I pulled it out of the brine after 2 days and let it air dry in the refrigerator overnight, and then let it sit out for an hour while I cleaned up the bradley a bit. Put it in at 7:30 am this morning. I used 2 apple pucks to one maple. The thigh is already reading 149 degrees and the breast is reading 130 after only two hours!! Could this be done by lunch? LOL I was thinking 10-11 hours, but who knows.
The guru is on 210 degrees and meat temp set at 168 (just to make sure it is done)on ramp mode.
Not much in the way of the great smell a Boston Butt greets you with, but I can hear it cooking anyway!!
Chez, the thermometer is working FINALLY, after new batteries and I made myself read the directions this time.
Ok, I will let you know if it will be lunch or dinner. Bring your own fork.
is it done yet?[:D]
Sounds good,SM, we'll all be there.[:D]
Tom
Are you picking us up at the airport?
Bill
Smokinmoe must of fella sleep, eaten to much turkey[:D]
Like all the cool SoCal girls say "You go girl..."
SmokeOn,
(http://www.azbbqa.com/forum/phpbb2/images/avatars/gallery/AZBBQA/mallardsmall.gif)
mski
Perryville, Arkansas
Wooo-Pig-Soooie
If a man says he knows anything at all, he knows nothing what he aught to know. But...
It was a BIG dissappointment. It took 9 hours and the Bradley could hardly keep the temp at 200 degrees and it wasn't even that cold out.
The skin was rubbery and the turkey was TOO salty for me.
My husband, on the other hand, said it was the best he has ever had-go figure!
I don't even want to taste another turkey for a long time.
I knew I should've cut the salt down but was scared to because I knew how important the salt was to the brine solution. Uggg, I don't know what to do now. That was my fourth thing and it sure was bad.
You may have brined it for two long. When I saw that you brined it for two days, I felt there would be a problem. A 10-14 pound turkey should be brined 12-24 hours. The longer times will make the turkey saltier. What recipe and amount of salt did you decide on?
Here is a turkey brine I found on the Light Cooking website; that I'm planning to try on a couple of chickens, within the next few days. I'm going to use 1 gallon of water, replace the lemon with pickling spices, and reduce the peppercorns to 2 Tbsp.
BRINE:
8 quarts water
3/4 cup kosher salt
3/4 cup maple syrup
3 tablespoons black peppercorns
8 garlic cloves, crushed
1 lemon, thinly sliced
To prepare brine, combine first 6 ingredients in a large container, stirring until salt dissolves.
To prepare 14 pound turkey, remove and reserve giblets and neck from turkey. Rinse turkey with cold water; pat dry. Trim excess fat. Add turkey to the brine, turning to coat. Cover and refrigerate 24 hours, turning occasionally.
I am planning a 9lbs Turkey this weekend. Temp is supposed to be around -5C.
I have seen and read a lot about the T-shirt method, but still have a couple of questions. When you do the T-shirt, is there REALLY that much advantage if your not too worried about the skin. I am more concerned with the juicy meat...
In your opinion, do you think that I am better off doing the bacon above and enjoy that addiditonal flavor, OR the T-shirt, (seems like the T-shirt is a bit more effort)
Thanks, look forward to your thoughts...
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by Warrior</i>
<br />When you do the T-shirt, is there REALLY that much advantage if your not too worried about the skin?<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
If you're not concerned about the outside appearance, I say dont bother. Olds may correct me here, but my understanding with the t-shirt is that it protects the meat from blackening with the smoke being applied. I plan on trying it with my next pork loin, but if you gonna toss the skin, I would not bother. JM2Cents
<b><font color="green">whitetailfan</font id="green"></b>
"Nice Rack"
Lethbridge, AB
I know I am weird, go ahead it's ok if you agree. But this just a general observation about high moisture smokes. I understand what moe is talking about. When I do birds(Chicken), to me that is some of the most moisture ridden pieces of meat that you can do. The amount of moisture vapor that rises from the smoker is astronomical comapred to a brisket, ribs or butts. I have noticed that when I have that much moisture the temp does take longer to come up to where I want it. It's kind of like when you do a brisket, it goes through the rendering and then the smoker temp starts to rise. I think this is what happens when you do something like a bird and it is only becomes greter when you do something like a turkey. Though I don't critisize the BS very much, I wish it might have just a little bit more heat to help compensate this. Just my "weird" thoughts here. man I wish I was hunting...........
