to some friends at work but I ate the whole breast on that bad boy for lunch today.  and man was it 

[FinsnFur]

No, I have no idea how satisfying it is to eat a whole chicken for lunch. But I'm here to tell you, if you dont quit it, I'm gonna find out.

[bigben]

I take you from your regularly scheduled diet to provide you with "smoked chicken".  still have that feel good feeling without cheating 100%.