Wish me luck. I am using this recipe
http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/how/cure_smoke/smoked_turkey.html
It(all 16lbs of it) has been in the Igloo for 48 hours and I just drained it to do a soak out to reduce the salt content a little(it also got the injection of 10% of the weight). It will get air dried at <40 degrees for a day and then get put on the OBS tomorrow night. Following the directions to the letter. I'm leaning towards a maple hickory mix with every other puck. It will get a nice above and below the skin rub with Art's Red Rub along with a generous injection of creole butter. This bird has not seen temps above 40 the entire time of prep. Everything was done at just enough above freezing to get the needle in. The Igloo only needed ice twice in the 48 hours and there were still little pieces that had not melted.
I am getting jumpy and already have the OBS cleaned and ready and loaded. All I have to do is plug it in and the temptation is killing me to start early! It's looking like a 12 hour cook and I have to contain myself not to start early.
I have a backup plan if it sucks.
Plan B:
Drive to the store and buy one already cooked.
OK Ron, Good Luck! It sounds like you're off to a great start.
It sounds like you're kinda like me; I lack patience. Throw a nice steak on the grill - done in 7-8 minutes. The brining/curing/smoking stuff takes hours if not days.
Mine goes into brine tomorrow evening. Probably 16-17 hours worth. I'm going to inject with no salt added. A few hours of smoke. Certainly apple but I'm not sure what else I'm going to mix in yet. Then finish it in the Big Easy. Just another experiment.
Quote from: ronbeaux on November 24, 2009, 02:59:35 PM
I have a backup plan if it sucks.
Plan B:
Drive to the store and buy one already cooked.
I'm smokin one for the first time this year and my wife is making me cook a second one in the oven so if the one that gets smoked sucks we'll already have a backup bird ready. Pain in the ass but at least I get to try smoking one:)
I here ya on the backup plan thing. I've cooked a lot of turkey on my pits and they all come out good. Brining is easy and makes them taste good. I'm just worried about the whole curing thing.
My backup plan is frozen pizza.
Ron, I've heard (never done it) that the curing will make it come out tasting more like ham. The juniper berries might make it taste a bit more like pastrami.
Please keep us up to date on how it came out. That's how we all learn.
Yep. It says the dark meat will resemble ham when cut. I put in some fresh herbs while it was curing so hopefully it will not taste like ham, although I would not disapprove if it did since I like ham......
The skin will likely be rubber but I don't think I will worry about it. I'll just go straight for the meat. The inlaws are cooking one in the oven and they usually manage to screw it up........ So, It might be a side dish Thanksgiving. :-[
Ron,
QuoteThe inlaws are cooking one in the oven and they usually manage to screw it up........ So, It might be a side dish Thanksgiving
Now what was the inlaw's forwarding Email?
Oh, yeah, I forgot, what happens on the Bradley Board stays on the Bradley Board.
Good luck and let's just keep it on the QT,
Pachanga
OK. I held off until the last minute to put it on. Had a steady 140 going with no smoke and held it for 1 hour. Then I pressed the start button for the combo hickory/maple mix of pucks, raised the temp 10 degrees at a time as best I could till I got to 190, then watched it awhile to make sure it was doing OK over the next few hours. Inserted the probe and set it beside my bed(Maverick ET73) Did I mention beer?? Lost three games of darts to my college boy, the little runt.......
Plan B; Grocery has already seasoned turkeys overflowing the case so if the turkey don't look good I will be the first in line to get one and fast burn it on the Primo.
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d153/ronbeaux/BBQ%20stuff/bbq%202/bbq%203/DSC03348.jpg)
Stay tuned. Night night. Hic.
Looks good so far Ron. Ain't you figured out that your supposed to make alot of noise when the runt is ready to throw. Or bump into him. Yeah cheat when you have to with the kids especially when they get as big as yours.
Looking good Ron..
Just down 'snooze' the Maverick like you would your alarm clock - been there done that! (almost ruined a brisket)
Lookin' good Ron.
I don't have a Maverick. Does it have a snooze alarm?
Quote from: Tenpoint5 on November 25, 2009, 07:31:09 PM
Looks good so far Ron. Ain't you figured out that your supposed to make alot of noise when the runt is ready to throw. Or bump into him. Yeah cheat when you have to with the kids especially when they get as big as yours.
I would but he is 6' 2" and 225lbs. He outgrew me and he knows math. I did manage to distract him with my old Rachel Welch 1,000,000 BC poster though....
He still beat me.
It sure looks pretty!