SmokeOn,
(http://www.azbbqa.com/forum/phpbb2/images/avatars/gallery/AZBBQA/mallardsmall.gif)
mski
Perryville, Arkansas
Wooo-Pig-Soooie
If a man says he knows anything at all, he knows nothing what he aught to know. But...
For Moe,
I agree that you brined your turkey to long. I also think the problem keeping the temp up was the guru set in ramp mode. ramp mode lowers the temp of the cooker as your product reaches it final temp.
My humble opinion don't use ramp mode[:D]
Jeff
//www.bbqshopping.com
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v288/Jeff100/shopping.gif)
[/url]
Some say BBQ is in your blood, if thats true my blood must be BBQ sauce.
MallardWacker: I do believe you hit that one right in the box, in all the years I have never smoked/cooked any fowl in my Bradley's as I believe in the school of thought that a temp in the three hundred range is the way to go and this would push this unit beyond it's capabilities. Now i'am not saying it can't be done but I think you would need to limit the number of bird's and keep them in the broiler range, actually I had a chance to pick up a case of quails after xmas and fully intend to do them on the Bradley as I believe these would be a good fit.[8D]
Ian <b>( GO STEELERS!!!!! )</b>
I agree MW. Any time I do poultry with skin on, the BS struggles to maintain 200 Degrees F, due to the high moisture content.
As Jeff stated, ramp mode will definately extend your cooking time. Also it lowwers your cabinet temperature, that may have been the biggest factor that kept you cabinet temperature down. I only use the ramp mode if I know I will not be in the area, or if I'm going to be sleeping.
When I read the post on the 9th and it said "brined for 2 days," I almost wrote, "I'll bet it will be too salty" but I didn't want to sound like a pessamist.
As we have discussed in the past, you can lower the salt content of a brine only so far, and then it will no longer be effective at what it is supposed to do, namely, keeping the meat moist. The side effect of brining is getting flavors into the meat via osmosis and diffusion, most notably, salt, sugar, and any other spices or flavorings that go along for the ride.
That being said, if you can't control the salt and still have an effective brine, the factor that becomes the most important is the time. A few extra hours, depending on the thickness of the meat, can mean the difference between excellent, salty, awfully salty, and then just plain awful. Doubling a suggested brining time will virtually guarantee a failure.
If you are new to brining, always err on the side of not enough brining time. The worst that happens is that the meat won't be as juciy of flavorful as you had hoped, but it cetainly won't be any worse than if you hadn't brined at all. Always think about your schedule and available timetable - if you aren't going to be around to remove the meat from the brine at the desired time, adjust accordingly rather than letting the meat brine for too long. Over-brining can easily ruin the finished product.
Well put, thats what I figured out after a few attempts.
I guess another question is when to brine. Say you are going to do some roasts and plan on using a rub. Would you brine, remove from brine, apply rub, let sit xxx hours, and then cook? or would you skip the brine process?
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by birdboy</i>
<br />Well put, thats what I figured out after a few attempts.
I guess another question is when to brine. Say you are going to do some roasts and plan on using a rub. Would you brine, remove from brine, apply rub, let sit xxx hours, and then cook? or would you skip the brine process?
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
When you say roasts you are talking porky, right? I have done pork loins brined, not brined and cured. I usually use a bacon wrap if I don't brine them(which is most of the time). Good stuff.
Jeff
//www.bbqshopping.com
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[/url]
Some say BBQ is in your blood, if thats true my blood must be BBQ sauce.
Well, brining for two days was what I had read, of course, it was only a 10 1/2 pound turkey. It almost looked like a large chicken LOL that is how small it was.
I will only do turkey on my oval from now on. It was 60 degrees out when I did it, so the temp should've been easy to maintain. I set it at 275 when I noticed it wouldn't hold the temp even in ramp mode.
I wondered if I had soaked it in water for an hour or two after pulling it out of the brine (I read that somewhere) and then let it air dry, would it had been all right? The salt would've pulled in the water.
Oh well, it kind of made me scared to try anything else, I don't even want to mess with Salmon now. The brining process was certainly not something I was very familar with, but I read everything I could for the whole week this process took.
Live and learn!! I hate brined Turkey. Lesson learned.
