Well, several questions actually. I've found that even the low salt brines are too salty. How little salt can you add and still call it a brine?Next, I really miss the stuffing from the bird when I smoke them. I've asked about smoking a stuffed bird here before and was cautioned about it so I've given it up till now. I have a plan and I'd like the experts here for their opinions. Here goes
Brine the bird with the least salty brine as I can. Smoke the bird for 3 hrs at 225 and the transfer to the oven at 300f. Put a bowl of stuffing in the oven with the bird for an hour or so.Then pull both and quickly stuff and truss the bird then back in the oven quickly.continue roasting till the it hits 185f.I'm hoping that with the stuffing and the bird both hot I will get around the dangers. Any advice or warnings welcome
Bill
For flavor, I believe that Cook's Illustrated states that anything below a 3% brine (1/4 pickling salt per gallon of water), is about as low as you want to go.
Have you tried:
Brine Pachanga (http://www.susanminor.org/forums/showthread.php?777-Brine-Pachanga-Low-Salt-Poultry-Brine&p=1179#post1179)
or
Low Salt Brine (http://www.susanminor.org/forums/showthread.php?23-Low-Salt-Brine-Poultry-Brine-by-Habenero-Smoker&p=31#post31)
Your idea of stuffing the turkey sounds good, but 185°F IT for turkey is not necessary. The USDA recommendation is 165°F, measured at the thickest part of the thigh. Or if it is stuffed, the stuffing should read 165°F.
Willy, another way to get the benefit of in the bird stuffing flavor without stuffing the bird is to buy several extra turkey drumsticks. The stuffing goes into a casserole dish. The drumsticks are laid on top. And the whole thing is roasted in the oven. The fats rendering out of the drumsticks flavor the stuffing, just like it was in the bird.
A thought on why your turkey is too salty after brining. Is it possible that the birds you are using are already brined? Most turkeys are pre-brined these days. The packaging usually says something similar to "enhanced" or flavor added or moisture added or something to that effect. About the only ones that probably aren't pre-brined are the ones sold as "fresh, never frozen" or some of the organic ones.
Thanks for the replies and the heads up over my mistaken idea about the it. The birds are locally grown and processed so not frozen or brined, I've done a chicken with a low salt brine and it near made my eyes cross with the salt Ive always avoided the stuff so Its just me .So what about not brining? pros cons anyone?
I have smoked a couple of turkey's before I learned to brine and they came out good and moist as long as you watch your IT and don't let it overcook. You might try using the apple juice brine by smokehouse rob with either a very reduced salt amount or none at all, more of a marinade technically but it might work. You could get some turkey legs to give it a try with as a cheaper test.
An alternative to brining would be to inject the poultry with melted butter. The fat from the butter will give the mouth feel of a more moist meat. And the water in the butter will actually add moisture to your bird.
When I fry turkeys, I inject each bird with 1/4 pound of melted butter in which I've sauteed two or three cloves of crushed garlic. Way tasty. I don't use any other rub or marinade to add flavor, just the melted butter with garlic. I'd expect the same approach to work well with a smoked bird.
Thanks for the advice to all who replied. The next turkey will be for thanksgiving and I'm going to try the butter injection as tskeeter posted, I might mix it with a bit of apple juice and I'll try the hot bird hot stuffing idea.Wish me luck.
Bill