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d153/ronbeaux/BBQ%20stuff/bbq%202/bbq%203/DSC03352.jpg)
Went to plan B anyway. First in line this morning.
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d153/ronbeaux/BBQ%20stuff/bbq%202/bbq%203/DSC03351.jpg)
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d153/ronbeaux/BBQ%20stuff/bbq%202/bbq%203/DSC03354.jpg)
The OBS lost some temp last night. At 0330 the bird was at 147 and the OBS was rocking along at 190. THEN, at 0630 it was at 130 and the bird was at 120!!! Popped it in the oven to get it back up. Don't think I will try it out on the masses. But I plan on hammering it!
I'll cook the store bought one at 325 and have it ready by 1300.
Sounds like you caught in time... I'm sure it will turn out great, but "Plan B" is a good idea as well!
Sorry to here that you had to go to plan "B".
That turkey looks real pretty. How did it taste?
I stole a slice of breast and leg and the taste was just a tad salty, but not too bad. The sugar in the curing solution stands out too.
This was a first for me and I had fun making it work, although at first I didn't think it was gonna be good OR edible.
Got the 16 pound turkey frozen and partially thawed it in the fridge for a few days. Then made up the brine. This brine seemed WAY on the salty and sugar side plus it had the instacure #1 added. What ever...
I jazzed it up by replacing a portion of the salt with Tony's and a portion of the sugar with maple powder. The recipe called for 5 gallons and my igloo will only hold a little over two with a turkey in it so I cut the ingredients in half. Except for the amount of #1 for the lbs of meat.
Shot it up with about 10% of its weight to make sure the inside got treated, then dropped it in the brine. 51 hours later I pulled it out, dumped the brine and replaced it with fresh water to let the turkey soak for about 2 hours. I always made sure I had ice floating in the water on each step.
Then it was back into the fridge for 12 hours to dry out. I made a rub with equal parts paprika, sugar, then a dash of garlic, cumin, and oregano. Rubbed it a little with EVOO and applied the rub. I didn't want any more salt on the bird.
Plugged in the Bradley and adjusted it to get to 140 and steady. Loaded 5 hours of a mix of hickory and maple pucks. Then put the turkey in.
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d153/ronbeaux/BBQ%20stuff/bbq%202/bbq%203/DSC03348.jpg)
After one hour I hit the button to make smoke. Each hour after that I increased the temp 10 degrees until I got to 190. This was not a smooth process but I don't see where it mattered too much.
Jammed a probe in it and set it to go off at 165. Everything was looking great when I went to bed and the turkey IT was 127. This was about 11PM.
0330 I woke up and went out to check on it and the Bradley was still at 190 and the turkey was at 147. Refilled the little water pan for the pucks to fall in, shut the door and went to bed.
0600 I woke up and the Maverick said the bird temp was 120??? Ran outside and the Bradley had dropped to 150.
Pulled the bird and placed it in a 300 oven and within 1 hour it reached 165.
Worry worry worry at this point. BUT. It was cured. So I stopped worrying. Sliced a piece of breast and a piece of thigh and OMG!!! This was fantastic!
3 hours later I was still alive with no symptoms so I carried it to the Inlaw's for TG. There was a fried one, a baked one, and mine. Mine is gone!!!!
The breast meat was way more juicy than any turkey I have ever done. The dark meat resembled ham but taste even better.
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d153/ronbeaux/BBQ%20stuff/bbq%202/bbq%203/DSC03352.jpg)
I will definitely do this again. Plus I figured out why the temp dropped on the Bradley. There were pucks smoldering in the little water pan adding heat to the environment and when I re-filled it without bumping up the temp slide, the heat went away and caused the temp to drop. Lesson learned. Next time I will keep the pan full.
You have got to try one like this.
Feel free to critique, pounce, hammer, slam, or what ever. I'm here to learn too.
Nothing to hammer or criticize here. That turkey looks awesome!
Way to go Ron.
KyNola
Outstanding!
A trick to avoid that 3:30AM wakeup call... (hat tip to Pachanga and CRG for this one) Get a 9x13x2.5" foil pan from Wally World. It'll cover the entire bottom of the Bradley (and fit under the heating element, so no worries there). You can put a good 1/2 gallon of steaming hot water in it. You can smoke all night and half the morning, and not worry about it running dry.
Never thought about putting a cure in the brine. Slick!
Who could scoff at a budgie that looks like that. Good job RonBeaux.
Thanks guys! It was fun. I'm fixing to attach some Saints stickers to my new toyool. It's almost got the same record as far as good food turnout.
I'll take a big Saints Fleur de lis please!
WHO DAT?!
KyNola