I brine for 12 hours, rinse it off good, dry it off, put rub on and then wrap it up and put it in the fridge for another 12 hours. Let it sit at room temp for an hour before smoking. I cook mine at 200-205 deg until breast meat is at 167. Then pull it and FTC for an hour or more. Never had a bad one yet. Also start off with a fresh bird as opposed to a butterball. There are many ways to do a bird but I like the simple way which works for me.[^]
Hey Doc...I'm down to 2 racks a day!!!
When you say roasts you are talking porky, right? I have done pork loins brined, not brined and cured. I usually use a bacon wrap if I don't brine them(which is most of the time). Good stuff.
Jeff
Ooops, I was thinking of doing a couple different beef roasts that we got from our last butchering. Thought adding rub/smoke may turn it from something that was blah to mmm mmm good [:p]
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by birdboy</i>
Ooops, I was thinking of doing a couple different beef roasts that we got from our last butchering. Thought adding rub/smoke may turn it from something that was blah to mmm mmm good [:p]
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
I've never brined beef.[:D]
Jeff
//www.bbqshopping.com
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v288/Jeff100/shopping.gif)
[/url]
Some say BBQ is in your blood, if thats true my blood must be BBQ sauce.
birdboy,
The technique you list is correct: brine, remove from brine, apply rub, let sit xxx hours, and then cook. However, looking at the follow-up posts and seeing you are talking about beef, I wouldn't bother with the brine. There is no reason you can't brine it, but most people feel this is an unnecessary step. One reason for this is that beef, along with other higher fat meats such as duck and lamb, tend to be naturally moist and flavorful.
Rub and smoke beef - why not? Brine beef - why bother?
Good morning Smokin Moe,
Don't be discouraged by this first attempt, in my humble opinion brining or marinating is the only way to go when doing poultry. Here is a link to the most definitive article I've seen on the subject. ( and in rereading this, the name Harold McGee jumped out at me twice in two days, small world[:)])
http://www.cbbqa.com/articles/salt/saltbrining.html
Now when I do roasters they're generally in the 81/2 to 10 lbs range, these I will either brine or marinate about 12 hrs. Brining, rinse off, pat dry inside out, let air dry in fridge, bring out let come to room temp., apply rub maybe some creole butter under skin, and then cook. I should have mentioned that I butterfly my roasters, and cook at about 275 degrees. Turkey's I only brine, start with small fresh 12 to 14 lbs hens, brine 16 to 18 hrs, no more remove rinse, pat dry, and let air dry at least over night in fridge, remove and bring to room temp., apply favourite rub ( I've injected both breasts and thighs before, but with smaller birds as such, I truly didn't see any benefit from it). These I will cook at around 300 degrees, breast side down. The last 1/2 hr I will flip breast side up to finish ( any larger size of bird they will start to fall apart with this last step).[8D]
Ian ( GO STEELERS!!!! )
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by bsolomon</i>
<br />birdboy,
The technique you list is correct: brine, remove from brine, apply rub, let sit xxx hours, and then cook. However, looking at the follow-up posts and seeing you are talking about beef, I wouldn't bother with the brine. There is no reason you can't brine it, but most people feel this is an unnecessary step. One reason for this is that beef, along with other higher fat meats such as duck and lamb, tend to be naturally moist and flavorful.
Rub and smoke beef - why not? Brine beef - why bother?
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
Sounds logical, how much penetration do you get with a rub compared to a marinade? Might be something else to try...marinade, rub, smoke. Going to try the rub that S/S lists for their beef roast and try some shrimp with ragin cajun and the receipe mentioned by JJC.
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by birdboy</i>
<br /><blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by bsolomon</i>
<br />birdboy,
The technique you list is correct: brine, remove from brine, apply rub, let sit xxx hours, and then cook. However, looking at the follow-up posts and seeing you are talking about beef, I wouldn't bother with the brine. There is no reason you can't brine it, but most people feel this is an unnecessary step. One reason for this is that beef, along with other higher fat meats such as duck and lamb, tend to be naturally moist and flavorful.
Rub and smoke beef - why not? Brine beef - why bother?
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
Sounds logical, how much penetration do you get with a rub compared to a marinade? Might be something else to try...marinade, rub, smoke. Going to try the rub that S/S lists for their beef roast and try some shrimp with ragin cajun and the receipe mentioned by JJC.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
Let me know how the ragin cajun rub turns out on the shrimp. I know you'll like the S+S recipe I posted--it's tasty but not spicy for the more timid taste buds among us.
John
Newton MA