Easter turkey

[cathouse willy]

Its a rule in my family that dad (me) does a turkey at Easter.I'd like to smoke it in the Obs but because my reputation rides on this I don't want to mess up.I've done my research here and I'm pretty sure I can do this but I've still got a few questions. I've seen pics of birds done in a roasting pan and also right on the racks any advantage to either way? Brineing, what are the reasons for doing it? I did a test smoke with a brined whole chicken and found it quite salty, which makes me a little leery of salty brines. Is there a "low salt" brine or a way to mask the saltiness? Thanks in advance for any help
Bill

[DTAggie]

I have smoked several turkeys in my OBS.  All great.  Have not brined one yet.  OU812 just posted a few days back a huge turkey breast he brined.  Look at that post for recipe and tips on how to do it.  In order to control your time to make sure you get it ready for Easter dinner, you may want to smoke in the Bradley then transfer to kitchen oven to finish.

[jiggerjams]

As DTA states finish in the oven to crisp up the skin.

Brine = flavor, moisture, and tenderness. The brine extracts the water in the bird and then replaces it with the brine solution. It also allows the muscles to relax. OU812's brine is the next one I am going to try. It sounds like it rocks!!

After you brined did you give the bird a good rinse? I strongly recommend to read OU812's post from a couple of days ago.

[Smokeville]

I've done many turkeys up to 12-13 lbs and all were brined.

If you need a laugh, here is one brine I tried once but never again.....

http://forum.bradleysmoker.com/index.php?topic=13221

As DTA said, make sure you rinse the bird, inside and out.

As well, if you don't care about presentation, you can smoke the turkey the day before, then when done separate the parts. I take the breasts off the bone, but keep the legs and thighs whole. The carcass can be simmered for gravy. Then the day we eat I warm everything up in the oven, carve and serve. It's always very juicy.

Rich

[muebe]

 Some whole chickens come in a brine solution already so if you do try to brine them they will be way too salty. So check the label before trying to brine one ;)

Also when you brine the time is different depending on the size of the meat. It is easy to overbrine if your salt concentration is too high. The point of the salt is to cause the meat to draw in the water because the salt concentration is higher in the brine than in the meat. Your brine  solution does not need to be very high concentration of salt to create this process. Your main focus is to push more moisture into the meat and the salt is a tool to do it. By adding flavors or spices in the brine you are adding those flavors to the water and by osmosis into the meat.

The key to remember is "less salt is better". You just want to add enough salt to create the osmosis process. If you add salt and it does not seem like "enough" then it probably is. Brining is great for pork and chicken. I have also brined shrimp before grilling. Sometimes people will overbrine their meat and then be turned off by brining and never try it again. If done correctly it makes for more moist and juicy chicken and pork ;D

[jiggerjams]

There is a low salt brine on the recipe site called Pachanga Brine
www.susanminor.org

[cathouse willy]

Thanks for the helpful replies. Based on the info y'all have provided I'm going to brine the bird with a low salt brine from the Bradley recipe site.I ordered the bird from my favorite butcher today. I'll pick it up on fri to give me time for the brine and drying and start it smoking early sun morning.Hopefully there'll be some photos to post.
Cheers
Bill

[jiggerjams]

Cheers CW...go get!!

[cathouse willy]

Well Easter has come and gone so I thought I'd update the turkey tale. I brined a 10lb bird overnight in an apple juice low salt brine.The bird took longer than i'd planned but finished up in the oven in time.Six adults for dinner and we ate most of the turkey Every one raved about how good it was,me...I found it salty tasting. I think it must be me cuz all the others eat healthy and loved it.I discovered the smoke gen doesn't advance pucks every 20 mins part way thru the smoke so what with manually advancing pucks and the last minute panic I didn't get any pictures.Dinner was a success but next turkey I think I'll try without the brine.Thanks for all your help.
Bill